On gratitude, love, and a village

This Thanksgiving, I am thankful to be alone. And I don't mean it ironically, but most sincerely from the bottom of my heart. I am alone because I am fortunate. I am alone because I am loved enough for my family and friends to let me go off and reach my own stars. I am alone because I love my family and friends enough to be able to leave and come back, knowing I still have a home and a community.

I am thankful to be alone because it allows me to reflect on these things and realize that not only am I comfortable enough with myself to enjoy a Thanksgiving in solitude, but that I also have so much to be thankful for.

Wintry Wanderings

I've actually managed to have an incredibly busy weekend, filled with lots of cooking, exploring, and fun with the few friends that are left in town. Today we headed out around 10:30 to drive and hike around the road that heads east out of town, and watched the sun rise over the almost-frozen Bering Sea.

Safety Sound bridge

Alapaa! (It's cold!)

The colder it gets, the more Alaskan I'm beginning to feel. That's not to say I'm "becoming" Alaskan, but this place is definitely beginning to fill more of the stereotypes than it even did in the summer. As winter moves in, most of the summer seasonal visitors have moved out and Nome seems to be taking on a more rural, bush town-like vibe. Most of the people I see now are the year-round Nomeites and villagers, all wearing their beautiful fur parkas and colorful kuspuks, though some of the kids are still running around in shorts.

Continuation of Life in the Arctic

10:30am sunrise

From a near 24 hours of daylight to now under 8 hours a day, the winter season is quickly setting in. The sky is pitch black and glittering with billions of stars well into the morning when I go to work. When the sun finally does rise at around 10:30am now, it comes in brilliant oranges, yellows, and pastel pinks, illuminating the white-blanketed buildings of town in a soft glow.

Pictures from down south

South Alaska, that is. Two weekends ago now, I met up with my family in Anchorage -- it was cheaper for them than flying all the way to Nome, and more fun for me since I got to see a new part of the state. Needless to say, south central Alaska compared to the northwest is like night and day. It was a blast though, and I definitely foresee myself moving there someday soon.

For the most part, it was a lot of good old fashion family road tripping, even after 4 months of being a part and 3 years since our last vacation together. We kept south of Anchorage and explored the towns of Seward, Kenai, and Girdwood, where we were staying. It was fun to be with Ellie and Chris when they saw their first snow, and great to catch up with everyone. It was a good time for reflection as well, to try and figure out where I fit in with my family now that I'm out of school and leading my own life.

So without further ado, here are some of my better pictures from the trip. Enjoy!

The Seward Highway

Turnagain Arm, high tide

Heading south towards Seward

Frosty morning (26 degrees F) 

Tundra swans... not in the tundra

Driving in a winter wonderland

Lion's Mane Jellyfish outside Alaska SeaLife Center

Murre diving underwater at ASLC

Murre underwater

Happy duck is happy

Historic Mile Zero marker of the Iditarod

 (Quite fitting, since I just came from the Iditarod's finish line!)

Town of Seward. I could live here.

Resurrection Bay

Seward and Resurrection Bay

Seward Harbor

So Alaska

Bad picture of Exit Glacier

Picturesque

MOOOOOSSSEE

Reflections

Snowstorm 

Glacier spilling into the water

Mt. Redoubt

Juvenile-ish bald eagle

Alyeska Ski Resort

The trailhead

The fam

Blurry picture of Dad and Mom

Snowy reflections

Misty forest

Chris and I riding the hand tram over Glacier Creek Gorge

Glacier Creek

Snowy trail

Last but not least, love to the family. :)

Thank you all for a wonderful weekend, and for re-energizing me for another 5 months out here. I love you!

Aurora Borealis

Last week I got to experience for the second time in my life, the most beautiful phenomenon on the planet: the Northern Lights, or the Aurora Borealis. I usually track the aurora forecast on the Geophysical Institute website, which rates the aurora activity level on a scale of 1-9; this night, it spiked suddenly to 7 (even though it was only predicted to be a 3), almost the highest you can ever hope to see it. Even better, the sky was totally clear.

Photo and Film Montage

Although I have several posts backlogged that I need to finish, I thought I'd share a rough photo and film montage that I threw together this week. You've probably seen most of the photos by now, but hey, everything's better when put to music. :) Enjoy!