Glitter & Glow

The moon shone so bright last night the snow sparkled. In places, the frost on branches was indistinguishable from stars in the collapsed depth of field.  The aurora also streamed and gaseously spiraled across the sky, gilt edges shimmering.

I received a much-anticipated box in the mail containing a handsomely patterned quilt from Carissa. The colors brighten my room and disposition.

Both the radiant heat from the kitchen grills and the frosty nip of the outside air redden my cheeks.  I keep my furnace stoked with vegetables and cookies.

Sunlight is getting scarce but still lingers on the mountaintops.  Another sort of light somehow translates through the satellites that connect my phone with Antarctica each week: eyes shining on a small screen.

And sometimes the sudden illumination of that screen delivers the next bit of dialogue in an ever-evolving work.  It's surprising how much that screen lights up.

lights above the heavy machinery graveyard

attempting nighttime photo shoot

soooo much sunset

Good Reads at the Lie-berry

There is a fantastic collection of books here left behind by previous coworkers.  I'm plowing through the memoirs, tickled to find titles that have been in the back of my mind for years and others that so closely fit my interests.  The fascinating and heart-wrenching "Educated," a young woman's coming-of-age story and reconciliation of her fundamentalist upbringing with the wider modern world; the acerbically funny "The Sex Lives of Cannibals," an American-abroad take on a tiny Pacific island; "Reading Lolita in Tehran," the passionate, sobering recounting of one professor's struggle to maintain and teach independent thinking under an oppressive government; "Rowing to Latitude," an adventurous couple's ambitious and exhausting self-supported trips along Alaska's coast and the length of its biggest rivers.  Lots of food for thought, and inspiration for travel...

When not scrubbing the burger-gristle-encrusted flat-top grill with a charcoal-like brick or individually wrapping sandwich components for pipeline workers and longhaul truckers, my own adventures have tended toward trying to photograph the pinkest and purplest moments of sunsets.  Technically, the sun no longer clears the nearby mountains, but the internet tells me "daytime" is about 10:30am - 2:50pm now.  And just about all of it appears as sunset.  

Also, my friend Abby accompanied me on my first night ski. Her headlamp revealed all kinds of animal tracks, including some hefty moose prints; my headlamp promptly quit about twenty seconds in.  I thought the batteries had had plenty of time to recuperate after being submerged in a stream six months ago -- they still work, I just turned the light on! -- but perhaps they've earned a nice quiet retirement. 

Per John's request, here is the location of Coldfoot (plus other places I've been in Alaska).

catching some of the last real rays

view from the airport loop road

Also, I baked a very tasty chocolate cake.

I know I can be very tardy getting back to comments, but I could really use your feedback, friend-readers.  After a 15-year hiatus, I'm going to regularly spend time in a gym.  It felt really good to get the fan whirring on the rowing machine, but I broke down in confused laughter several times because I just couldn't find the right tunes.  In normal life I'm pretty picky and, I'll be honest, judgmental about music.  But the rules don't apply for kitchen jobs or the gym.  I had a good streak of Lady Gaga songs, and a bit of luck with remixed-for-120-140bpm-90s-pop-hits, but dozens of workout playlists were ridiculous and/or awful.  I'll stand by my No Rap, No Country policy, but otherwise I'm desperate for your suggestions.  (Or maybe I'll just loop "Born This Way" for 45 minutes.)

That's really my only problem.  Otherwise, life is good in the way north.  I mean, stumbling across the snowy path to the rickety pallet you stand on to dump the old fryer oil promises to continue being a weekly issue for me, but there are some basic solutions I can employ, like letting it cool off first, and walking slower.  Ditto with cold hands while skiing: bring extra gloves.

Looking over a few notes from the past weeks, two fantastic things happened that restored my faith in civilization -- the election results, and my friend helping me obtain a space heater for my room.  I'm fairly self-reliant (and experienced with wearing several sweaters at once), but being able to count on and contribute to our communities and shared resources truly strengthens us.

This is a really charming cabin the summer forest service people live in.  Look at the snow!!!

Dusk is now happening about 4:15pm, and it is lovely.