TOUCH DOWN AFTER A PASS - FLYING THROUGH FOG

The weather here varies between glorious, sunny days with temperatures in the 40’s, like the week before last, foggy ones with less than ¼ mile visibility and in the low 30’s, and gray skies with strong winds out of the east or north dropping temperatures in the mid 30’s to the low 20’s.  Yesterday there was snow on the ground in the morning and it was 20 degrees, reminding me of when I first moved here in October. 

While on the plane returning to Barrow from Fairbanks last Sunday, the flight was held up in Deadhorse for an hour while the pilot waited for word that he could take off.  The reports from Barrow were that visibility was less than ¼ mile because of low lying fog, but that it was expected to dissipate soon.  He was finally given clearance to take off but when approaching Barrow, all that could be seen below the sunny skies was what seemed to be a thick layer of impenetrable clouds.  The pilot descended into it and then brought the plane back up, announcing that he was sorry, but that he couldn’t see Barrow.  He said that he’d circle around and make another pass, but if he wasn’t able to see it on the second try, he had enough fuel to fly to Anchorage and would head that way as it was the next stop on his route.  It took quite a while for him to make the large circle above the clouds and make his re-approach. 

Before his second attempt through the clouds, I closed my eyes and envisioned myself sitting in my apartment in a short time, looking at the beautiful coffee table my son made, maybe enjoying lunch there.  As pleasant as it was, I felt as though if this was a form of prayer, that it needed a bit more immediate emotion, so I worked on feeling what it would feel like if the plane were touching down on the run way, hearing the roar of the decelerating engines and the bounce of the wheels on the asphalt, and being pulled forward in my seat, but restrained by my lap belt.  My prayer was rewarded while I was still thinking that we must be mid-cloud when I felt the first jarring of the wheels striking the ground, and knew that it would be a very short time before I joined others in the small crowded terminal, looking over bags, boxes and totes for the ones I had checked in and brought back to Barrow.  The skies were gray beneath the fog mixed with cloud, but it was all sunny skies inside, being grateful to be home.

I paid my cab driver several extra dollars for helping me to carry my three heavy totes up to my apartment after we’d reached the building where I live.  Most taxi drivers are from other countries and some not fluent in English, so at first I was momentarily discouraged thinking that my driver was expressing that he wasn’t going to help carry them up, but after parking his vehicle, he came running after me with a smile and proceeded to carry two of the three totes on two separate trips.

Two of them were filled with mostly fruits, vegetables, the salmon my friends in Fairbanks had sent me home with, yogurt, cans of frozen juice and bottles of apple cider vinegar and olive oil.  People living in Alaska can become members of Alaska Airlines’ Club 49, allowing them to check in up to three bags weighing up to 50 pounds each at no cost when traveling in Alaska and two bags not exceeding 50 pounds each when flying between Alaska and other states.  I’m afraid that my shopping trip was done with the cost of local produce in mind as my two totes topped the scales at over 60 pounds each.  The counter agent at the terminal in Fairbanks asked me if I wanted to redistribute anything to bring them down to 50 pounds, but I knew it would be a wasted effort as I’d packed things in all three totes so tightly that redistribution was not possible.  She smiled and reminded me of the $50 charge for going over the weight limit and I smiled, thinking that I’d know better next time, saying that I had been overenthusiastic in my shopping.  I found myself smiling again when she winked and said that she’d charge me the $50 for just one of the totes.  Very kind people here.

 

While writing this, the sun is shining brightly and the temperature is a high 46 degrees.  There’s an 8 mph wind out of the west, only dropping the temperature to 42 degrees.  Summer must be here for the evening = )  Here is an accurate resource for the weather here:  http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?zoneid=AKZ202

Temperatures in Fairbanks were in the high 80's for the three days I was there.  It was wonderful, but I'm enjoying the cool weather here in Barrow again now.  I'm enjoying ripe papaya too, thinking that it was worth the extra cost.  It was very fun sharing it at work last week, many people asking what it was as large, ripe ones aren't stocked in our store.