Winter is on the Way

It’s official. The nights are getting longer, the lakes are freezing over, and the car doors are getting increasingly more difficult to pry open in the morning.  We still have about 7 hours of daylight (9-4), but the sun stays so low in the sky that it never really feels like daytime. There is dawn and then there is dusk. Nothing in between.

And then of course there is the cold. 

Kasilof River starting to freeze at the edges

So far, it just feels like some of the coldest days we have experienced in Colorado; nothing too crazy. But the locals all smirk at the fact that we are already in our down jackets, as if we were complete cold rookies. So, I assume it gets worse. If you don’t see a blog post within the next couple months, you’ll know we have become Mascarenas popsicles. (kidding, dad!!)Whatever may come, here is what we have learned to be grateful for as winter approaches:

1. Our battery blanket. Since hardly anyone has a garage up here, plugging in your car is essential to protecting it from an icy death. And it works well.

2. Cold gear designed for Alaska. People laugh at the jackets we brought from Oregon and New Mexico, and rightfully so. Here it’s all about down, fur (sorry, PETA), and insulating fleece. The stores even sell battery-powered heat socks.

The journey to the trash is long, harsh, and uphill (both ways)

3. Sunrises. They happen so late in the morning that we get to watch the sunrise every single day, even on the weekends when we sleep in. And as a bonus, the sun rises over the mountains AND sets over the mountains.

Sunrise over Homer's boat harbor

Sunset over K-beach near our house

4.  Clear, crisp nights. Makes for some of the best star gazing we’ve ever seen. Word on the street is the aurora borealis usually happens when the temperatures drop like this. We haven’t seen them yet, but we joined a calling list and are keeping our fingers crossed.

5.The beauty of the freeze. We’ve never seen it before, but this is what fresh snow looks like when it hits the ground and freezes:

Hoping to get more snow soon so we can dust off our snowboards and get outside to play!

Catching Up

Hey all! It feels like the past few weeks have flown by in the blink of an eye. We’ve had so many exciting things come our way – parents visiting, me getting a new job, Brandon FINALLY catching fish, our first snow in Alaska, etc., etc. It’s been an action-packed month, so tonight I’m feeling pretty thrilled to just lounge in my PJs and get back to blogging. Turns out I’m really enjoying this thing...

Since my last blog post, we were blessed to have not one, but BOTH sets of parents come visit us! Mama and papa Mascarenas came first. They were here for a week, so we got to squeeze in a lot of sightseeing, fish-eating, road-tripping, rock collecting fun. One of the highlights was going to Homer, where Sandra and I had a girls day of wine tasting/exploring, while Brandon and Joe went on a fishing charter and caught their limit winter kings! We ate some the same day they caught it, and lemme tell ya.... it turned this non-meat eater into a believer. Yep. Let it be stated in the record right here - I am now officially a salmon eater. 

A few days after they left, it was mama and papa Dodeans' turn! They only got to stay 4 days, but that didn’t stop us from squeezing every ounce of adventure out of our time together. We toured Homer, hiked in bear county, saw LOTS of wildlife, enjoyed 9 am sunrises, visited several glaciers, and beat the Dodeans in cards every single night (-;  We had a blast spending time with both our parents in beautiful Alaska, and felt very blessed that they could both come up and experience it with us.

Once the folks returned home, my work schedule suddenly hit full steam. I got another job at a pediatric clinic....which by they way now holds the top spot on the list of best places I've ever worked. Although its a whirlwind between peds and the hospital, working with little ones is my absolute favorite. There's no way to have a bad day when your daily patient interactions go something like this:

Me: "Is mommy or daddy picking you up today?"

2-year old: "Daddy. He has a big butt. And can you believe its still growing?!"

12 year-old: "I've been thinking its time for me to move out"

Me: "Really? Why is that?"

12 year-old: "I just don't want to be an old loser who still lives with his parents."

4 year old: "Miss Betty, how old are you?"

Me: "I"m 28. Pretty old, right?"

4 year old: "No, you're not old. My mommy is old. She's 32"

It's a pretty sweet job (:

Finally, in other exciting news, we had our first snow!! Only 2-3 inches, but it made everything that much more beautiful. 

First time I've ever seen snow at a beach!

To sum it up, life has been treating us pretty well up here. It's starting to get significantly colder now days, but were looking forward to what winter has to offer in these parts. More on this coming soon!