A day's outing in Puerto Rico

On our 2nd full day in Puerto Rico we departed in the morning in our two rental cars for the El Yunque Rain Forest. One can readily notice from the pictures that we encountered both rain and forest. After the rain forest, we spent some time at a nearby beach. - rw

A Tropical Christmas

On December 24th Nancy and I spent all day on airplanes, flying from Portland to San Juan, Puerto Rico. We arrived at about 1:00 a.m. on Christmas morning. Our first night was short, but was spent in the airport hotel. Then, after we had rented a car and had a Christmas Noon meal at McDonalds, we managed to get lost en route to our week-long stay in a Comfort Inn in Levittown. Then, shortly before 4:00 a.m. on the 26th, Mark, Marta, Daniel, Eli and Micah arrived from D.C. Pictured is their family and the view from our 5th floor room. - rw

Leaving White Christmas -

On December 18 when I left North Pole, AK sunrise was at 10:56 am and sunset was at 2:39 pm for 3 hours and 43 minutes of day length.  The high recorded temperature in North Pole, AK on Dec. 18 was -5 and the low was -15.  I enjoyed the beauty of the frost and ice covered trees sparkling in the bright sun in front of the school where I work. I had an overnight flight Dec. 18 and arrived in Portland, OR Saturday morning Dec. 19 to a warm 49 degrees. It was great to see Ron and be in our home in Newberg. - Nancy

Good news!

Somewhere Nancy dug-up this old photo from almost 35 years ago -- on Tasha's 3rd birthday. Also, today I got good news on my prostate cancer. A PSA test I'd taken Friday came back with a result that was less than 1/2 as much as the original reading that led to the prostate biopsy. (My doctor had said that "any reduction" was an indication that the hormone therapy is working!) I do praise the Lord for this development, and am immensely grateful for all the prayer support! I see my urologist on Friday for continuing therapy. Nancy gets home for Christmas on Sat. a.m. - Ron

Winter on Ice in North Pole

Today it was free to get into The Christmas in Ice display at Santa Claus House here in North Pole. The carvers were still working on the sculptures so it was interesting to see them working. Below are some pictures.

Santa and his Reindeer

 My favorite is the train. Notice the carved puffs of smoke coming from the smokestack. - Nancy

Reindeer eating supper.

A Thanksgiving Surprise!

I had a big Thanksgiving surprise in the arrival of daughter Tasha from Honolulu. I knew that Mark would be with me (I picked him up at the airport), but had no idea Tasha would be coming. The doorbell rang in late morning on Thanksgiving Day and it was Tasha! We (Mark and I) had previously arranged to have dinner with the Fawver family at Mike and Nancy's, so the food is shown below ...

Also pictured is Mareesa Fawver (Mike and Nancy's eldest) with ripe olives on each finger! - rw

Winter Scenes in North Pole, AK

I know I'm getting used to Alaska winter weather when I think it's warmer and it's still -1 degrees F. This week I had two dental appointments. It was -21 when I got home from the first one on Nov. 18. That is the coldest it's been since I've been here. There was a warming trend and on Nov. 19 it was a warm -1.

I have been taking walks in the snow. It seems that kids here go sledding via snow mobiles that pull them. That eliminates having to walk up the sledding hill. -Nancy

Winter sun is low in the sky

George Fox Football ...

George Fox University completed their 2nd season of football in the modern era and won four games (compared to only 1 win last year). As the guest of Lew Goslin, I was present for the last game of the season -- a George Fox win over Willamette University, 21-14. It was an exciting game, especially at the end when Willamette had the ball and threatened to tie the game and force overtime. - rw

Car in the Far North

Today when I arrived home from work the outdoors temperature gauge on car was 0 degrees for the first time. Tonight is supposed to be about -10 degrees. Later this week it is to get to -20 degrees and not above zero even during the day. So how do I get my car to start when I have to park it outside all the time? I plug it in both at home and at work. The back view shows how the ice and snow build up. The license plate might be visible by April. There is a certain beauty about the snow never melting and the trees always being covered with snow and frost. The snow crunches when you walk on it because of the cold. - Nancy

Work on a Holiday

Veteran's Day has been a holiday in all public schools where I have worked so I find it a bit ironic to work in a school that is on an Air Force base and it was not a holiday. For the first period of the day it was not school as normal. The parent-teacher association presented a breakfast for parents who are in military service or are veterans. Parents were welcomed at the door by student council members. The ROTC provided a sabre salute and the choir sang a very moving song. -Nancy

I do work ----

I came to Alaska to work in a school library. Here are some views of the library. I have fabulous student aides who have help rearrange the entire fiction section. The students also create nice bulletin boards for me. My first order was to purchase Alaska Battle of the Books for both the junior high and high school levels. There are 12 books for each level and it is my goal to read all 24 of the books. I've read 6 so far so I have a ways to go.
- Nancy

Alaska Battle of the Books

Lounge Area

My Church in North Pole

I have decided to attend the local Lutheran church in North Pole. The congregation and the size of the Lord of Life Lutheran church reminds me of Bangor-Liberty Friends Church where I grew up. - Nancy

 

Checking out a place to view the Aurora Borealis

After work on Friday I went to a place called Chena Lakes recreation area. It has a massive dike that was built to limit flooding. I climbed to the top of the dike and had excellent views. I discovered this area is only 10 minutes from my apartment.

 My goal of going there was to find a place to go and see the Aurora Borealis if the sky remained free of clouds. About 11:30 pm I headed out to the location I had scouted out and was not disappointed. The sky was brilliant. There was a band of greenish, yellow light stretching from the eastern to western horizon and rising over my head like I was standing inside the dome.

My attempts to capture this on my little point and shoot camera were dismal but this picture gives a glimpse of the sky.  There is a good website that posts pictures of the Northern Lights and also predictions for viewing. One of my hopes of living in Alaska was to see the Northern Lights and my first viewing did not disappoint. - Nancy

Snow Day in North Pole

The second snow storm in September started on Sept. 29 and continued through Sept. 30. Weather.com posted this "For the second time in less than a week, Fairbanks, Alaska, was blanketed with heavy snow. This time, it was a record-breaker. Officially, 11.2 inches of snow blanketed Fairbanks International Airport Tuesday, setting an all-time September daily snow record, previously 7.8 inches on Sep. 13, 1992. This also topped the previous record for any 24-hour September snowfall of 9 inches in 1992, according to Rick Thoman from the National Weather Service in Fairbanks. Records in Fairbanks date to 1904.

My car after I had dug it out once the day before.

The heavy wet snow took down tree limbs and power lines.

Golden Valley Electric Agency reported an estimated 7,000-9,000 customers without power as of early Wednesday morning in Fairbanks and in nearby areas. This was down from a peak of about 13,000 customers Tuesday evening, or roughly 30 percent of their total customers."

School was cancelled on Sept. 30 so it was a very low key day in my apartment. I was one of the customers without power. I had a very quiet day reading books and eating cold food. I had just gotten snow tires Tuesday so I tested them out to go to the local Safeway store to get matches. I had candles but no matches.   - Nancy