It is a quiet Sunday evening, framed by some of the worst winter weather I’ve ever seen in Southcentral Alaska since arriving 2 years and 4 months ago. It features constant rain right at the freezing point, small areas of flooding, and a large amount of snow up in Thompson Pass and beyond in the interior in the Chugach Mountains. The Glenn Highway is reporting total whiteouts and snow drifts of up to a foot. On Facebook, the Gunsight Lodge (about halfway between Anchorage and Glennallen) is taking in stranded travelers. A friend sat in Anchorage on a four hour delay before taking off for Maui.
So Caren and I cleaned the house, and also spent a good hour sitting out at Kelsey Dock watching the ravens, sea otters and the Alaska Ferry Aurora returning to dock after failing to reach Whittier in the early afternoon. I also spent a good portion of the afternoon playing a nice solo round of Churchill. It’s round nine and I’m not confident of a positive outcome for the Allies.
It’s January so its my busy time at work, and having a solo game to occasionally look at is an excellent way to stay fresh, especially with this miserable weather. And I await the arrival of some woodworking tools, including my new lathe … Alaska shipping challenges are part of the issue here. But I’m confident everything should be in hand once I travel to Anchorage in early February for the annual meeting of the Grand Lodge of Alaska.
Reading: The Conquering Tide by Ian W. Toll, part 2 of his Pacific War trilogy. Reading this and playing Churchill at the same time has provided some informative overlap as many of the “staff cards” in Churchill are primary players in Toll’s book (Ernest King, Charles Portal, etc).
Watching: mostly whatever is on TCM, especially if its a noir night.
Carl Oberg 