Day 55- To Haines, AK

When you’re on the road like we’ve been, there really are no boring days. There is always new scenery, weather or conversation to be had. Even after being married for 40 years, Carl and I still have conversations and consider each other our best friends. Both of us we perplexed this morning with the bright light that was in or should have been in the eastern sky. The map says we are traveling due south and yet, there it is, straight in front of us, shining in our eyes. Notice, there are no complaints here. The route for today takes us on the previously traveled and extremely rough and bumpy section of the Alaska Highway from Beaver Creek to Haines Junction. There are several small communities along the way and one of them has employed a plywood cutout of a police cruiser and officer which, from a great distance, is almost believable. I guarantee as you get closer, you wouldn’t be fooled. I suppose it gets a few tourists to slow down when the flashing “your speed is….” sign doesn’t work. The Ice Field Mountains are on our right and the sign at the scenic / photographic / view / rest area signage tells us this range holds 7 of Canada’s highest peaks. There is evidence, even from where we are, of glaciers on most of the peaks. It doesn’t appear that I am tired of them yet. They are larger than life forces of nature with immense power on the terrain they travel. I encountered a couple of unusual signs today. The first read “ Be Aware: Snow Removal Equipment May Be Oncoming In Your Travel Lane” . That was a shocker!!! The other was one of those international picture signs, a rectangle with a diagonal divider. The upper triangle in white showing a bed and the lower is blue and shows a soft boiled egg. It took me a moment and then the light came on “Bed and Breakfast”…… hmmmm. There is a Bald Eagle Preserve that borders the Chilkoot and Chilkat Rivers. More than 3,000 eagles call this area home during the months of October through January. I’m going looking tomorrow. The promo on this preserve states there are more than 40,000 Bald eagles in the state of Alaska. I think Alaska ought to share them with the rest of the country.

Never Too Early Or Am I Crazy?

This year, for the first time ever, I'll be doing a craft fair in February. Thankfully, it will be an inside event. The Littleton, NH Senior Center is sponsoring the 1st Annual Cabin Fever Flea Market and Craft Fair on February 20th from 9:00AM to 12:00PM. Call me crazy but I think, with enough publicity, this could be a really good thing. By that time in the month, most of us who don't have a passion for snowmobiling or skiing, are crawling up the walls. We long for something green to burst from a tree branch, the ground or even a window box. Some of us even go to great lengths to get things to bloom like forcing spring bulbs in inside gardens. I hope many of you will come visit me at the Senior Center which is just off Cottage Street on the 20th. Please don't make me regret my decision!!

Ready, Set, Go!

or that's the way I should feel at this time of year. What has traditionally happened to me the past few years is that I push myself during October, November and December. Then, January rolls around and I end up sick. Followers of this blog can attest to my previous posts on the subject. Well, here we are on January 21st and guess what? I'm not sick! In fact, there was no real push for the end of the year because, let's face it, everyone knows the economy sucks, right? I'm also here to tell you that unless you want a whole media card full of winter shots with lots of snow, there isn't much happening in the photography department either. Anyone who lives in New Hampshire and the north country, in particular, wakes up every morning to a couple inches of fluff on their vehicles. In our family, we call it something else with one less letter. I've charged my batteries, cleaned my lens and filters, re-formatted all of my media cards and I've even played a little with my new tripod. I'm ready! Now, if the weather would cooperate with a little sunshine after a snowstorm instead of this constant gloomy overcast condition, I'd be wicked happy. I can tell you that my phone is ringing with inquiries, a special order from Florida, a request for an appearance at a winter yard sale/craft event and an order from my daughter to help a 5th grader from Washington state with her search for all things New Hampshire. Things are beginning to look up and so are my spirits.

Flurries

Now, it looks like Christmas! Two days ago, we received several inches of snow. Yesterday, it was 38 degrees and beautiful. My mom checked the forecast for today and they said the forecast called for flurries most of the day. We woke up to a winter wonderland of an additional 8 inches of fluffy picture perfect powder, here in Whitefield. Not sure what they got in other parts of the state. It doesn't matter because I don't have to shovel "elsewhere". Now, I can get out and get those postcard shots of deep drifts of fresh clean snow piled up against the edge of a log cabin or a post and rail fence nearly buried with the just a hint of the Christmas light glowing beneath. Sounds beautiful, doesn't it? We'll see once I find those things...

Getting The Urge

We finally got our taxes done. It's not that my business empire is so huge, because it's not, it's just that it does take a lot of time to count all of those mats and frames. I am always amazed when I start plugging figures into my spreadsheet. And, if I only had that $10,000.00 that my figures tells me is sitting in my studio, well I'd probably be on my way to the camera store for that lens I mentioned I could really use. each time I look wistfully off into the distance knowing I can't bring that subject close enough or try to get a saleable image of an eagle or a bull moose, I mutter to myself the same thing. "Have to have that bigger lens before I head off to Alaska or Africa. It will be a waste of time, money and effort, otherwise." So, now the numbers are in the hands of the accountants and I'm getting the urge. The urge, you see, is for all of the snow to be gone. It's going, but no soon enough for me. The sap is running and I know that new life is just waiting to burst upon the scene. I can't wait until I can hang up my heavy jacket, put the boots away and start wandering the countryside in search of that first new baby whatever, the first daffodil, the first moose calf, anything but dirty snow banks and muddy brown lawns.

Wintery Weather

By the time February roles around, the back of Winter is pretty nearly broken, as a rule. When I say this I mean the super harsh cold of sub zero January is past, the days are beginning to lengthen and you can usually find some signs that the change of seasons is approaching. Maybe it's a super warm day that gets the skunks moving about. You can smell them in the air. Maybe it's a slight color change in the bark of the poplar trees. During the dead of winter, the bark is ash gray but with the first flush of sap corsing through it's veins, the bark begins to take on a greenish tint. Maybe it's a small patch of dried grass that has finally fought it's way through the drifts to appear in the sunlight. That's not happening this year because we have been hit with one winter storm after another. In fact, over the past ten days, we've had no less than four major storms. These storms ran the full gambit of natures fury with wind, deep heavy wet snow and even rain and ice. Our snow depth is now more than we've had all winter and as I write this, it's snowing and there is a promise for more over the weekend. I guess I'll have to wait a bit longer for the back of winter to really give way.

Playing Catchup

My apologies to you all. I've been ill since the Friday afte Christmas. It wasn't anything earthshattering but it sure put a crimp in my style for the entire month of January. I'm back now and have a few things to tell you about. The first is that we had an average 2007 show season . With the current economy, I'd say that was pretty good. Most people have limited funds to spend on "extras" because of the rising fuel and heating costs. So to say that our 2007 season was average is a big thing. It could have been a lot worse and that would have forced me to take a serious look at choices that I would have had to make. Those choices would have included the need to tighten the belt by keeping my shows close to home, reducing inventory in the galleries and retail shops or even entertaining the possibility of halting my photographic career altogether until the economy has a chance to recover, giving people the ability to appreciate art once more.

Crunch Time

I'm getting to that point in the year when I have to weigh my options and ask the question; is it best to restock "the shelves" and maintain a full inventory in all of the galleries or should I let my work "sell down" so that my inventory will be less during the leaner months that are sure to come after the first of the year? Each year I wrestle with this bookkeeping practice knowing that I can't sell what isn't there AND that the check book will look better if I don't spend any more money on material between now and those lean times I mentioned. Since each year is different in it's makeup, like children and their personalities who cry out to be treated as individuals, the decisions I make change with the times. The decision hasn't been made on this year, yet.

Last week, we received about 8 inches of snow, enough to make the ground white and give the trees a seasonal overcoat, but not enough for me to haul out my tripod for those beautiful wintry holiday images I've been needing to take. In fact, it snowed every day this week, just an inch or two here and there, enough so you had to clean off the car each morning or sweep the steps to keep the accumulation down. It's what I call a nuisance shower. And, there's a promise for more fluffy inches on Sunday or Monday. I don't usually pay too much attention to the weather forecast because it's just about the only job you can be wrong 70% of the time and still remain employed.

It's just that I need good travel weather on Monday because my printer has decided this is the time of year it will break down and the repair shop is 120 miles from my house. Does the timing for this event strike anyone else as being bad?

Only 24 More Shopping Days

I can't believe it but my holiday shopping is almost completed. Wrapping is another matter entirely. It's just after midnight and I've put the finishing touches on 12 dozen cookies for the Lisbon ARTS Gallery Christmas Fair cookie walk. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this concept, I'll explain. You purchase a festively decorated coffee tin, either the one pound or three pound size and wander down the length of tables filled with all sorts of confections. Choose the cookies you want and stuff them into the can. Pay the attendant and go home with a tin full of home baked goodies to enjoy yourself or to give as gifts. The gallery has it's members saving coffee cans throughout the year and just before the event we all are slaves to the oven. It has proven to be an excellent way to subsidise our treasury. While I'm at the Rocks, Carl will be cooking up a storm at the gallery craft fair. He has caused quite a commotion among the vendors attending our annual event with his version of an "egg mcmuffin" handed to the crafters at no charge while they are getting their displays ready for the public. And as the heading of this post suggests, the Christmas countdown has begun. I only hope we receive an appreciable amount of snow before the holiday decorations disappear for another year. For the past few years, the Lion and The Rose Bed and Breakfast has asked me to take photos of their Victorian Inn with all it's Yuletide finery in place. The sad part is the snow hasn't been there for the dazzling image I have in my head, leaving me with the photo you see here, taken of the establishment during warmer weather. Maybe this is the year, Chris and Roger !