Even More Aurora!

(by Leslie)

You may have read that there was a significant solar storm last week, which resulted in some pretty spectacular auroras in the northern latitudes. Unless you were too far north, that is. Because here in Fairbanks we only have about one hour of darkness these days—or I should say twilight, since it doesn’t really get completely dark anymore. As a result, though I stayed up from midnight to three the night of the solar activity (watching the first season of Julia Child’s The French Chef to pass the time), I saw nary a glow.

Mooseburgers, Reindeer, and Pie—Oh, My!

 
(by Leslie)

I realize I’ve been amiss in my failure to write about the food up here. On the whole, Robin and I have been eating the same as we do anywhere—lots of stir-fry; salads; roasted chicken, vegetables and taters; Mexican; Thai curry. We haven’t gone out to eat much, but that’s not because of any lack of good restaurants—there are plenty. We’ve just been lazy homebodies for the most part.

Gotta love this temperature trend

I threw together this graph because a picture is worth a 1000 words... (I=Robin)

Spring Melancholy

by Robin; photos by Leslie

Note:  This blog was actually written for, and first published in, another blog called Articism. The blogger, Allison, is a Lit Grad student at UCSC and was our one-time housesitter.  She asked me if I could send some photos and impressions of Fairbanks from a Californian's point of view, and this is the result. Her folks still live here, and we have been enjoying spending time with her mom, Jane.

---

I have spent very little time around snow in my life. I have always lived in, essentially, snowless areas and I have rarely vacationed to snowy areas. This has been by choice, of course. I crave warmth and have not been attracted to those areas likely to snow nor to the things, like skiing, that one does in the snow.

One exception to that was a trip we—myself and my partner Leslie—took to Alaska in March of 2000. We wanted to see the aurora borealis, and there is no escaping the need to go to an area of snow and cold for that. So, we headed to Fairbanks and ended up rather enchanted with the place. The aurora was spectacular, but so too were the ice sculptures, and the dog mushing. And the people we met were extremely warm and welcoming. It was so completely different than anything we had ever experienced and, beyond being too cold sometimes due to inadequate footwear, we loved the place and vowed to return.

Our plan was to stay long enough to experience the change from winter to summer.

Weather Report - April 15th.

First, I just want to acknowledge that today is the 100th anniversary of the Titanic sinking.  This blog writer summed up its significance:

This was a turning point for mankind’s relationship with technology; it was the moment at which we recognized that “modern advances” were—would continue to be—a double-edged sword. Technology was (by definition) a powerful tool that could hurt us as well as harm us. This insight was available to anyone who was truly paying attention during the Edwardian Era, but it grabbed headlines after the Titanic sank, taking 1,514 people with her. 

I have no easy way to link the above with my weather report below, so I won't try.

I just want you to know that it isn't winter here anymore!

World Ice Art Championships, Part 4

(by Leslie)

Probably the biggest draw to the annual Ice Art Championships—at least in number of visitors—is not the sculptures, but the Kids’ Park. Parents buy season tickets for the family and bring the kids over and over again to amuse themselves in this play area made entirely of ice. There’s a skating rink, complete with skates and hockey sticks and pucks to borrow:

the reference is to the Ice Dogs,

the Fairbanks minor league hockey team

Guest Dream Blog April 7

Note:  The day I decided to stop doing the dream journal, my brother Russ sent in this dream.  Dreamlife is still open for guest dreams and, who knows, Leslie or I might throw one in now and then, too.

Type:  Chaotic Action
People:  My in-laws, Luna, Senator Evans and his wife Nancy, and lots of strangers
Featured:  A wedding with a big dog walk

I was in a church for a wedding, not sure whose wedding.  But we were having the reception at our house, which looked nothing like our house, and I left before the vows to finish preparations.  One of the first guests to arrive were my in-laws driving their red Cadillac sports convertible and towing a trailer with a wedding present.  They tipped the trailer over as they backed it into a hill and the present broke.  Then guests arrived and wouldn't listen to my parking directions.  They were every which way, not packed at all efficiently.  I decided to take Luna and other dogs at the reception on a walk.  We visited three (or four) houses along the way, all very estate-like.  At the first there was a magnificent carved climbing toy in which the dogs treed a cat.  When I went to help the cat, it became clear the cat was already treed by a mountain lion staring down at all the dogs.  We left.

On the Death of Dreamlife

by Robin

You know, it's been fun to pay attention to my dreams but what has happened is that it made me realize I don't want to "lucid dream".  I did like the one flying episode, but I do that on occasion anyway.  Instead, I prefer to see the stuff my brain does without trying to interject some sort of control in the process. 

And Leslie wants her sleep.

The People You Meet in Fairbanks! (updated by Robin - see bottom)

 (by Leslie)

Although the greater Fairbanks area has a population of around 100,000, one wouldn’t expect to meet a whole lot of celebrities here. I mean, for example, it wasn’t all that surprising when I saw Lou Reed dining at Matsuhisa in Los Angeles several years back, and seeing Joe Montana shopping with his wife (actually, he was waiting outside while she went in to shop) in lower Manhattan was exciting, but not anything shocking.

But I sure didn’t expect it in Fairbanks.

Dreamlife April 4 - Robin

Type: everyday life
People:  Bill of Big Love
Featured: Life is a jigsaw puzzle

I was helping Bill (of Big Love, but he only had one wife and three girls) measure a room for a full-sized bed for his oldest girl.  The three kids had been in the same room and a room opened up.  The trouble was the bed was either going to block a door or be against a wall heater (therefore a fire hazard).  We found a "Jr. full" which was a couple of inches shorter and Bill thought he could create something to put between the heater and the bed.  They were going out to buy it.

But then I realized I had made all that up and that it was actually a jigsaw puzzle of the scene of a bedroom with a bed near a heater. Huh.

Dreamlife April 3 - Robin

Type: work
People: Renee Fleming
Featured: I ruin Renee Fleming's aria

I was backstage at the opera and my responsibility was keeping the floor clean.  Someone spilled something and I was cleaning it up around various people's feet.  It was the very end of an opera—I'm guessing Strauss because it sounded like him—and she was singing the final notes, which were sung very softly.  I made a clunk sound and a guy got really mad at me for ruining that final note.  (I truly don't think the audience heard the clunk, but maybe they did.)  I kept cleaning because it was my responsibility, and someone might have hurt themselves if they slipped.

The Spirit of Alaska

(by Robin, but Leslie shares the sentiment.)

When we first got here, our hosts were showing us the TV set-up and mentioned that they only get a few channels in that they live in a bad reception area. They said that they used to get more stations, but a couple had gone on the fritz. One was ABC, which aired the Academy Awards this year. We didn't get to see it because of that problem. Total bummer. Alas, we just accepted our fate.

Not Jimmy and Vicki Tohill! 

Dreamlife April 2 - Robin

Type: Travel, stress
People: Leslie (she seems to always be in my dreams!)
Featuring: An Indian motel in Hollywood and piano competition/ sleep-worry stress

Leslie and I were in LA for the piano competition as I was going to play in the next day. I forgot to get reservations at a hotel, so I called a couple of good places I knew about.  They laughed at me for trying to get a hotel room at the last minute.  So Leslie and I got into the car and drove into Hollywood where we figured we could easily find a motel room.  At this point, it was midnight.  I had to get up at 5 a.m.  I was stressing about the fact I wasn't going to get a lot of sleep before my big day.

Dreamlife April 2—Leslie

Dream One:

Type: being in class
People: no one I recognize
Featured: ceramic figures of Wotan made by my mom

I’m in a class and we’ve been assigned to do projects. I’ve chosen Odin, the Norse head-god, and am going to talk about the different versions of this myth, including the German version, Wotan. But I realize I can’t do the drawings well enough for the project. So I decide to use some ceramic figures my mom made of Wotan. I tell the class about the mythology chart I made for English class in the ninth grade.

Dreamlife April 1 - Robin

Type: Travel
People: Leslie
Featured: a giraffe, tiger and a meeting of Republicans

Leslie and I are going out on a tour to look for zebras with a guide.  I am not sure what country we are in but it isn't the USA. It only takes a few minutes in the country, and there is a giraffe and a tiger in view.  I think that is pretty impressive, but our guide is only interested in zebras so we drive on.  He says that he is going to check with some villagers to see if they know where the zebras were.  We walk in to a room and it is a meeting of Republicans.