This winter has already shaped up to be much colder across the Southeast than last year's. We've even gotten snow in North Georgia. That huge storm everyone's talking about right now has missed us, but the frigid temps still persist. Along with some wind, it feels even colder than it actually is.
Speaking of cold weather, I don't know how I stood it in Alaska for 3.5 years! I was a teenager, and in the 1960s, it was much colder then than it is now. I have Fairbanks, AK, on my phone weather app so I can keep abreast of the weather there (why, I don't know--it's just interesting to me). Back then, the normal winter temps were 40, 50, and 60 below zero. And yes, I walked several blocks to school, even walking home for lunch, a matter of a few blocks. Of course, we lived on a small military post 100 miles from Fairbanks (Ft. Greely), so central Alaska was always very cold. The wind blew hard much of the time, so the wind chill factor made it even more dangerous. We quickly learned how to dress appropriately and avoid frostbite. I remember my feet being totally numb by the time I arrived at school, which only took me about ten minutes' walking time. The worst part was my feet thawing out: OUCH! Very painful.
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| Frozen trees |
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| Mt. McKinley in summer, the tallest peak in North America ~ I attended summer camps there |
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| Richardson Highway, the road we traveled when going to Fairbanks |
In any case, my entire family loved Alaska. Summers were short, but beautiful with long days (Alaska is known as "the land of the midnights sun" for good reason). Daylight was many hours long in summer, very short in winter. Right now, the sun rises in Fairbanks about 10:45 a.m. and sets around 3:00 p.m. In winter, I walked to school in the dark and came home in the dark. There were abundant street lights, however.
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| A typical winter day in Alaska, around midday |
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| Herds of buffalo roaming freely in our area: I saw this scene regularly while waiting for the school bus when we lived in Delta Junction at the beginning of our time there |
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| This sign is for real--a buffalo could total a small car! |
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| The town just down the Richardson Hwy. from Ft. Greely |
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| Donnelly's Dome, a mountain where wild cranberries grew below it in the summer. We picked them every summer and my mother made her famous cranberry-banana jam from them--yummy |
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| Ft. Greely was located right beside Delta Junction |
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| No photo I've ever seen shows how beautiful the northern lights actually are |
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| The snow was this deep or more on my way to school if I took a shortcut instead of going on the sidewalks! |
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| Beautiful woods |
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| People still use dog sleds when traveling in certain areas ~ and remember the Iditarod race! |
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| We saw grizzlies, moose, wolves, buffalo, Arctic fox, and other native wildlife. Alaska was beautiful! |
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| This little puppy would need to stay inside in Alaska. Leave the cold to the huskies and malamutes! |
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| This husky is well suited to Alaska's harsh winters |
I'm so thankful for the opportunity of living in various interesting places as an "Army brat." But Alaska remains my favorite place of all!
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| Can you find me in my Ft. Greely yearbook? This is a page from the year I was in 11th grade ~ and please ignore the hair styles!! |
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| Alaska became our 49th state in 1959. I lived there 1961 - 1964 |
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