Year's End and the Midday Sun

The last week in December in Fairbanks has the sun rising only a little above the horizon. The shot below shows the sun near its zenith on December 23rd at 12:20 p.m.On the 28th a little after 1:00 p.m. I stopped by the river where the warm water from the power plant has kept the river from freezing over. The day was somewhere in the neighborhood of minus 10 degrees F, and steam rose from the warm water into the cold air. It created a nice little spa for the ducks.

There must be good things to eat in the water, as there were a lot of bottoms-up.

Several Ravens were hanging around the area too, and one carried a treat up into the branches of a spruce tree to eat.

Yesterday around 12:45 p.m. we were driving down the road and I snapped the image below of the sun as it was blanketed by the clouds. We have gained 13 minutes of daylight since December 21st, so we're on the uphill swing!

I wish all of you a Happy New Year!

Old Barn Near Gettysburg

We saw this old barn in September near Gettysburg in Pennsylvania. There was a fire somewhere in the area so the sky was hazy and the barn was a ways across the fields. I like the hazy hills in the background and the yellow of the field of soybeans in the foreground. Cropping the photo severely and playing with the contrast, I lost some clarity, but the character of the barn can be seen.

With all the snowy weather around the country, a little glimpse of early fall weather seemed like a good idea to me. To see more old barns, check out the Barn Charm meme hosted by Tricia.

New Mommy at Christmas

Christmas Day saw many new mommies hugging their new babies for the first time. My granddaughter Sydney gave her new baby some tender care. (Well, she was attempting to brush the baby's hair with a plastic pair of pliers, but the intent was there!)

And like all new mommies, there were many hugs for the sweet little baby.

Christmas is the perfect time for a new baby to arrive!

Merry Christmas

Here in Alaska we are the last place in the world to celebrate Christmas. The International Date Line runs west of Alaska, and in Russia and Australia Christmas Day is almost over, but here it is just ready to begin. Wherever you live, whether Christmas is over or just beginning, I wish you all the blessings of the season.

Christmas at Creamer's Field

This afternoon while I was out shopping I stopped at Creamer's Field to take some photos of the Christmas tree in front of the barns. An added bonus was the rising moon behind the barns.

Looking across the fields, the moon shone brightly, creating a beautiful winter scene.

Sunset today was at 2:39, but we have a long twilight time, and as you can see it wasn't dark yet. We will lose one more minute of daylight, and then after that we will begin the journey from the longest night to June's midnight sun. Check out Trish's blog Barn Charm to see barns from around the world.

Up in the Treetops

Yesterday I took a few photos of the white spruce trees around our yard. It was around noontime, but the sun was just hitting the tops of the trees.
It was a clear day, and the temperature was around minus 35 F.

We haven't had any snowfall for a while, but because of no wind there is still quite a bit of snow on the trees.

When you look at the white spruce trees from the ground you don't notice the cones that are clustered in the treetops. However, when you zoom in with a camera you see how heavily they are covered with cones. Click on the photo below for a better view.

In the winter I love taking photos of the trees when they are dressed in snow.

I have been busy this week and so I have a bit of catching up to do on everyone's blogs. There never seems to be enough hours in the day in the few weeks before Christmas!

Old Barn Boards

In September we were traveling in Pennsylvania and a bit in New York. In the late afternoon we headed southwest out of Corning, New York, and into Pennsylvania. I don't know whether we were still in New York or were in Pennsylvania when we drove past this old barn. We didn't stop, so this is one of those fleeting images taken out of the window. When I posted the photo above, I started looking at the construction of the barn. It had various colors and materials, so I asked my resident carpenter Marty about the construction of the barn.

The face of the barn is covered with board and batten siding, which has alternating wide boards and narrow wooden strips called battens. These battens are placed over the seams between the boards, providing very good weather protection. It became popular for siding barns in the mid-1800s.

The silo is built of wood, and the bands around it are metal, placed closer together at the bottom for greater strength. The roof appears to be different metals, part of it covered in rust. This barn looks to be abandoned, but who knows what might be stored inside. It could be full of old junk, old farm machinery, or perhaps the holy grail for a car enthusiast like Marty, full of old cars. It's fun to speculate what might be hidden behind those old walls.

Check out Tricia's meme at Barn Charm to see more old barns from around the world.

Sydney's Turn To Skate

After spending a lot of time at the ice rink watching everyone else skate, Sydney got out on the ice at rec skating with her dad. She spent a lot of time with her feet in the air. Could she be thinking of doing some figure skating?

It was a little hard to tell if she was enjoying it, but there were some big smiles, so I think she had a good time. They only went around the rink three times, but the last time her feet spent more time on the ice and less in the air. I was thinking that little belly must be cold, but she didn't appear to notice.

The best picture of the whole night came at a rest stop.

I think she could be skating circles around all of us in a few years!

Out My Back Window

As I look out my back window, I see the sun glistening in the snow-covered branches of the trees. The sunlight filters through the trees for a few short hours and creates a world of beauty.

As I watch the sparkle I feel like I can almost see snow fairies flitting from branch to branch.

If they are there they are very elusive, and their dance through the trees is brief.

We are approaching the shortest day of the year, and the sun never comes up over the tops of the trees in my yard. It makes its appearance for a few short hours, but during that time it gilds the trees with incredible beauty.

And then before you know it it is sinking out of sight.

During the winter a clear sunny day is usually accompanied by cold temperatures. It's been mostly minus 20 F or colder for the last week, with nighttime lows dipping down close to minus 30. Tomorrow some clouds are expected to roll in bringing a little warmer weather, with perhaps a few snow flurries. One thing we know for certain is that we will have a white Christmas.

Creamer's Field Barns in the Winter

A few weeks ago I posted about the old dairy barns at Creamer's Field here in Fairbanks as they looks in the fall. Click here to read that post. In the wintertime the barns look very different with their coating of snow. In the spring, summer, and fall the fields are reserved for the migratory birds. The Creamer's Field Migratory Waterfowl Refuge that surrounds the old dairy barns has many year-round activities, and in the wintertime the fields are open for recreational use, and are used by dog mushers, snowshoers, cross country skiiers, and skijorers. I took the first three photos in this post on November 27th, and a couple of skijorers were out enjoying a lovely snowy day.

In the wintertime the trees capture your attention. We don't get a lot of wind in the wintertime, so the snow can lay on the bare branches of the trees for many weeks at a time.

In early February of this year I took some photos on a sunny afternoon. Hoarfrost had formed on the tree branches. Hoarfrost consists of crystalline structures that grow from water vapor that has evaporated from moisture in the air. Our winter weather conditions are very favorable in Fairbanks for its formation.

Changing the focus a bit, you can see the barns in the background.

Last winter we had a very low snow pack, and in February you could still see some of the tall grasses poking through the snow.

I have posted a lot of photos taken at Creamer's Field and you can find them if you go to the Labels section in my sidebar and click on Creamer's Field. If you want to see more old barns from around the world, click here to go to Old Barns hosted by Tricia.

How I Spent My Weekend

This weekend my granddaughter Sydney and I watched a co-ed hockey tournament. Her mom and dad and grandpa were all on one team and two aunts and an uncle on another team. Sydney is already a big hockey fan.

Here she shares a moment with her mom.

Of course, she's only 1-1/2, and sometimes her attention wanders. She likes to check out the construction details of the ice rink. After all, her dad and grandpa are both carpenters.

Go, team! Go, Mama! Go, Daddy! Go, Grandpa!

Sitting next to the player's bench, Sydney kept an eye on the line changes.

There were a few tense moments during the tournament, but in the end....

.....our team was tournament champion in the Fairbanks Turkey Shoot Out!