Saturday, December 29, 2012

Winter in Alaska

     If you're from the Midwest like I am, going through a winter in somewhere as extreme as Alaska is a big change.  This winter has been several inches under the normal snow level because of the sheer cold.  Before moving to Alaska, I never thought it would ever be too cold to snow; but with temperatures dropping to the negatives it kept the snow at bay.  It was simply too cold to snow, that's a thought for you to linger on.  While it has been cold, we did recently pass our winter solstice with a final shortest day having less than six hours of daylight and boy, am I glad to see the sun.  If you haven't felt the bite of negative temperatures let me try to explain it in a little detail.  Any exposed areas on the skin burns in less than 30 minutes, and the evaporation from your eyes is enough to create ice formation on your eyelids, not to mention the mucous inside your nose freezing almost as you step out of the door.  This is when i'm reminded that the Alaska isn't playing around, it means business.  You could easily get hypothermia and frostbite, or worse, die, if you aren't prepared.  The temperature fluctuations as you drive through valleys and up hills differ by large degrees sometimes, and depend whether the sun even hits that side of the mountain in the winter.






 Despite it being ridiculously cold, the mountains are still just as beautiful.  When it does warm enough for snow to fall it is quite the scene, it softens the hard edges of the mountains and passes leaving a blanket of white.  Life slows down for Alaskan creatures in the winter.  The squirrels disappear as do the songbirds, until the temperature gets above the negatives, the bears have long gone to hibernation... they are the smart ones.  Moose scavenge for what they can, with the grass covered in snow they often resort to stripping bark in order to sustain themselves.  The cold does its very best to suck the life out of every living creature and plant that it touches, or so it seems.  Boy, what it must be like to be an evergreen tree in an Alaskan winter.  Despite the cold, people generally stay very active.  Skiing, Sledding, Tubing, Snowboarding, Dogmushing, and various other outdoor activities keep people outside in the little sun we get in the winter.  Happy lights are commonplace here in the winter, they really do help compensate for the darkness that envelops the mountains.  After four layers of clothes, hats, and mittens I am finally warm and ready to embark on whatever adventure Alaska will bring me that day.







 The Polar Plunge, a fundraiser for the Special Olympics, took place on the 15th of December 2012.  I didn't sleep the night before, as I was a participant, and jumping in a frozen lake when it is less than five degrees outside can make a person nervous.  The theme for our team was "runners," ironically I own running clothes, although if you know me i'm only running if something is chasing me.  The jump was a time of fear that I was ready to be done with.  Running up to the water voided of ice was when the adrenaline kicked in and my body prepared for the shock it was about to absorb.  The moment I hit the water and felt my toes touch the silty lake bottom I was ready to be out.  As my head breached the water I had a brief moment of confusion and blurry vision.  I set my eyes for the outstretched hands of the firefighters who had volunteered and the ladders that led to freedom from the depths of the frozen lake.  At that moment all I wanted was out, not many pictures of me exist around this minute or so because I made a mad dash for the safety of the warm up pool in the tent.  Once it was over and I had clean dry clothes on, then I was able to smile and say I proudly took the plunge for the special olympics with over 1,000 other people.


Our group in the plunge
Sign-in for Polar Plunge

Ready to jump
Firefighters chilling in the ice pool
Other plungers 
Other plungers


     
 

Monday, December 3, 2012

North American Falconer's Association Annual Meet

A few bird dogs
This post is ALL about the birds, birds of prey that is.  This past week I got the chance to attend the annual NAFA (North American Falconer's Association) meet in Kearney, Nebraska.  This was also where the International Association of Falconry held their elections and meetings as well.  The temperatures were substantially warmer than I had expected, I didn't even get a chance to use my wool socks!  Although, I will be wearing them for the next several months in Alaska.  This meet was over Thanksgiving and had over 400 people in attendance.  Falconry is a small community and we all relish the time that we get to talk in such a large gathering.  Over the week-long meeting I got the chance to spend quality time with my passage Red Tail Hawk as well as a few okie falconers that I've missed while I've been in Alaska.  Meeting new friends is always welcome and there were plenty new faces for me to remember.  Attendees came from places including South Africa, Argentina, Germany, England, and all over the US.  It is always interesting to see the cultural differences among the falconry community as I am convinced that we are the most diverse bunch of people around with one thing in common, we all love our birds.  This is an opportunity to swap hawking stories, show off our birds, and have a few more bodies in the field.  Eagles, Owls, Falcons, and Hawks were tethered in the guarded weathering yard.  There were a continuous stream of spectators both residents of Kearney interested in seeing what we do and falconers admiring the birds.  The conference included nightly raffles, vendors, and speakers giving us all a chance to update our gear and our knowledge.  It is always nice to meet newly licensed falconers that have a new bird, and we all have an infectious silly grin when our bird successfully flies and catches game.  Some of the best stories come from Prairie Chicken flights, along with bunny, squirrel, and duck flights.  When it came down to the end of the week there were several sullen faces as the realization of the end of the meet set in, and we all realize we have to leave and wait another year to see each other again.  I am already looking forward to next year's meet in Colorado.  Enjoy the photos below!


Adult Goshawks
 Adult Goshawk

Full weathering yard

Beautiful Adult Goshawk

Peregrine Falcon
Gyrfalcon


Peregrine Falcon

A Cooper's Hawk

Shot of weathering yard, happy birds

A Falconer's Snowy Owl

A Falconer's Snowy Owl