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Published: December 12th 2007
The grey of the ocean meets the base of the Chugach Mountains as they rise into pillars of ice and snow, almost transparent against the dull, white sheet of a sky. From the city their presence are always felt as they tower over buildings and peak into the city through the open streets running from South to North. The sun rises later each morning from the breast of one peak, simply to fall a little earlier each day between the crevices that lie between two others. Even the Alaskans who have spent their lives in the city watch these ever-transforming giants in admiration, like children who stand mesmerized by the constant changing of the clouds.
Here, in Anchorage, I am living in a two bedroom apartment with , Lacey, this awesome hippie chick, and her cat, Lucky. Our apartment has minimal furniture and decorations, which suits our needs quite nicely. We have Christmas lights hung above our windows and the aroma of constantly burning incense. It is only a 20 minute walk from the Coastal Trail which is in its self a small refuge on the outskirts of the city, at least for me when I want to clear my
Sun Glazed
Sun Lighting the Bark of Treemind and appreciate the simplicity that nature can offer.
As far as I can remember, I have never had a white Christmas, and my hopes are pretty high for this year. It has been 11 days since my arrival and today was the first snow I have seen fall here. It is quite unusual, in fact, because the ground is typically covered with 3 inches of ice by this time of the year, but hell, what can we say except “Thanks Global Warming!”
To get around the city I have been taking advantage of the “People Mover,” Anchorage’s bus system. The down fall is that I have to wait in the freezing cold for about 10 minutes before it comes, but the upside is that they are heated quite nicely. On top of that, our organization is sponsored by the University of Alaska, so all I have to do is show my “faculty” UA ID and I can ride for free. I did the math and this will save me over $600 throughout the course of my year here.
One night, I came home to find a moose chillin’ on my lawn. He was pretty large
Moose Track
There out there...somewhere and had a small rack on his head, but I let him pass before I made my way to the door (of course it was already dark and I didn’t get that good of a look at him). Moose here can be really aggressive if they feel threatened so people generally try to avoid them. However, the moose don’t make it easy. They walk into town freely, jump in front of moving vehicles, and get their antlers caught in the Christmas lights of downtown bars. The only thing they have going for them is their enormous bodies. They are not too brilliant (if you haven’t figured out already).
This past weekend Hendrick, Nelly the pooch, and I went hiking in Chugach State Park. Under the withering canopy of the trees, there was little ice on the ground and almost no snow. The first trail we took was into the mountains. We trudged through fallen trees and muddy slopes and found a river scattered with melting icicle formations at the end. We then went up a trail that had a clear view of the coast. Out on a large rock that overlooked the ocean and mountain range, the wind was
brittle and harsh, but a lively part of the experience.
As for my job, I am working as the Energy Project Coordinator for the Southwest Alaska Municipal Conference through the AmeriCorps VISTA Program. My responsibilities include serving as the organizer for the Energy Task Force, which is a committee working to find resources for rural communities where energy costs are extremely high (one gallon of gas is up to $6 in some of these small communities). I also work on research for alternative methods of providing energy to communities and organize workshops on how to lower energy costs as well as sessions to provide utility managers on how to apply for grants. A lot of my job deals with alternative forms of energy such as wind, hydro, and geothermal. There are some solar projects, but in most cases the long, dark winters stand as a road block for utilizing such resources. One interesting project I have come across is converting fish oil (fish waste) into biodiesel.
My average day is spent answering and sending e-mails, reading articles on current energy projects, phone conferences with people all over the state, and looking through the grants, projects and past activities
so that I have a firmer idea of where to pick up. (If you want, you can find my exact job description and picture on the SWAMC website:
http://www.swamc.org/index.phpoption=com_content&task=category§ionid=6&id=29&Itemid=30)
The fun part about my job is that I am the only one in the office who's sole responsibility is to work on this project. Mike and Andy oversee our projects and work to inform us of issues we may not be aware of, and then there is Hendrick who is working on solid waste issues, Jen, who is dealing with tourismm and Michelle who is the office administrator.
As events unfold and I experience more of "The Last Frontier," I will send out more blogs. For now, everyone keep warm!
Feel free to comment or send me an e-mail!
Rebekah
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doug
non-member comment
I guess that the odds of a white Christmas are as good in Alaska as anywhere. Someone told me a few years back that people should never go to Alaska until middle age, as the scenery is so stunning as to spoil a tourist for anywhere else. Judging from your pictures, my friend might have had a point.