And it just keeps going!

So now that Mt. Slacker has decided to blow, it just won't stop. Those of you who have been around volcanoes for any length of time probably find this absolutely normal. But for those of us who grew up with the Volcano as a concept, a distant mystical thing, it is all kind of unexpected. The way it seems from a distance, a volcano is either extinct or active, and if its active it quietly builds up pressure for a while (length of time can vary), and then it erupts. Then FEMA comes in and Tommy Lee Jones fixes everything, and then it's all calm again until the next cycle starts up again. And maybe some volcanoes do work that way. But not this one.
This one had rising and falling levels of seismic activity for months now (or earlier post fame). And apparently that's not unusual. Longtime Alaskans tell me the local volcanoes usually act this way. From the earliest signs to the actual eruption is often many long, roller coaster-y months. And then it just keeps on going. It erupted this morning, it erupted 2 or 3 times yesterday, and so on back through the week, starting with 5 eruptions Sunday night into Monday. Sorry, just went to AVO's website to try to fact check (it happens occasionally) and it turns out it erupted twice today - my mistake. This makes a total of a dozen eruptions this week. Anyway, around midweek I sent out messages to let loved ones know we were still fine and not having any problems, and none of them knew the thing was still erupting! And in all fairness, if we didn't live right here, we wouldn't have either. It's pretty low key, considering that it's a pretty awesome force of nature style event. Basically, the results have been:
1) the activity is melting the glacier(s?) on the volcano, which is causing lahars and pretty bad flooding near the volcano itself, which may or may not have damaged an oil terminal nearby.
2)It is messing up air travel pretty bad. Although most of the ash is not falling to the ground, it is hanging up in the air and causing all the airlines to cancel or postpone flights.

None of that is particularly telegenic, which is why it isn't all over the news outside. Well, as we Alaskan say, Whatever, volcano.

Mt Redoubt - Kind of a disappointment

So if you read the news, you may have heard that our old friend Mt Slacker finally erupted. Of course if you blinked, you may well have missed it. This is because it was pretty underwhelming as far as volcanic eruptions go. Oh, it blew a bunch of ash and steam impressively high into the atmosphere, and some places to the north got some ash, and some planes got cancelled, but that was pretty much it. It even happened at night, so as far as I know, no one even got good pictures of it. Other than some flights getting cancelled, most people in Anchorage never even missed a beat.
This was damn disappointing. Now, don't get me wrong - I'm really glad no one got hurt and there wasn't any major property damage. But I was hoping to get to see an eruption and possibly get a day off work. But no such luck on either count. There were even some pretty spectacular pictures of the volcano that erupted underwater elsewhere on our burnin' Ring of Fire, but not our volcano. Let me reiterate that - the other volcano erupted UNDER WATER. Under THE OCEAN. And still it looked cooler than our volcano. Because you could see it.
Sigh.
After the months of buildup and stern warnings and safety directives from the Red Cross and the Volcano Observatory and FEMA, it finally erupts, and ... then the next day the local newspaper has a little column on it, which is quickly superceded by news about the AAU's women's basketball team and a reflection on the 20th anniversary of the Exxon Valdez oil spill. It was such an anticlimax that on Monday afternoon, I got a text message from my parents asking if I was all right, and it took me 10 minutes of puzzled frowning at my phone to get why they were asking me that. Now I understand the "Whatever" attitude that long-term Alaskans have when talking about their eruptions! And they do literally say that. You say to them, "Oh my God! That volcano is really unstable! It's going to erupt!" and they look at you for a minute, and then say, "Whatever." It was pretty amazing to me a week ago, but now I too say "Whatever."
However, I know it is unfair of me to whine. When you're dealing with volcanos, it's better to have too little excitement than to have too much!

Fur Rondy - What Have We Learned

Well, now that we are a week out from the dizzying madness of Fur Rondy, it is time for a look back. What have we learned? How has it changed us? More to the point, are we going to do this again next year, and if so, what are we going to do differently. Those who do not make notes about history are doomed to repeat it. Or something.
Anyway, we definitely had a good time, and agree that it will definitely be part of our calendar next year. That said - we will be skipping some of the things we did this year, and making more of an effort to get to some things we missed this year. Also - and I must point out that I was warned about this - we will probably not take the whole week off again. When I told people we were doing that, they looked at me like I was crazy and said something along the lines of "The whole week?! You don't need the whole week for Rondy!" At the time I thought, well, we're new! We haven't been here forever! You don't know! Those people were right. There really wasn't so much to do during the week between the weekends. Now, on a personal level, we were really ready for a week off. But it didn't need to be Rondy week.

What will we make a point of getting to next year?

• Snowshoe softball. We missed the various games for an array of reasons, and now I'm sorry we didn't make the effort. It is famed as quite the hootenanny, and next year we'll make it!
• Gold Rush days. This involved various comical reenactments of the gold rush days of Alaska. There are all kinds of colorful stories about this time, and reenactors are always comedy gold.

What will we pass on next year?

• The carnival. This is a novelty for the kids, and while the weirdness of it is absolutely enchanting -been there and done that.
• Meet the World in Anchorage. Again, this is pretty much for the kids. I'm glad we went once - it was really eye opening to see what a widely multi-cultural place we live it. It made me strangely proud to be here and part of this melting pot. But again - been there, done that.

What have we learned?

• Timing is more important that most people think it is.
• People running around with reindeers is absolutely hilarious, if you can stand the boredom between heats.
• Start times are kind of flexible around here.

There are a few things we wish the Rondy organizers would do a little differently next year. Maybe spread things out a bit more. Have a few organized activities during the week. But maybe it is perfect the way it is. It was a lot of fun, and we had a blast. We laughed, we cried, it became a part of us. But it sure was cold to do so much standing around!

Picture Votes

OK, we will be leaving the picture of Anchorage in place. Thanks to those of you who voted for sharing your opinion!

Iditarod End!

Well, the Iditarod ended yesterday around noon Alaska time - it was a little later than the odds makers initially supposed. There has been a bit of interesting weather along the trail. Lance Mackey achieved his three-peat and handily won the race. With this victory, he achieves what only a few others have ever done. Add that to the fact that people who know the man have told me he is a genuinely nice man and a real Cinderella story, and you have sports story gold! Again, I point interested parties toward ADN's coverage - the know details and stats I don't have the first idea of. But for the moderately interested, the above summary should give you enough information. Amaze your friends!

Random updates

The hours of daylight are pretty long now, pretty close to the 12 hour mark. So the "long dark" is pretty safely behind us! It continues to warm up (relatively) and has been hovering around the balmy 32 F mark for the past couple of days. We have been throwing open the windows for a half hour or so both here at home and at work, just to get the "fresh spring air" in and let a little of the winter funk out. Of course, this is a bit deceiving, and is apparently a part of why people just kind of snap around this time of year sometimes. It feels like spring is on its way, and indeed it is...but not any time too soon. We can expect pretty good piles of snow throughout March and April, and sometimes even into May. So this isn't spring yet! We really aren't minding, though. We are pretty well acclimated, I think. I was walking around outside today a couple of times with my coat hanging open, and didn't feel cold at all.
Also, saw a moose at work again yesterday - and everyone in the room stopped and came to the window to watch him! They're really kind of cute, in a goofy way.

Iditarod update

Well, as near as I can tell it, there are three drop-outs at this point in the race, and the leaders of the pack are coming up to about the halfway point between Willow and Nome. There haven't been any wild surprises this year so far, but there's plenty of time for that to change! Keep checking ADN for updates - the coverage they have is phenomenal!

New in the News

The Iditarod is, of course, the big news today, with progress reports coming in steadily from the checkpoints. Lance Mackey, a two time winner looking for a three-peat, is currently in the lead, but that is generally conceded not to mean much at this point. This thing is around 1,100 miles long. For a comprehensive look at the situation, sports fans would be well-advised to check out ADN's coverage. I have to say, I don't generally read Craig Medred's column - he covers sports and/or nature or something along those lines. However, he is writing some really beautiful columns on this race - informational and yet also inspirational at times. Check it out!


At work today we were talking about who had gone to see the start of the race, and where we had gone to see it. One coworker had the best story, hands down. She and her husband flew up in a private plane to Willow to watch the real start, and in fact flew over the trail for a bit following the teams after they left the starting line. I was instantly envious! She also reported seeing people with snowmobiles sort of following along with the action as well. Maybe next year!

First, a Question

Art and I have been debating changing the picture at the top of the blog. On the one hand, it is a beautiful view, but on the other hand, it's been up there for quite a while. Use the Poll on the right to register your opinion!

Iditarod pictures!

We chose to avoid all the hoopla of the starting line downtown, and from the report in ADN, we're glad we did. We kind of used up all our tolerance for packed crowds over the last week. The vantage point we did have was great! We got to see about 10 teams go by - there were generally only 5 minutes or so between teams.

We do not know enough about the race to know who all these driver are - I meant to cross reference to the leader board on ADN, but it's been a kind of busy day. I may get around to it in the next day or so, and if so, I'll update this page.

And here they go! After this stretch, the drivers rode a pedestrian bridge over Tudor Road, giving casual drivers-by a chance to see them on their way.

The real actual start of the race is tomorrow at 2 pm at Willow, a bit north of here. I was looking at CNN this afternoon, and was interested to see no mention of the Iditarod at all. It's a funny contrast, because the news here is basically all about it. I am finding it strangely compelling - I didn't expect it to be so interesting, but it really is. All the drivers are fascinating people, as you might expect, and there are countless background stories - how supplies get to the teams on the route, the training routine, the gear, and all the other nuances you wouldn't think about unless you were here where it is so prevalent. If you have an interest, use the links for the Iditarod and ADN to get your fix. :)

Iditarod start!

We just got back in from watching part of the Iditarod start! We decided to avoid the madness downtown and instead drove about a mile up the road to where the path passes by the Alaska Native Medical Center. There was a surprising amount of crowd, but it was not unbearable. We stood on a hill above the trail and watched the teams come by - first you would see them through the trees, then they would come into the clear and run past. The run through Anchorage is just the ceremonial start, and the teams are pulling not only the drivers, but also the handlers and Iditariders - people who pay for a ride with the competitors. So they are going a bit slower than they would really, but that makes for better picture taking!
We will post photos later, as I am going to help staff a Bone Marrow registry drive at the Providence Cancer Center, and Art is going to one last Rondy event. He is going to see a display of military vehicles, and will get pictures of those too. So that's something to look forward to!

Iditarod Fever!

Well, the last great race start tomorrow, and as you might imagine, it's a pretty big deal up here. I recall hearing about this in years past, and it was always this distant (literally and figuratively) thing that was notable only in its craziness. Not here though, it is everywhere! My scrapbooking dealer even has a March contest called the I-Did-A-Page. I expect the Anchorage Daily News to have virtually no other news for the next couple of weeks. Which is fine - it is a pretty big deal! We plan to watch the ceremonial start tomorrow, though not necessarily from downtown. They run throughout Anchorage, and in fact pass pretty close to our place.
Tomorrow is just the ceremonial start. The real start is in Willow on Sunday. We won't be physically watching it, but we will be following it. To the right are some links to help you follow it as well. You'll be glad you did!

Fur Rondy: Day III

Running of the Reindeer!

As I said yesterday - the Running of the Reindeer is very much like the Running of the Bulls... except different. This is a new event for the Rondy, now in its second year. In spite of all the joking around, no one was hurt last year and I don't believe anyone was this year, either. Which is a little surprising when you watch it. The reindeer and their handlers came from a nearby reindeer farm, from which they had been transported in trucks. They seemed a little skittish around all the noise and the people, which I guess is not that surprising. The race itself was run on 4th Avenue, which had a couple blocks closed off for the event.

Comedy and announcing were provided by local radio personalities from station KWHL, who were extremely amusing. They kept the energy levels up during the wait for things to get started and in between heats - not an easy thing to do with the temperature out (extremely cold) and the crowd level (I would estimate the entire populations of the city was there). One announcer, whose decision to wear what looked like a red velour suit and no other protective gear provided a good percentage of the waiting time humor, put on the best show. Apparently they get the reindeers to run by having males doing the running and putting a female that is in season at the point the males are running to. 'Nuff said. There were five heats, aka sets of people running with the reindeer.

First up was the celebrity heat, which include local personalities mostly. The two national figures running in this heat were Bill Oefelein and Colleen Shipman, who you may know as the other two people involved in the astronaut love triangle. Apparently he is from here, and has moved back. After the first heat one of the reindeer provided some extra excitement by not following the plan - he kind of broke loose from the pack and started running all over the enclosed street. The handlers spent some time wrangling him back to the far end, which didn't make a lot of sense as they then just had to wrangle him back to the start line again. Crazy announcer made a lot of hay of this part of the event, screaming "Oh My God!" and "I just wet my pants!" every time the runaway reindeer dodged or ran in a new direction. As I read this, it doesn't sound that funny, but at the time it was absolutely hilarious.

The second heat was the men, which was an absolutely huge group, most of whom were in costume. After that were women, then couples, then groups. A lot of people were dressed as Santa, which makes a certain kind of sense. Other costumes ranged from superheroes to the Easter Bunny, to a group of cavemen. This last bunch looked more like Picts by the time they got to run, because they weren't wearing a lot, and it was freezing out. I have not ever seen people actually turn blue before, so that was kind of interesting.


As you can see, there were so many guys running, the reindeer were kind of few and far between in comparison! After the second heat, we got too cold, and also we felt we had witnessed the general gist of the event, so we left. All in all, a good time was had by us, and everyone else also seemed to have fun. We will definitely be back next year, and if you can make it at all, you should too!

Rondy: Day II

On Saturday we woke up at the crack of dawn (OK, 8:30) and caught the bus into town to start our day with the Rondy Parade!

The parade was an Alaskan classic - it started about 45 minutes after the scheduled time, and the Rondy volunteers trying to keep the waiting crowd from dancing in the street did not know which direction the parade would be coming from. Everyone was looking down the street both ways, asking each other which way it would be coming. Attention spans wore out pretty quickly, and people started dancing in the street to the 80's music blasting over the PA system. We were standing a couple yards from the reviewing stand, so we could hear the announcer, who admitted right up front that groups and floats would be arriving out of order and not in a timely fashion. When it did arrive though, it was nothing but comedy gold! The group pictured above is a bunch of people wearing various Imperial uniforms (Yes, that would be in the Star Wars sense) . We don't know why. There were also non-crazy things. For example, there was a considerable military presence, which makes sense considering the Army and Air Force bases that are right next to Anchorage. There were also 18 (we have photographic proof!) beauty queens - all in fur coats and riding and waving from convertibles or military vehicles. We have no idea where they all come from - different and competing pagents, they started alloting Miss America contestants by square miles, just random women who bought themselves sashes and crowns? No idea whatsoever, but it's fun to wonder!
After that we went to the Anchorage Museum, to experience the Bridgebuilders "Meet the World In Anchorage" festival. This was quite the hootenanny itself. Every ethnic group that has any kind of presence in Anchorage had a table and a presentation on its culture and language and so on. Some were extremely elaborate, such as the Korean table, which had posters about their culture and their alphabet, models of houses and ships typical of their land and a calligrapher on hand who would write things out for you. On the other hand, the Hawaiian table had a couple of leis on it. More than a few of the groups also fielded performance groups who did dances and that sort of thing. We only saw a few groups, but they were pretty good! You got a "Passport" at the door, which you were supposed to take around to all the tables and get stamped after you had heard their story and/or learned something. We did not do this, because most of the people getting them stamped were school kids - it had the look of a project they had to go through for credit from their social studies classes. It was really interesting seeing all the different kinds of people who live here - also the Bridgebuilders is a pretty cool group! They seek to promote cross-cultural understanding and other good stuff.

Next up for us was the Outhouse Races. Again a late start and a certain amount of charming confusion dominated the event. I know this sounds like pointless complaining, but it was COLD out. People all around us, clearly long-time residents, were complaining about how long it was taking. Why do I think they were long time residents? More on that later. However, that minor cavil aside, it was a lot of fun!

Anyway, the Outhouse race is exactly what it sounds like. Groups build outhouse shaped devices, only with 2 x 4's attached for pushing handles. They line up with one person in them and a group pushing, and then mahem ensues. The course is short, and involves a turn-around to ensure maximum chaos. These things are not that sturdily constructed, and are not too easy to steer, so you can imagine the results.

The groups got to write their own introductions - one example is the number 2 group, named the Number 2s. We also had the Sitka Skidmarks, and more along those lines. If that kind of humor appeals to you - and Art's family specializes in it - you will find this event a stone riot and I urge you to attend next year if at all possible. If you don't find that sort of thing funny, you probably couldn't be persuaded to stand in below-freezing weather and get snowed on to attend such an event for any consideration whatsoever.

We finished out the day with a wonderful display of fireworks. We watched from the top of a nearby parking garage, which gave us a spectacular view.

In tomorrow's post: Running of the Reindeer! If you are unfamiliar with this event, it is much like the Running of the Bulls in Pamplona, only instead of bulls and drunk Spaniards, it is reindeer and drunk Alaskans. Also, it is much, much colder.

Ready to Rondy!

This past weekend we attended the Anchorage Fur Rondevous, the winter extravaganza of hoke, and we're glad we did!

Friday started off slow - we attended the first day of the Rondy dog sled races. If you have never experienced a dog-sled race, it really is something. The first thing that is interesting is that they are racing by time, not all lined up and racing against each other to a finish line. So each musher (driver) is introduced by the announcer, and then they go. Then the next team comes up to the start line, and so on. The second thing is that that many dogs all hanging around waiting to run can create quite a din. (If this picture had audio attached to it, you would be deaf right now.)The third thing is that those dogs want to run! There are teams of guys holding them back, and they (the dogs) bark and jump like you wouldn't believe, just waiting to get running. This is why they can't be lined up next to each other. Once you see one team lined up and waiting to go, you can't even imagine the amount of chaos two of them next to each other would be.

And then they're off!

And then, about an hour or so later, they're back! They are generally quieter, and their tongues are hanging out, but they stil have enough energy to bounce around after they come to a stop. The races went right down 4th street, which is part of the center of downtown. The Rondy committee and the city trucked in snow (yes, really) and groomed the track, which made its way around several other streets and looped around all over Anchorage.

Standing in the center of a city, surrounded by stoplights and skyscrapers and coffee shops, and watching dogsled teams mushing by was probably one of the top ten moments of my life. I love this crazy city!

In tomorrow's posting: parade, festival of many cultures, and outhouse races!