Arnica Salve - at long Last!

The day after Christmas Nora and I made Arnica salve.  It was the end of a long process that began last summer when I helped collect Arnica flowers during a hunt (click here for post).  After the hunt I infused some of the flowers in avocado oil, and they infused in the oil all Fall in a cabinet in my kitchen.   Finally after Christmas I got around to making a salve.

A friend gave me some bee's wax and I checked out on the internet on how to do it.  Basically strain the flowers out of the oil, heat the oil in a double boiler, and add bee's wax.  I did learn a few things.  I first tried straining the flowers and oil through cheese clothe and it did not work at all.  I ended up using a fine stainless steel strainer I use for tea.  I also added the correct ratio of bee's wax to oil (like 1 to 4 if I remember correctly), but it seemed too thin and so I added more bee's wax.  Big Mistake.  My salve ended up too hard.  So go by the ratio that seems like too little!  It hardens up big time when it cools!

Anyway, I was happy with the 'hard' salve.  I could still rub my finger in the container and come up with oil to put on a bruise or cut.  I figure since it is hard that maybe it will last longer in storage.
Patrick

Weather Delays - climate change related?

Nora sledding to kill time after our plane to Anchorage got cancelled

The first time I ever came to Kodiak, way back in June of 1985, I remember that my flight got diverted and I had to spend the night on the floor of the Anchorage airport.  But that did not happen again until about 5 years ago.  Since then it has happened a lot.

Just this past month I was in Anchorage twice and each time it took a couple of days to get back due to cancelled flights.  It seems to me this happens FAR, FAR more frequently than it did in the past.  I've noticed that a common weather pattern the past few years is jet of warm air from Hawaii that causes storms in Kodiak and pushes all the cold air down onto the East Coast.  These jets cause long storms - not like the typical storms kind used to come from the side down the Aleutian Chain and pass quickly through.  I remember that that pattern brings colder storms and snow.  When that pattern is set up we used to get a storm every 3 days or so.

Anyway, it seems to me that Kodiak's storms have also gotten more vicious.  The past few years I've noticed a lot more trees blowing down or snapping.  As an archaeologist I also keep records from year to year on storm erosion at various archaeological sites.  I can document that storm damage seems to be getting worse.

But can I definitively say that the new pattern is climate change related?  Well no - but I strongly suspect it is.  I really hope I am wrong and we go back to the old weather pattern of 'sideways' storms from the Aleutians - I MUCH prefer them over the 'pineapple express' jets from Hawaii.  Patrick

Actually a picture from February 2015 - but same pattern and it was freezing out East that year!

Ski town USA?

Nora and Stuey and their ski instructor

When Kodiak skiers go to the mainland to ski they generally go to Alyeska and the big mountain.  But funnily enough I prefer Hilltop and Anchorage!  The cross country skiing is way better and it is far less hassle.  Also for kids Alyeska is either advanced and too hard core or bunny slopes - there is no intermediate.  So Hilltop despite being ALL bunny slopes is actually no worse than Alyeska for kids. I also gather Anchorage has another downhill ski area at Alpenglow.  I plan to try it next time I'm in Anchorage.

In any case, when I find myself going on a ski vacation I kind of like Anchorage.  I can go cross country skiing at Kincaid, Service, or if it is a low snow year up at Glenn Alps (Flattop).  There is always good cross country skiing.  And there is plenty to do while we are not skiing.

For this last trip it was pretty cold - single digits for highs.  Alyeska would have been too cold.  Who wants to ski for hours in the freezing cold?  With temperatures like that 2 hours at Hilltop was a perfect ski day!

So is Anchorage 'ski town, USA'?  Is it my favorite place to go skiing?  I think it is close, but my absolute favorite place to go cross country skiing is at Birch Hill in Fairbanks in late March.  I think one of these years we'll all go up there for ski vacation!
Patrick

Stuey likes to skate ski best of all - here he is on the Hillside trails

Stuey and Nora on the man made snow at Kincaid

Hard core cold at the top of the Hilltop ski run

Boilerplate Scenics

During the winter and spring I frequently climb up Pyramid and in addition to skiing one of my favorite activities is taking pictures.  I end up taking a lot of pictures of the exact same view.  The clouds, light and general atmospherics do change, but it must be said I do get a little bored taking basically the same pictures.

So for the last few days I have been trying to change it up a bit.  Compose things a little differently, try new angles, play with the camera settings.  I'll never get tired of the view.
Patrick

Museums while Traveling

One afternoon in Anchorage we had a few hours to kill before dinner, and Nora suggested we go to the museum 'where we can make the big bubbles'.  Both Stuey and Nora talked about pulling up the bubble 'around them'.  It took me a moment to get that they were talking about the 'Imaginarium Discovery Center'. The sort of 'discover science for kids' part of the museum. We last visited the museum 5 years ago so I was sort of amazed that they did remember this part of the museum (click here for blog post about last visit).  And so off we went.

It was worth the visit.  We checked out the Imaginarium and 'bubbles' first, and then explored the rest of the museum. I work at a museum, and so it is slightly ironic that I don't generally get into visiting museums when I travel.  Or maybe it's not ironic.  Anyway, I realized that the Anchorage Museum has some pretty cool exhibits.  Stuey hung out in the Imaginarium while Nora and I checked out the 'Arts of the North' exhibit.  This was the first time in years that I have gone to a museum to look at art.  Nora and I discussed which pieces of art we liked and why.  There was some pretty modern stuff that I have to admit I did not get, but then there was some really cool stuff that appealed to me too.

We also checked out the Alaskan history exhibit.  This exhibit was more along the lines of what I do at a museum.  I found myself testing my own knowledge by guessing what culture made what, and what the various objects were used for.  I particularly liked all their stuff that related to WWII.  They even had a plane wing with a star on it just like the one I found while on survey this fall on Afognak (click here for Afognak wing picture). I learned that they were painted red prior to getting sent to the Russians - cool!

When we got back to Kodiak I talked to my co-workers and llearned about all the exhibits we did not explore - the Ray Troll dinosaur exhibit, the Hello Kitty and Harry Potter exhibits on the 3rd floor among others.  It seems next time we go to Anchorage we need to make another visit to the museum!  Patrick

Cold shoe tips, iPad in jacket pocket, and camera - my travel itinerary also shows as cold in the lower trouser pocket

Nora remembered this exhibit from her last visit in 2012 - and this was the whole reason we went to the museum in 2017!

Nora is not actually in the snowy woods - that's a painting behind her

The 'discovery' part of the museum - always a HUGE hit

Back on the Rock

Skiing yesterday in the midst of another smack down storm

In a lull between the ongoing storms smacking Kodiak managed to fly back into town on New Year's Eve,  On the drive back from the airport I picked up pizzas, beer, and fireworks.  I had a fireworks party to throw.

I have a great porch on a cliff overlooking Mill Bay - it is perfect for fireworks, and the beach at the head of the bay is one of the most popular places in town for fireworks.  We had planned this party after the 4rth of July (click here) when we'd lit fireworks off in the broad daylight.  Fireworks are best in the dark so me and the other 4rth of July party goers had decided to have an Eastern Standard Time New Year's Eve Party.

And so I lit the fire pit, cooked the pizzas, and opened a beer.  Everyone arrived, and the show began!  Darkness does make a HUGE difference.  But I also think we bought better fireworks - more mortars and rocket batteries.  It was quite the show.  Nora saved one of the best artillery batteries for 8 PM and we had a countdown and lit it off - Mill Bay hit a crescendo of sound and it was the New Year - for us and the rest of the east coast anyway. Our party was all over by 9 PM.

Much to my chagrin I later discovered that my new fancy camera is subject to operator error.  At the New Year's Eve fireworks party I accidentally set my camera to manual focus but assumed it was on auto focus.  Looking at the viewfinder in the dark I thought I was getting some awesome pictures, but in the cold light of the computer screen every single photo was slightly out of focus.  Oh well, live and learn.

It looks like my focus was set somewhere between 1 and 2 meters

On New Year's day the kids and I went on a drive and saw that everyone was jumping into Mill Bay for the New Year's Day Polar Plunge.  Another storm had rolled in off the Gulf and it looked pretty hard core.  I had decided I was going to do it too - but Nora talked me out of it.  Still we saw one of my co-workers and even a couple of Stuey and Nora's classmates.  Patrick

New Years Day polar bear plunge at Mill Bay Beach - on a whim I was about to do it but Nora talked me out of it

Those are some big waves!

Anchorage

Ice fog but some sparkles on all the trees

Few the last few days the kids and I have been on a mini ski vacation to Anchorage.  For people living in the 'bush' it's sort of an Alaskan tradition to travel to the big city after Christmas.  At this time of year you always see other people you know from Kodiak.  It seems that while the city itself empties of locals seeking sunnier and warmer places it fills up with us yokels from the sticks.

Anyway as usual we stayed at the Embassy Suites, and surprise, surprise we had the exact same room as during our visit in December, 2012 (click here for post and views from the same room).  It's the room where we experienced a 5.8 earthquake (read post linked above), and it certainly does have a good view.  We like the Embassy Suites because it has a pool and a really good all you can eat breakfast buffet.  It also gives adults 2 free alcoholic beverages every night.  What's not to like?  

On this trip we also discovered that it has a reading area complete with pool table.  Stuey and I ended up playing a lot of pool, and I was amazed at how quickly Stuey picked up the game.  My trip highlight might have been watching the Wisconsin bowl game against Miami on the big screen while playing pool with Stuey.  It was sort of a surreal moment like we were at a bar together.

On the trip we also visited with friends, ate restaurant meals, explored the Anchorage Museum, and of course skied lots and lots.  More on these activities in later posts.

Spenard Roadhouse

My cuban and Caesar salad

Ornaments along the XC ski trails at Hillside

Another view from the hotel room