Pictures

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This picture doesn't show what I actually saw. The tide was going out and the chunks of ice were flowing with the tide. It was amazing.

The hoar frost is on everything right now. The clouds in the background aren't clouds. It's ice fog rolling in.

If you search through this blog, where I uploaded pictures earlier, there's one of this view in the fall.



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These are the lines right outside our apartment. They've been covered with hoar frost for about a week now. It's not uncommon to watch them and see them vibrate when it's calm out.










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Taken yesterday, November 23rd, mid afternoon. This is a tree beside our apartment building.










There are more pictures, but I'll add them later. It'll take forever just to upload these three.

The day these pictures were taken, Dillingham was colder than Homer, Anchorage, Kenai, Soldotna, McGrath, Bethel, Fairbanks, Tok, Kotzebue, Nome and Barrow. When the windchill factor was tossed in, Kotzebue was the only one that had a colder windchill than our actual temps. It wasn't the first time I searched the state and found our temps were colder than what those in the interior and far north were experiencing.

The positive side: it's a great place to be when a hot flash hits. Yeah, I've stepped outside without a coat in subzero temps that felt great.

Jody

Thanksgiving in Dillingham

I've worried about this day for months. How would we face it? Would it be a horrible day? Or one that we tolerated, or would it be special?

Why did I put so much pressure on a holiday? This is the first Thanksgiving since 1998 without our dear friend Barbara. She passed away last summer and this is the time of year when we spent a lot of time together. In the summers we were always so busy, but the fall and winter were our time.

Part of my desire to come over to Dillingham was to change things in our lives. We needed to get out of our Homer routine this first year without Barbara. This first year of birthdays, anniversaries, holidays.

On a whim the other day when we were out shopping for groceries, I bought enough stuff to make clam dip. It was something Barbara made for special events. My version will never be as good as her version, but we were invited to spend Thanksgiving with a local family. Most of us in the lab were there.

It appears they liked the clam dip. I didn't need it for me. But it was my way of making sure her memory stays alive. Her traditions remain with us. The best way to share Barbara with the world is to share some of her best dishes with new friends.

There is so much to be thankful for this year. I'm thankful for my time in Dillingham. I'm thankful for the job over here. I'm thankful for my kids, grandkids, husband and even our dogs who bark way too much. I'm grateful that I've been approved to come back for another stint.

I'm extremely grateful for global warming. I can only imagine what this week would have been like if it weren't for global warming. I'm sure instead of minus 15 we'd be experiencing minus 45. After starting the day at minus 17 it warmed all the way up to zero about an hour ago. If it weren't for global warming, I believe the temps would be too stinkin' cold for me.

Tonight and over the next few days, I'll share some pictures I've taken in the last two days.

For the first time in my life, I had Eskimo ice cream. It's really good. I have a picture of it that I'll post.

I have plenty of pictures of the global warming that has hit Dillingham.

Over the next few months, I'll have to make some life changing decisions. But before I have to make a choice, I'm going to enjoy all that's here and also back in Homer.

Sorry for being so slack about posting, but I've been busy.

Jody

Various things

The temps are much better. Yay. Okay, so they are still below twenty, but at least they're above zero and the windchills are now above zero or at least single digits when they are subzero.

There's something in the air. It's my desire to go home. While I enjoy the work and the people here, I miss my home and my family I left behind. I miss my view. God, do I miss my view.

Writing. I haven't done much writing while over here. I doubt if I get much done while here.

Do I regret coming here? No.

If you write, are waiting for the break or the bigger contract, and putting all your eggs in the writing basket; stop it.

Yes, writing is a job. I know it. In fact, I've spent weeks, no months, working 18 hour days on creating a book. I know how damned hard it is.

But if it's your job that isn't paying enough or anything at all right now and you don't have another source of income then get back out there and earn a steady paycheck until you can live off your writing.

Yes, it will cut into your writing time. Big time. You might go for periods of time without writing a word. And forget your Internet life. It will probably be shot all to hell.

In return you'll have a steady paycheck. When the bills arrive you won't want to sit down and cry. You'll pull out the checkbook, write the check and pay them. One HUGE stress will be relieved.

The best thing though...when you do write, the writing will be better. Or at least my writing has improved. I don't worry about how I'm going to pay for this or that, while I'm trying to create compelling characters and stories. I know there will be food on the table, heat when I want it, new clothes when I need them.

When I sit down to write, all I have to worry about is the story. The writing.

While my writing time has suffered, my writing hasn't.

Jody

Global Warming?

I think I'm one of the last to jump on the global warming bandwagon.

Can you blame me? After all, the southern end of the Kenai Peninsula is considered the banana belt of Alaska. Or at least one of them. It doesn't get too cold, or when it does, it doesn't stay that way for long. Why should I worry about global warming? The weather suited me. I enjoyed it. Sweatshirt weather almost year round.

Okay, I'm not on the Kenai Peninsula right now. I'm in South West Alaska.

Please, I'll take a dose of global warming right now. It's one degree with a windchill of -20. Earlier today the warmest I saw was a balmy 5 degrees with a windchill of -16. Hell, yes, we'd like some global warming. Please. Pretty please.

Seriously, I have a short walk from work to my apartment. I don't know how I'll make it home tonight. It's that cold. I'll make it, but not without enduring some pain.

Dillingham? What do I think about it now?

In some ways, it's nothing like Homer. In other ways, it has more than Homer offers. Weird I know, but there are things here that I wish we had in Homer. Both grocery stores offer a lot more than groceries. Yes, I can buy underwear in Dillingham, Alaska. What the hell is wrong with Homer?

I can even shop for affordable clothes in Dillingham. I can find good clothes on sale. What a concept. Clothes that actually fit. Honestly, AC Commercial and N&N Market provide necessary things for the citizens in a way that Ulmers, Save U More and Safeway will never grasp. If any of those three ever had there wouldn't have ever been a need to entertain the thought of a Freddie's. Why can Dillingham provide affordable clothing and Homer, on the road system, can't or won't?

Yeah, it's cold in Dillingham. I see it's cold in Homer. I'm ready to come back to Homer, but I'll be ready to come back to Dillingham, too. It's a great spot. Both places are. Both have their flaws. Both have their high points.

I'm not ready to leave either place for good. The one thing they share, the people. Both places have great people. Which is why I hope I get to keep coming back to Dillingham for a long time to come. And why I won't stay in Dillingham permanently...the people in Homer keep calling me home.

Sorry I don't blog much. Work has kept me busy. Life has kept me busy.