Yesterday morning was the Heart Walk. There were about 3,000 participants for the three mile walk to raise money for the American Heart Association. Even though the weather initially looked ominous, it turned out pretty nice. I was part of the UAF/Fire Dept team and UAF was "competing" with the hospital. I think the hospital had more participants though the university raised more money. So I think everyone won.
This morning, I headed north to Barrow and just noticed that as of May 11th, no more sunsets for a while i.e. 24 hours of sun above the horizon. Of course this didn't mean that things are warm and green. It was snowing when the plane landed in both Prudhoe Bay and Barrow. I've showed this graphic before. The orange line shows the path of the sun including its elevation relative to the horizon. The edge of the yellow circle is the horizon with zenith in the center and the local time along the orange line.
Here is a shot from the front porch of my hut. It is definitely "mud season" up here. There are still large piles of snow, the ocean is still frozen, and the roads have so many potholes that all you can do is try and minimize the number and try and avoid the ones that threaten to swallow the wheel. In this picture, you can get a good look at the overhead utilidor since there are no buried utilities. And I don't think that I've seen the sun since arriving in Barrow.
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Barrow seems depressing this time of year. Mud and dirty snow....
ReplyDeleteSome people would say that about Barrow at any time of year. But for most of the state, "mud season" is a pretty depressing time to be in Alaska.
DeleteBarrow is a tough place to live, for sure. How much of the population is involved in govt and/or large private industry and those who have lived here for generations?
ReplyDeleteInteresting demographics for Barrow. ~35% in the public sector and that's pretty consistent around the state. But only about half work and over half of the median household income is from shareholder dividends. The village is ~65% Alaska native and 14% caucasian.
DeleteOne of the most interesting statistic is almost 50% more of the population (14%) have terminal degrees (doctorate, masters or professional) than the rest of the country.
That IS interesting. Fascinating, actually. That makes me want to read more about Barrow.
DeleteThe sun doesn't set but you haven't seen it. That just seems rather sad doesn't it?
ReplyDeleteYeah, kinda sad. And the forecast is for more of the same. Overcast, windy and light sleet/snow. Oh, joy...
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