THE CRACK IN THE ICE AND THE RUNNING FAUCETS

Walking across the lagoon last weekend, I noticed an inch and a half wide crack in the ice that ran across its entire width from the road to the dike.  It was puzzling as the ice had been frozen for weeks.  My only thought was that it might have been caused by the 5.3 magnitude earthquake that shook Anchorage a couple of weeks ago, but I hadn’t heard that its rumbling had traveled this far north.  Valerie told me later that she’d seen a large truck driving across the lagoon earlier in the day and we both imagined that its weight had caused the ice to crack.



People at work this past week talked about the weather feeling colder and the temperature has been steadily dropping.  Last night Julie called me to remind me to leave the water running in the faucets to keep the pipes from freezing.  This morning it was -34ᵒ F, but warmed up to -21ᵒ later in the day.  However, as I realized the moment I stepped out into the whipping wind, it was much colder.  I learned later that with the wind chill factor, it was -50ᵒ F this afternoon.  Brrrrrrr…it’s definitely feeling like winter. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

ARRIVING IN BARROW 1ST DAY OCT 10, 2012

I think someone is stuck on the ice outside my apartment window this morning. The sound of spinning wheels is alerting me to the new environment I find myself in. It must be around 3 am as it’s very dark outside, but no, it’s 9. I haven’t checked the temperature yet, but hope it is at least cold enough to be blog-worthy. I arrived to snow-covered twilight; flying into Barrow last night was magical. I walked, only because it was too slippery to jog, across the tarmac and into the hustle of people in big jackets, laughing children in parkas, and hugging couples in the small terminal to find Darlene Lord, the Director of Public Health. She greeted me warmly with her characteristic smile and jokes about the number of bags I brought on the plane. Did it seem like a lot, I asked? No, she brought twice that amount with her, enlisting her sister, a community health aid flying in for training to host two of her large and heavy tubs. I’m staying in a nicely furnished three bedroom a...
Read more

GOOD MORNING ON THE EVE OF A NEW YEAR

Image
Glenn and Anne's hut at NARL Ah...I haven't written for some time now but somehow it feels right this morning.  I'm sitting at my pine desk after a wonderful night's rest in my own bed.  It’s wonderful to have taken this for granted in the past but to find renewed joy in it now. Contrasts and change seem to heighten a sense of gratitude for me, pushing me into a pleasant and welcome state of mind.  I just recently returned to my apartment after enjoying eleven days of  house/cat sitting out at one of the huts at NARL, the old Navy Arctic Research Lab.  Big Boy, Anne and Glenn’s smokey-gray, long-haired, affectionate feline was in need of companionship and feeding as well as were the two fish in the large murky tank and the multiple, active, chubby worms in the indoor compost bin. All-in-all, it was a great eleven days.  The hut is quite large although it looks small from the outside. I’m still washing clothes by hand at my apartment, a weekly ritu...
Read more