Category: Weather

March comes in like a lion….

Oh yeah!  It was blowing from the south, with blizzard conditions, all day.  Then around 5 or 6ish, it switched around to northwest and is rocking and rolling with gusts up to 70-80 MPH.  I love living on the front beach, although we can’t see too much at times like these.  This shot is out the front door (of course we only have one door), looking out at the bay.  Can you see it? 

And then looking out the living room window towards mom’s and dad’s house and the WWII bunker.  Now you see it, now not so much. 

And this is a shot of one of the school parking lots that is actually jam packed with cars.  Howling winds and blizzard conditions can’t keep Unalaskans away from watching the Western Regionals.  The school put their name on the list to host the games 17 years ago, so a little wind and snow aren’t going to spoil the fun!  Thanks to all the various airlines in Alaska who participated in getting all the teams here by yesterday! 

I feel as if I am in a little cocoon, all warm and toasty, all my windows covered in white, now.  But my cocoon is shaking a bit.   I sleep very well in a storm so I’ll be a happy little camper tonight!

Unalaska at its finest.

We have been enjoying our beautiful February weather over the past week or so.  Mom and Dad say that they have always done a lot of boating in February because the weather always offers up a couple of weeks of beautiful, flat calm days with brilliant sunshine. 

This past week has also shown another finest of Unalaska, besides its February weather. It has been an action-packed showcase of the generousity of Unalaskans, from the Channel 8 auction (with their awesome and hilarious soap opera, Dutch Harbor 99692 ), to the Ballyhoo Lions bowling, spilling over to the Museum of the Aleutian’s Chocolate Extravaganza, and ending up on Sunday with the Preschool Ice Cream Social.  Where else but Unalaska, could you wear yourself out donating money to great public ideas in action?  And having fun doing it? 

A couple of my indispensable chocolate making tools.

I also wrapped up my segment for the Unangan Program at the elementary school.  My last week with the cutest little first graders you will ever see, was a breeze after my previous week with almost 30 second graders!  Not that the second graders weren’t cute…..there were just soooooooooooo many of them.  Keeps you on your toes when you are working with hot oil. 

Awesome journal-ing.

Suzi Golodoff now has five weeks with the students, teaching about our Aleutian feathered friends, and, last but not least – in fact, most importantly – Laresa Syverson will give 5 weeks of her afternoons in the pursuit of passing on Unangam tunuu (the Aleut language) to a generation younger than her!

Can you find the grey-crowned rosy finch?

Matter of Fact 1.

Webster’s dictionary defines exhilaration as a gladdening or enlivening; the act of enlivening the spirits; the act of making glad or cheerful.  It is the state of being enlivened or cheerful. 

One of the facts of life in the Aleutians is that the weather is never boring.  In fact, it is somewhat… exhilarating.  One of the values of the Unangas is that you should never say anything bad about the weather.  And so we don’t; or, at least if we do, we immediately note that we have inadvertantly done so.

The Aleutians are known as the birthplace of the winds; the cradle of the storms.  It is rarely ever still.  There is always a breeze wafting around, even on our calmest days, and a calm day is any day when the wind is below fifteen to twenty miles per hour. 

I often find myself in awe of our weather, either because of the wildness, the force, the absolute beauty, or the serenity.  I am contantly exhilarated.