Duck trapping under Aurora Borealis

The highlight of the last two nights has been the incredible northern lights over Fairbanks. I have nearly driven off the road as I gazed upward, jaw dropped. Even in town they have been spectacular; and now that we are baiting our traps at night, make for a spectacular walk along the river. They have been the most lively displays I have ever seen, with meandering bands arcing across the entire sky. Kate and I watched throughout the night last night from her second floor bed and tonight from the musk ox farm outside of town. Here's what they look like to an iPhone:



And here's Tim putting the final staple on our new trap door. So far it hasn't caught us any new ducks, but next week holds promise and the ducks seemed to like it today-they ate all the bait from last night!

Shredding the Moose

Lindsay, Reed, Kate, and I took advantage of the bluebird day and headed to Moose Mountain for some snow sliding and vitamin D. Saturday night brought the most snowfall we've had since last year, or so it seems. Then we ended the already great day with homemade Mac and Cheese an settlers of catan. Another day in paradise!

February 6/7th - California

Cousin Drew is getting married, so bags were hastily packed and Lindsay and I joined mom and dad in California near Santa Maria for the wedding. Seeing the expanse of mountains reawakened my dreams of summiting peaks and snowboarding off them:



10:30 am GT's and hunter's ed studying go together nicely:



Family reunion on the flight to LA:



Friday:
Fantastic walk on the beach, in shorts, thinking of how cold it was in Fairbanks. Being back to this part of California brings back so many memories of the bike trip in 2010, I feel like sometimes I am swimming through snapshots of memories I misplaced long ago. It feels like rediscovering. And it feels good to recover and revisit them, like seeing an old friend.



Sunset from our condo tonight:


A walk on the pier after dinner and we saw this stand-up paddle boarder through the dark:



We spent the rest of the night watching the olympic opening ceremony; it is so good to be with family. Wedding tomorrow!

February 3rd and 4th

February 3rd: a day of attempted (and failed) duck trapping, ski-joring on the Tanana River, and Chinese food cooking. So far in this year I have found a place to buy Asian eggplants and was given this fantastic wok and a mortar as pestle for my birthday. Here the three come together:



February 4th:
More attempted duck trapping, more failing to capture ducks. Here's our hideout in the trees where we watch feeding ducks and try to read their minuscule band numbers:



And here's a duck on the Chena River:

Jan 31- happy new year!

新年快乐！马年快乐！
Happy year of the horse! I've been fighting a cold that has been winning for the last couple of days, so I didn't feel like celebrating. But when Kate got home, she had a surprise- arts and crafts chinese style. So we celebrated the New Year by making red Chinese lanterns. So, here are our lanterns, complete with Kate's first Chinese calligraphy. Thanks for making today special Kate. You're full of surprises.