Revved Up Like a Deuce.

It is getting NOTICEABLY lighter and lighter by leaps and bounds every day.

HOOOOOOORRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!

And the days aren't just longer, they are noticeably brighter as the sun starts to break free of its anemic role skimming the horizon and begins the ascent to its rightful prominence in the sky.

You've never known anyone so intent on astronomical stats as I am after moving up here. That much I promise you. I have charts. Multiple links to the United States Naval Observatory. I know what day the sun will finally set here later than in St. Louis (2/12). What day the total daylight scales will tip (3/19). Since the "shortest day of the year" on the Dec. 22 solstice, we've already picked up AN HOUR of actual sunrise/sunset time - literally twice the progression of STL. Hey, if you dipped to 5 hours 38 minutes of sunlight on the shortest day, you'd be excited about a full extra hour of sun in just a few weeks too!

So far this season it has snowed over FOUR FEET (49.2 inches), but most of that melted in earlier in various intervals; but we've picked up a foot and a half this month and growing...

I'm certainly not going to taunt Old Man Winter, as we are a lonnnnngggg way from any semblance of spring. But daylight-wise, that's it? That's all you got for me? Mission Accomplished (without the aircraft carrier).

So what's been up in AK? One story is before the snow started piling back up a few weeks ago there was a string of attacks on family dogs by wolf packs, of which there are four or five right here in the Anchorage area. I guess the lack of snow made moose more evasive than usual, and it's slim pickings this time of year for food, so they were eating people's dogs! Yeesh - I feel sorry for the owners (and the dogs of course), but still it's a pretty wild story! This was actually happening all over the state. I'm cooped up now in my apartment studying for the February bar exam (it's as much of a nightmare as you've heard - that's all I have to say about that). I guess I take some solace in hearing bear and wolf and even weird bald eagle stories and knowing there's still a wild world out there waiting.

The new year is upon us: a couple observations:

My favorite thing about Alaska: it's the last American frontier, of course! Wilderness! Adventure! That goes without saying. But in addition to that, it's local. Our future is uncertain. The pipeline, which accounts for 75-85% of revenue to the government, is already on the decline and obviously will be tapped out at some point. There are massive natural gas resources on the North Slope (way north), but finding a way to extract and get it to market is a huge challenge (currently under bid by TransCanada - where is the American know-how?). Most, or maybe all the places I've lived it seems like everything is a foregone conclusion and you just plod along. We're only 49 years old as a state, we're remote, and have little infrastructure (there is a big chunk of cities/villages off of the "road system" completely). It really feels like decisions that are made now matter. I read the paper consistently, and care. It's refreshing.

My least favorite thing about Alaska: "Yeah, well I've been here for....." I get it, but come on. No one has ever said that to me, so this is not personal. But the "I've been here for XX years so: 1) I am a true Alaskan; 2) only my opinion matters; 3) whatever" - it's lame. First, it's a state in the Union - no one ever tries to run smack about a guy moving from Delaware to New Hampshire (well, maybe they do and I don't know it), but you get my point. It's a state - everyone has the right to travel from state to state, no papers. And so what - some guy says "I've been here for 10 years so anyone behind me doesn't count". Of course, that guy doesn't realize he's disappearing like Marty McFly's older brother in that Polaroid from Back to the Future because some other dude who has been here for 20 years thinks the same thing about him.

So, I haven't been getting around to much lately, and likely will not until the first of March (then I'm going as madman as possible). In the meantime, here are a couple things of personal interest:

1. Much like Tony Soprano's ducks, I am very pleased to have a new moose coming around again lately! Although I must say when some dude on the road in front of my building locked up his brakes and started sliding, and then I locked up my brakes and started sliding toward him, because he wanted to look at a moose 50 feet off the road, it was NOT cool! C'mon, dude, we all like watching moose but not at peril of life and property!

Anyway, there is a young I think bull moose frolicking around lately, and he's pretty funny to watch. Moose don't have antlers this time of year, but his markings seem to indicate he's a bull (I'm no expert). Anyway, here's little buddy in the yard at my apt complex, walking the fenceline knee-deep in snow, as seen from my bedroom window:

He was really running around out there, in part to get his long legs above the snow, and in part I think just for fun. He was also having a good time plowing his prominent schnoz into the snow, looking for any little morsels of food:

Do you think he saw me snapping pics from the window and struck a pose? I suppose not, but I find this pic very, very funny - so much so it's my laptop wallpaper. Then again, I just may be going stir crazy.

2. I also thought I'd mention the Arctic Valley Star, which shines anomolously in the night sky above Anchorage each winter on the front of the Chugach Range. It started in 1958 when a 15-foot star was erected by soldiers at the gatehouse to the "Site Summit" Nike-Hercules missile facility above Anchorage, which was there to protect from attack by those pesky nearby Ruskies (the structures are still there, abandoned). In 1960 (the year after statehood) it was expanded to a width of 117 feet and 250 bulbs, and since 1989 has been 300 feet across and comprised of 350 60-watt bulbs.

(You can click to enlarge.) That was taken from my apartment window - it looks even cooler from other lower-lying parts of town.

Last note: Next up, unless I sneak out at some point (which is highly likely), is THE IDITAROD!!! It starts in Anchorage on 3/1 (the bar is 2/26-2/28). Plus there is a celebration called Fur Rendezvous (a historical celebration between miners and trappers from back in the day), called Fur Rondy for short, that leads up to the Iditarod for about 10 days. My greatest regret: I'm going to miss the 1st Annual "Running of the Reindeer" as part of the Fur Rondy due to conflict with the bar. You can pay $20 to charity to run with caribou. Of course, the caribou will be from a farm, and are highly unlikely to actually run, but it would still be sweet just for posterity. Maybe next year, if it happens again. But I do hope to check out the Rondy if I can in its last couple days, maybe to see some caribou-drawn sled races or the snowshoe softball tournaments. It sounds pretty unique and I hope I get the chance to check it out!