Spring is upon me in AK

Has it really been 2 months since my last entry? Wow, how time flies! Not much has happened that's newsworthy. A couple of weeks ago, I agreed to stay longer in Alaska. So I'll be here through the summer, reportedly the best part of being here. It's the reason I decided to come to AK during probably the worst time of year, the middle of winter. Actually, with the exception of about a 2 week period where it was -20F, the weather has been really tolerable. Now the spring's coming, the warmer weather is upon us which makes the road a nightmare. The snow and ice are melting, leaving a slushy, wet mess. Some places on the road are a huge collection of dirty water that drivers love to go through quickly, splashing the sidewalk and beyond. Fortunately, I have chosen not to walk right now, otherwise I'd be very pissed off because I'd be soaking wet. The daylight is getting longer, it seem like by leaps and bounds. Today sunrise was at 7:35am and sunset is 8:37pm so that's more than 12 hours of pure daylight. Of course, it starts getting lighter before sunrise and stays lighter past sunrise. Last night, because of the cloud cover and the snow falling, it seemed like it was lighter which was probably due to the lights of the city reflecting off the clouds.

Earlier this month was the infamous Iditarod Snow Dog Race where mushers and their team of 10-14 dogs travel over 1100 miles from Willow, AK (about an hr outside of Anchorage) to Nome, AK. It usually takes them about 10-12 days and some don't make it for various reasons. The ceremonial start takes place in Anchorage downtown area the day before the official start. The dogs are so excited and hyper that they have dog handlers who try to keep them in line while waiting for their staggered start. The dogs wear little footies to protect their paws from the cold snow/ice. There's over 3000 volunteers along the way. There's also a smaller dog race the week before and snowmobile race. I had a patient who was in the snowmobile race and crashed the first day. For 8 days prior to the start of the Iditarod Race, there's a festival called Fur Rondy. Included is a Running of the Reindeer (reminscent of Running of the Bulls in Spain), an outhouse race (where people build outhouses and race them), dog sled rides, exhibits/displays of Alaska.

In the past I've written that I've seen moose in the city. The closest has been 2 blocks at the bus stop where I was waiting. Well, the other night, I saw one across the street from where I'm staying, just chomping away away on the tree branches. I was so excited, running around the house, grabbing my camera and putting on my boots and coat. My roommates were laughing at me but I was so fascinated by a moose being so close to me in the city! Wouldn't you be too!

I had an opportunity to work at an outpatient hand therapy clinic here but my schedule at work didn't work out. I would have worked every day but all the daylight would have helped me feel more energetic. It just makes me want to work in outpatient with my next assignment.

So I've been the popular Bear's tooth bar/restaurant and seen a movie on their screen for only $3. They have a First Tap on the first Thursday of each month with a band playing. I plan on going on April 2nd and Flowmotion is playing. Then I'll see Ozomotli which I heard about in L.A. and they sound really funky and fun! I would like to see the BoDeans during their June First Tap. Then Jeff Dunham, the ventroliquist/comedian is playing here in June. They have some pretty firstrate performers coming all the way to AK. However, I am noticing that they're here in the summer, not in the winter! Tomorrow I'll see Jake Shimabukuro, a ukelele player...how cool is that!