After a very enjoyable lunch with my friend Karen on Tuesday, I took a drive around town with my camera. I was thrilled for the sunshine and blue skies, although I wish it would have been a little warmer than -15F.

My first stop was downtown Fairbanks, and the pedestrian bridge which crosses the Chena River from Golden Heart Plaza, to the Immaculate Conception Church. As I stood on the bridge looking upriver, I caught sight of a cross-country skier on the frozen river. I watched the dark figure until it got close enough to see that it was a woman. She was bundled against the elements, and had frost coating the ends of her hair where it escaped from her cap. In only a month, there will be thousands of people downtown on this river, excited about the start of the Yukon Quest. I know I'm looking forward to it.

I decided to drive along the river towards Pioneer Park. There's a stretch of road where the steam that comes off the water coats everything nearby and freezes into thick hoarfrost. This steam is caused by the thousands of gallons of hot water being released into the river from the local power plant. That stretch of river never freezes. No wonder we have ducks that seem to stay all year around.

The area behind the Carlson Center (our local entertainment venue), is beautiful and only partly frozen. There is a bike/walking path that winds along the river behind the Carlson Center, and it's one of my favorite places to go in all seasons.

I stopped periodically during my drive to take photos of the white frosted trees, and other items of interest, before driving through Pioneer Park to get to the area where the ducks like to congregate. Unfortunately, the ducks weren't very energetic and the sun was lower on the horizon, making the lighting situation less than optimal for photographs.

I stopped once more at the river to take a photo of the pink-tinged sky, before making my way home to North Pole. The brevity of daylight in winter cuts my photo adventures short, but they are still enjoyable nonetheless.

Immaculate Conception Church Steeple	X-country skier on Chena River	Pedestrian Bridge towards Courthouse	Frosted Trees
Frost on a chain link fence	Frosted Trees	Storage behind Riverfront Theater	Looks like Narnia!
River behind Carlson Center	Path behind Carlson Center	Raven flying over ducks	Frost on trees
Crooked Creek Water Tower	Crooked Creek Railroad Station	Sun going down over Chena	Sunset

A few months ago, I entered a photo contest that the Anchorage Daily News (ADN) was having. They wanted folks to submit their moose photos. I submitted a couple of photos that I took in various places throughout Alaska. I didn't win or place - and there's good reason for that. The photos that were submitted were really awesome. Some were funny, some were cute, some were of "city moose" enjoying a stroll through downtown Anchorage, etc. It was great to see the photos that were chosen as winners.

Recently ADN made available their annual Moose Calendar. My friend Hannah buys the calendar each year, and emailed me after receiving hers in the mail. She told me that one of my photos was in the calendar (a small photo; not one of the big monthly photos). I emailed a representative from ADN and asked if I could have a calendar as a keepsake, and she sent me one. It came in the mail today.

It's got fantastic photos in it, and I wanted to share those images with you. I took photos of the calendar (which means they're not the highest quality), so you could see just how adorable moose are. I have always loved moose, and I don't think they're goofy looking at all. If you'd like to buy a calendar, go to the ADN website here. The calendars are only $3.95 each. Here are the images inside:

2008 AK Moose Calendar	Inside Cover	January Main Photo	January Little Photo
February Main Photo	February Little Photo	March Main Photo	March Little Photo
April Main Photo	April Little Photo	May Main Photo	May Little Photo
June Main Photo	June Little Photo	July Main Photo	July Little Photo
August Main Photo	August Little Photo	September Main Photo	September Little Photo
October Main Photo	October Little Photo - MINE!	November Main Photo	November Little Photo
December Main Photo	December Little Photo	Did you Know? The word "moose" comes from the Algonquin Indians. These were native people who lived throughout the northern regions of Canada. The Algonquins called this strange looking creature mooswa. It means "twig-eater" or "the animal that strips bark off of trees." Early explorers heard this word and through the years, it eventually changed into "moose."

The mushers are scheduled to race on Sunday, weather permitting. We're having another cold spell right now and if it's -25F or colder at 8:30am on Sunday morning, the race will be cancelled. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the weather cooperates. I might be going alone, as Steve refuses to give up his football game viewing. That's fine. I'd much rather see dogs run, than overweight guys wearing a lot of padding and carrying a ball up and down a field. Maybe I can convince Steve to make use of our DVR and record the games, so he can go with me.