About weather: Be careful what you wish for

I discovered a basic truth in wildlife photography: In order to do it right, your really need to go outdoors. Ha!

It's kind of like the television commercial where a guy says genies take things literally. In the next scene a guy asks a genie for a million bucks only to look out his window to see that many male deer grazing in his yard.

Last week I wrote something about entreating winter to stop teasing and give us some. Well, we got it all right, but more like the buck deer than the dollars. We got winter: a dusting of snow, enough to cover the ground, about 5 inches here. It was so little and so light, a good sneeze would have cleared the yard. Then the temperature went down. So far the worst has been 15 below here but I can't dwell on that because I have several friends living farther north between 30 and 50 below for going on a week now.

Here's a quote from one friend's facebook page: "Still in the deep freeze, with –30F on our hill and a bonechilling -42 downtown. Earlier: Got up to -27 downtown today, then started heading back down. Was -32F at Goldstream Creek on Ballaine at 4 pm, then I started climbing up to our hill as it got "warmer & warmer". -25 at home. I'll take it--much better than the valley floor."

And one from another friend: "TONIGHT...MOSTLY CLEAR. LOWS 35 TO 45 BELOW. VARIABLE WINDS LESS THAN 15 MPH. Only -19 last night here on the ridgetop we call the Banana Belt."

So, we got the cold side of winter, but certainly not the snow kind I wanted so much. On the good side, 17 inches of snow fell near the East Pole so a trip is probably viable.

Meanwhile life got pretty hectic outside the windows. Chickadees puffed out to almost double their normal size are attacking the feeders by the dozen. The chickadees fluff up their feathers when it's cold to trap more insulating air against their bodies. They empty five feeders in about 24 hours and I just bought my fourth 40# bag of sunflower seeds this winter. That's almost the pace the hordes of redpolls went through feed a couple of years.

The pine grosbeaks also puff up but not as noticeably and they've been hitting the feeders pretty hard too. In the cold there have been more juncos picking  through the spilled seed underneath the feeders along with a redpoll or two. And of course there the those two nuthatches sneaking in for a seed when they can. A woodpecker makes his presence known at times with its tapping on nearby trees, but hasn't been on the feeders in a while, at least when I was watching.

Meanwhile the forecast shows warming over the next few days with mostly sunny and partly cloudy skies and temperatures during the day in the 20s. Now, that's perfect. Even better, there is more snow in the forecast.

 

But whoever that weather control being is, honest, I am NOT asking for anything, so no literal interpretations, either that or I will be more specific with requests in the future.

Come on winter, don't tease

You'd think Alaska was under attack

In his campaign for the Senate last year, Alaska's junior senator said he will stand up to Obama.  Well, the president is giving him plenty of reason to stand up. but so far there's been only one such incident when Dan Sullivan spoke to the Senate about, guess what, gun control. And what did he want to control? No he isn't going against all his Republican cohorts to actually control weaponry in the U.S., unless you happen to work for the Environmental Protection Agency or the Bureau of Land Management.

Those are the people he wants to take guns away from. It all began with a confrontation a few years ago when EPA officials had a dustup with a group of miners in Interior Alaska over pollution issues. Some guns were drawn, the folks complained the federal officials overstepped their authority and after an investigation, it was deemed the feds acted properly. So now, that's Sullivan's vital issue, he wants to send federal employees all over Alaska into bear country unarmed. Mind you every damned drunken nutcase in Alaska can take a gun anywhere he wants but those dangerous federal officials are going to have to use sticks and stones to fend off attacking grizzlies.

Meanwhile President Obama launched a major initiative to protect some of Alaska's most precious country from drooling oil drillers wringing their hands to get into the ground in the Arctic.

First he proposed designating 12.2 million acres of the 19-million-acre Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as wilderness, effectively removing it from access by those attacking oil drillers. That of course drew outrage from Alaska politicians who can only see dollars and economic growth. Keep in mind these same politicians approved an incentive program for the oil industry which when it was finally analyzed appears to have doled out more money to the industry than the state took in from royalties. And we wonder why there is a budget crisis in Alaska. And our senator who was going to stand up to Obama? He showed up in a picture peeking over the shoulder of the state's other senator, Lisa Murkowski as she protested the move.

Murkowski incidentally is so in the pocket of the oil industry she supports the Keystone pipeline and somehow has managed to rationalize a reason why building a pipeline for the dirtiest oil in the world from Canada across the Untied Sates to salt water in the Gulf of Mexico for export overseas, would be of some economic benefit to Alaska.

And while Alaskans were screaming from the treetops about ANWR (where there are no treetops) in what could be construed as something like a basketball juke and drive to the basket, while Alaskans were taking the fake, Obama in an executive order placed 9.8 million acres offshore in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas as marine wilderness. It looks like that would be at least near the area where Shell spent a whole season unable to drill in the Chukchi Sea and then almost lost its drilling rig during the trip south after the season.

If you read the Alaska news outlets or listen to the television talking heads you would think every single Alaskan opposes these moves, at least in what the politicians are quoted as saying. Not so. There are plenty of us cheering for the president and who want those places preserved, others of us who have experience with oil spills who want no part of a spill in Arctic waters and even more who just like the pretty, wild country and its wildlife. And that's not to mention preserving the traditional lifestyle of the Eskimos who live along that coast.

Along with that there are probably even more who would like to see the junior senator just STFU. We might wonder if one of those EPA guys gets lunched by a grizzly would the government be liable for damages. Maybe Junior would like to establish a multi-million-dollar escrow account of his own money to support their widows and children.

Wilderness designation plan for ANWR

Protection for marine wilderness
Chukchi Sea biological hot spot preserved

Alaska Dispatch News report

Junior senator wants to disarm EPA and BLM

COMMENTS:

Janice Edwards Excellent article, Tim. Thanks for breaking it down for your neighbors in the lower 48.

Come on, winter, don't tease

The day dawned with great promise – up to twenty inches of snow in the forecast – after a winter without snow for the most part, a ribbon of ice for a driveway just one example of the problem. At first light a small flock of redpolls poked through the bird seed on the ground, the first ones since a single scout showed up New Year's Day, and a far cry from the hordes that showed up two years ago.

Around 1 p.m. the snow started, tiny light flakes, but right on schedule. In a previous home which usually reports the most snowfall on the continent, the word was "small flakes, big snow." Observations showed that was some old wives' tale because most of the big snows started as big flakes.

Throughout the day the redpolls stayed around, but not more than half a dozen or so. They competed with the chickadees, pine grosbeaks and a few juncos and nuthatches, not like that big year in 2013 when they mostly crowded out the others. This year has been a big year for the chickadees and grosbeaks. More of them than ever before have been around all winter. The third 40-pound bag of sunflower seeds is nearly exhausted.

Snow fell for a while through the afternoon, then stopped as darkness fell, leaving a ground cover that barely turned the yard white. A good, healthy sneeze could have cleared the whole thing.

The folks at the Weather Service have updated their forecast pushing back the time to after midnight when the main storm is supposed to hit, with up to 14 inches predicted in Anchorage and anybody's guess how much will hit here and farther west up into the Susitna Valley near the East Pole. 

Overnight maybe another inch fell hiding the rest of the dead leaves in the yard, but still nothing to brag about. The Weather Underground snow depth report says 66 inches are on the ground at the Susitna Valley High School, the reporting point closest to the East Pole. That's doubtful. Either they put the gauge near an eave where snow can slide onto it or the kids are screwing with it. Two days ago the report from there was 5 inches deep and it's doubtful 5 feet fell in the next day and a half.

But there is still a big snowfall in the forecast and the outlook has been extended into Monday, so enough may fall yet for a trip to the cabin next week.

Mind you, yearning for snow is not a bunch of skiers wanting to have some fun. Outside the urban areas, snow is vital. For one thing it makes getting around in the Bush much easier than in summer, and that's what the wait is for here. For another the Iron Dog snowmachine race and several sled dog races including the Iditarod are threatened. There is open water on the Yukon River for crying out loud.

The lack of snow around here isn't the only unusual part of this winter in Alaska. This past week Southeastern Alaska experienced record rainfall in several places and flooding and threatened mudslides actually led to evacuations in Ketchikan, while there was a  headline in a Juneau newspaper saying the rainfall was threatening boats.

Meanwhile in Washington both of Alaska's senators voted to deny that "human activity significantly contributes to climate change."

Senate vote on climate

Iditarod threatened

Editor's choice: A rare white sperm whale attacked a ship ...

There's a story I wrote that is in this new Iditarod book that has quite a history with editing. And, thinking about it brought up a whole thought train about the editing. It's a vital part of the publishing process, but often demeaned by the very people its sole purpose to help and unknown to most of the public, even the reading public.

First of all, every writer needs an editor. You can read books about a fellow named Max Perkins who worked for Scribeners in the mid 20th century. Among others he edited Hemingway, Scott Fitzgerald, Thomas Wolfe and Erskine Caldwell. He turned down William Faulkner saying he couldn't handle another genius. Every one of those authors credits Perkins for making their work better.

As an editor myself at times, I have tried to live up to that standard.

Overall in my experience writing, the editors have done a great job. I only had two bad experiences and one misunderstanding well over-balanced by so many good ones. One of those editors has even become a lifelong friend.

Coincidentally two of the negative ones happened at a newspaper where I have worked several times over the years. It is a publication that has always held editing in low regard, and as a result discourages good editors. But that's another story.

The inmates have taken over the asylum

A collection of headlines found during a single day on Facebook.

Lawless Sheriffs Demand Obama’s Lynching At DC Protest While Leader Meets With GOP Senators

Woman Causes Stir At GOP Rep's Town Hall, Says 'Obama Should Be Executed'

Hannity Panel Slams President Obama For Allowing Women In Combat

Watch Out: Islam, Socialism, Environmentalism Uniting To Kill Us All

Rand Paul demonizes the disabled, claiming most are fakers.

America's Dumbest Congressman praises Egyptian dictator, still thinks Obama is a secret Muslim

Republican Congressman Randy Weber Compares Obama To Hitler

Two Climate Denying Senators Will Now Supervise the Nation's Climate Science

National Rifle Association suing Pittsburgh and Philadelphia over gun laws

Senate Expected To Vote On Whether Climate Change Is Real (In a related move an amendment has been introduced to vote on whether the earth orbits the sun.)

Ted Cruz, Longtime Foe Of NASA And Science, Will Oversee NASA And Science In New Congress

Lindsey Graham: It Bothers Me Obama Won’t Say We’re in a ‘Religious War’

Rep. Louie Gohmert loses control when Anderson Cooper asks for evidence on the 'Terror Babies' Conspiracy!

Fox News Gives O'Reilly A "Historical" Series After Years Of Criticism From Historians

Ted Nugent calls media ‘retards’ who ‘screw farm animals’ weeks before TV special with Sarah Palin

NBC’s Today Show Lets Sarah Palin Blame President Obama For Her Cruelty To Animals

House Republicans Put Obama’s Life In Danger By Holding Homeland Security Funding Hostage

Bartender Arrested For Talking About Killing Boehner, Ted Nugent Still Free

At least there were a couple like this one:

U.S. Racks Up Smallest Deficit Since 2007

and this one:

In a US first, New Orleans finds homes for all its homeless veterans

And of course there had to be one about the really important stuff:

Marilyn Manson is slowly turning into Nicholas Cage

The first 10 years of Iditarod races memorialized in a new book

With the exceptions of a storm at sea, or the birth of a child and even a new grandson, I don't think anything is more exciting than the publication of a new book.

My contribution was only a small part of this one, but the thrill is no less intense. It has taken a group of volunteers five years to wrangle this together and squeeze stories out of a large number of people in order to create this epic look at the first 10 years of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

How comprehensive is it? With more than 400 pages, it weighs 7 pounds for crying out loud. As we might have said in the 60s, "that's heavy."

After all that volunteer work it was a joy today to see the smiles on the faces of some of the folks who made this happen, packing up books to send to all the people who contributed to the Kickstarter effort that made it possible and to all the folks who ordered it ahead of time. Pretty sure I had as big a smile as I sat and leafed through it with them before taking my boxes of books for my friends and family.

I only hope people reading it have the same feelings and enjoy it as much as those of us who contributed to it are enjoying the finished product now.

"Iditarod, "The First 10 Years" web page: Previews, history ordering information.
The first 10 great races
Not just another Iditarod book
A most fortunate encounter
200,000 miles on a dog sled
What do Truman Capote and the Iditarod have in common?

Clearing up the last of 2014 and riding this rock into 2015

Here we are more than a week into a new orbit and there's a bunch of stuff left over from the last one that really should be dealt with before we get too far along.

In terms of wrap-ups. the weather takes a front page position. First note was that Anchorage, Alaska, in late December marked a whole year where the temperature never fell below zero. The last time that happened was a period of more than 600 days over the years 2000 and 2001.  While 2014 may not be a record, the streak may not be over so it could still happen.

In addition to Anchorage's year above zero, the official statistics came down this week that show 2014 was the warmest year in Alaska since records have been kept, the warmest since at least 1918. That's the state as a whole, not individual reporting stations, so only a few local records were broken. But

overall it was the warmest. And on top of that, it turns out 2014 was the warmest year on record for the entire country.

Despite the warm year, the state didn't entertain a very remarkable fire season. According to the Alaska Division of Forestry, 393 fires burned 244,529.5 acres. The largest by far was the Funny River fire on the Kenai Peninsula in May and June which consumed nearly 200,000 acres. I have no idea how many football fields that is.

So we're all warmed up to ride this rock around the sun,  right?  Wrong.

You see, on November 18, the country, the whole country, recorded the coldest ever overall temperature for that date. The average temperature that day for the contiguous 48 states dropped to 19.4 degrees at 7 a.m. according to one dataset used by forecasters. Every state recorded temperatures below freezing, every state.  Yes. that includes Hawaii where the temperature went below freezing at the observatories on Mauna Kea at 13,796 feet above sea level.

It made a mess out of the political argument. I mean every state freezing on the same day, that sure does fire up the climate change deniers. But, then Alaska's warm and the polar ice continues to melt, but the deniers can't see those so they probably don't count. Maybe Earth is just tipping over.

There are four grosbeaks and two chickadees in this
picture. Good Luck

The polar vortex is forming again and sure enough the snowy owls are following the pattern. There's a new problem this year, though. Last year there was an overpopulation of their favorite prey, the Arctic lemmings. This year there isn't and owls have been rescued at several locations, stressed and starving. There are some good folks out there trying to save as many as they can but it might be a tough road for the owls and the rescuers.

Meanwhile there's no snow in my yard and rain in the forecast and still no trail to the East Pole. This past week here it got to about 5 below zero, but this isn't Anchorage which is generally warmer, sometimes by 20 degrees. 

There are lots of birds, mostly Pine grosbeaks (I counted 13 at one time the other day), more Chickadees than I have noticed before, nuthatches, and at least one downy woodpecker and one hairy woodpecker. A single, lonely redpoll showed up New Year's Day and an exotic that still remains unidentified was here just before Christmas.

And just to get things going on this new voyage through our galaxy:

 JE SUIS CHARLIE

and

Kirby Delauter, Kirby Delauter, Kirby Delauter

and a personal one:

From now on, it's just us  (I might explain that some day.

2014 the warmest on record for the entire country

More earthquakes in 2014 than any year on record

They're baaack: Snowy owls heading south again

Owl be seeing you in the Polar vortex

Kirby Delauter

2014 Alaska wildfire statistics

Happy New Year

First redpoll!

Redpolls – 2013