Cue music: Snow, snow, snow, snow

My Facebook and Twitter networks are abuzz with reports of the weather in the Pacific Northwest this week. Friends from Seattle to Portland to Boise are reporting the stuff snowballs are made of causing early release at work, school cancellations and delayed flights. We've had snow for months and dealing with it becomes second nature here. So all the commotion made me want to take my camera for a run around the neighborhood to share what our accumulation looks like this time of year.

Drive safe out there, friends. Oh, and it's minus-10 degrees here today!

 Sometimes I take these stately evergreens for granted. I'll try to be better about that.

Snow berms block sidewalks, houses and impede the width of the road by feet. It actually changes the look of the streets. We almost missed out street turn multiple times after coming back from vacation to more snow. Sad, I know.

We are lucky to have a snow service included in rent, so this little walkway along the house is courtesy those fine folks. My front yard is flush with the walkway, so this best illustrates the snow level here.

 Davin plays in the vacant lot next door.

And it begins

Just when we were all thinking Anchorage kids might be lucky enough to have a snow-free Trick-or-Treat this Halloween — this happened. Anchorage got it's first measurable snowfall last night. Goodbye green. Hello white for the next six months.

The cats didn't know what to make of this strange cold stuff.

 The pumpkins looked a little distraught too.

Thunderbird Falls

I've driven past the exit for Thunderbird Falls pretty much four times a week for the last two years. Despite the sage advise from my grandmother to go there, we didn't make the trip until last weekend. I figured if my friend's willful three-year-old could do the hike it would be super easy and flat. So the first big hill surprised me, but it wasn't bad after that. The 20 minute drive northwest of Anchorage on the Glenn Highway is totally worth the crashing sound and refreshing view of the 200 foot falls. There is an upper viewing point and a short trail to stand near the bottom of the falls where I could actually feel the mist. It was a great afternoon trip that took us on to an Eklutna adventure. More on that later.

Word is the falls freeze in the winter creating beautiful nature-made ice sculptures. Perhaps we'll have to venture back for a cold weather hike in a few months.

Friday Fun: It hit 50 degrees

My thermometer ranged from 50 to 54 on my drive home this afternoon. Time for some springtime bicycling. Happy weekend!

My mind is on Japan and not Friday Fun today

In lieu of a Friday Fun post I'm thinking positive thoughts for the the people affected by the earthquake in Japan and subsequent tsunamis. Especially for my former Daily Evergreen newspaper cronies, who currently reside in Japan. Thanks goodness for Facebook and being the good journalists they are, I've seen posts from both of them letting friends and family know that they are OK, but definitely feeling the tremors.

Above I've posted the USGS earthquake map. This is a really cool interactive map where you can see recent earthquakes in depth and magnitude. Check it out here. I know I'm always visiting this site when we feel Alaskan tremors.

I checked out newseum too, to see which of the West coast papers caught the news before deadline last night. The ADN stripped a story down the left column of the paper that landed on my doorstep this morning. This Hawaii paper stuck out to me:

Have a wonderful weekend with good thoughts and prayers for those in Japan and people affected by the aftershocks and tsunamis worldwide.

New on Kern This Studio: Engagement photos of Meghan and Joel

You might have seen before that I'm designing wedding invitations and save-the-dates for my friends Meghan and Joel. Well, they've also asked me to be their wedding photographer and I'm super excited because it's my first wedding as a photographer!

So this weekend we braved the 15-degree breezy day for an engagement shoot in Westchester Park. It was short and sweet due to the weather, but they were super-fun to photograph. There are a more/larger pictures from the shoot on my professional website KernThisStudio.com. Please take a moment to check it out and let me know what you think!


[Self-promo alert.] Need family, baby, special event photography or design? Talk to me. I would love to help!

Friday Fun: It's all downhill from here

The darkest quarter of the year is over and the sun is making longer and longer appearances. The sun prepares to rise from behind the Chugach Mountains during my morning drive to work giving me pink-and-orange splashes on aqua blue skies to help me get motivated for the day. A nice change after months of driving to work in darkness.

A little more than a week ago it was broad daylight on my drive home and it struck me: this is new. A few days before I was driving home in twilight and I wasn't sure when the switch happened. But I'm not complaining. It's just a reminder that winter is downhill from here, my third since moving to Alaska.

Moose in the neighborhood

Davin and I were prying the frozen-shut trash can open this morning when we spotted this: a moose in our neighbor's yard. We ran back inside for the camera and quietly crept up to the fence for a couple photos. We went back inside to tell Josh about the moose and by the time we returned, our furry friend had moved on.

Into the fog

We drove through a dense patch of fog on the way back from Wasilla yesterday ... and ended up behind this hearse. Seemed strange and pretty in a way, so I snapped a couple fog shots on the point-and-shoot. Hope you're having a wonderful weekend!

This is what the frost looks like

Fog + freezing temperatures = Giant frost crystals on the surface of, well, everything. After days of rain, slush and what seemed like a mini-mid-winter breakup, it's cooled back down. I went on a quick walk this afternoon and spent a few minutes capturing the chilly sights.

 

No baseball today

While I hear Washington feels a bit like Alaska this week, I think we've gotten a dose of Seattle's typical weather. It's rained on top of our snow for three consecutive days turning our winter wonderland into patches of ice, slush and mud. While school has been called off in Seattle for too much snow, we had the first "snow" days here in my two years here, for a lack thereof. The rain on top of snow made roads so slick that police responded to 89 vehicle incidents on Monday. I got off work a little early at the start of my four-day weekend and decided to walk through the baseball fields across the street to capture a little of the drizzly mess and play with my new camera.

Open eyes

It's easy to get caught up in the day-to-day and forget how geographically amazing, beautiful and strange this place I live is. But over the last two weeks, I've had several reminders that I'm in Alaska:

1. EARTHQUAKES: Last week we were rattled with two earthquakes. First was a 4.9 magnitude on Tuesday just 15 miles from Anchorage. Everyone at work jumped as the sound of a semi-truck slammed into the side of our building, but really it was the sound of the earth moving. It shook for several seconds, but no damage was reported anywhere. The second was a 5.4 about a 3-hour-drive north. It woke us up Saturday morning at 4 a.m. I had to get up and to see how fast the local news reported it online.

2. WIND: We had a windstorm Friday with gusts up to 70 mph in places that knocked down trees and knocked out power through much of Southcentral Alaska. Some more remote locations had no power for days after the storm. We actually rarely have much wind at all here, but it contributed to a strange week.

3. SNOW: Termination dust capped the mountains Sunday. The official sign that summer is over. The sight makes skiers cheer and lovers-of-summer like myself pout. We also had flurries in Anchorage Sunday. Nothing stuck, but it reminded us that it will soon. The photo above was taken Sunday traveling south on the Glenn Highway. (Note to my mother: Don't worry, I was in the passenger seat.)

4. FOG: I'm kicking myself for not photographing the eerie for that shrouded the 3 feet over the baseball fields the other day. It looked like the opening scene of a scary movie.

5. DARKNESS: The Fall Equinox passed the other day, and with it, my ability to drive to work without headlights.

Hopefully I won't wait for the next round of earthquakes to open my eyes and remember the beauty and wonder of my surroundings.

Portage Glacier Cruise

Wednesday before the wedding, some of our out-of-town guests joined us for a hour-long Portage Glacier Cruise. It was a beautiful, warm day. Plus, we met a very special tour guide we lovingly nicknamed Beardsley McGlacier face.