Rhythm of Life in Alaska in the Spring: Things have changed around here....Spring is in the air. There are people everywhere-I don't mean the tourist, they don't seem to have arrived yet. But, people walking, on bikes, skates, etc. I mean, Alaskans are an outdoorsy group anyway...walking and biking in the dead dark of winter...but the numbers have exploded! And everywhere you look are RVs-I mean the BIG suckers....with people washing them. I walked Jane's dogs one block and counted 4! But, the funniest thing I have seen is this pickup truck pulling a HUGE boat-one of the ones with the enclosed cabin in the front and the deck in the back-like a mini yacht. Anyway, here was this truck pulling this big ole boat through this residential area of nothing but cul-d-sacs. It was twisting and turning along the roads which were crowded with RVs and trailers sitting on the streets and in the drives-I had to hold my breath while I watched. Couldn't even imagine where he was going with that thing!
And the construction-my heavens! Buildings are springing up like daffodils! There is a hotel next to my favorite book store that was an empty parking lot when I left the end of March-now it is a building-a whole building. Of course it is still wood without the siding or whatever on it but it has walls, windows, roof, etc and it's really, really big. There was nothing-nada-there at the end of March.
I guess all of this activity can be attributed to the warm weather (realtive-it's 44 now but got up to 53 today)....that and the day light. Sun up today was around 5 and sundown around 10:30...so, of course, there is light on either side of those times. That is contrasted with a sunup of around 7 and a sundown around 8:30 in Texas. That makes less that 6 hours of dark....a person can get a lot of working and playing down with all that daylight. I had a patient tell me that the best time of day in June and July is 7pm to midnight! YIKES....I guess it is a good thing I don't sleep much at night!
Planning a trip to Denali Park this weekend so if I actually make it you can expect some pictures!
The street sweepers have finally moved on so I'm gonna close the shades and curtains and pretend like it's dark outside!
Glad to hear the family in Texas did not blow away with the bad weather and tornadoes!
'NIGHT!