24 April 2009

Signs of Spring in Alaska

  • Strange baby faced men who look vaguely familiar keep showing up at work - all winter long they've had chest long hair and beards but now they've gone in for their "annual" - annual haircut that is.
  • Flocks of snow buntings swooping around the roadsides like a wind swept snow storm
  • Owls becoming more visible, their hoots filling the forests
  • Daylight increasing so fast that it is confusing when trying to guess the time
  • Big lakes of melt water stuck between the frozen ground and permafrost. You could stock some of them with fish, I swear.

My mother asked me a week ago how much snow we had - 2 feet I replied. She asked if I was exaggerating. I wasn't. You couldn't even see the benches of the picnic tables and now, a week later, there is bare ground under them.

7 comments:

  1. 2 feet to none?!? I can't even imagine. That's amazing. One day I need to go to Alaska to see it for myself!

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  2. and today, while I was sweating away at Jazz Fest, I thought "well, spring is over. bring on the sweltering summer"

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  3. I have always thought that the saddest sign of spring was that annual haircut. Transform cutes, fuzzy men into funny looking, hairless creatures. Yes, it grows back, but until it does they aren't nearly so easy on the eyes.

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  4. Clearly, I have been working too many long hours trying to finish my thesis. I typed the above, looked at it, saw that “transform” needed an “s”, added an “s” to the comment and hit “post”. Pity I didn’t add it to the correct word…

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  5. Those male snow buntings sure are tough critters.

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  6. LOL! Down here, the men are getting hairier... playoff beards everywhere!

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  7. Owls hooting- what a great sign of spring!

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