A is for Alaska, my home for fifty years now.
I don’t pretend to know all of Alaska, but it is a land of ice and snow, of rainforests, of midnight suns, gardens, and auroras, and above all of contrasts and space. Big? If you laid Alaska over the 48 contiguous states, it would touch Canada, Mexico, the Atlantic and the Pacific. It has over half of the coastline of the United States. I live near Fairbanks, in the center of the state.
I enjoy it always being light in the summer. I was once working in the garden and realized to my surprise that the sun was rising, and by the end of this month I’ll be going to bed before sunset. The winters are admittedly a bit of a drag, as I can no longer drive in the dark. But the summers make up for it, even if it does sometimes get into the 90’s. And there’s lots to do here. We have a symphony orchestra, an opera, a University known internationally for scientific research, and we’re host to the International Ice Art Championships in March.
I won’t attempt to describe our state, but I will post a few pictures and videos. Some you may have seen before, but I hope you still enjoy them.
No, this isn’t typical of most of Alaska, though it is of the glaciated portion of the Alaska Range.
My garden in summer looks more like this. The hoops are to support plastic in the spring and fall.
Only about 100 miles north of where I live. The camera is looking roughly north.
The days are a lot shorter in midwinter!
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I LOVE your garden.
I’m not so good at that. I killed a cactus once.
Great A Post, Sue Ann!
Heather
I just grabbed one from last summer.
Nice post. I have Alaska on my bucket list of places to visit.
Stop by and say Hi if you get here.
Alaska… It always reminds me of that old song, North to Alaska. I love your photos.
I prefer “When it’s springtime in Alaska, it’s forty below” which can be true–our latest 40 below record is March 30. Not this year, though.
I’m a former Alaskan! Great photos here! I look forward to following your blog.
Glad you like it.
I’ve been there twice. It’s absolutely beautiful (though I’ll admit, trying to go to sleep when the sun was still out during the summer was a challenge). Great post and happy first day of the A to Z Challenge!
After 50 years, I sleep just fine while it’s light.
I’d love to go to Alaska someday! Thanks for your post an pictures!
Drop by and say hello when you do.
Beautiful garden! That made me laugh that you were gardening and suddenly realized the sun was rising. With that kind of concentration, you could write five novels a year! Aloha.
Gail visiting for AtoZ
Not concentration, just staying light.
Lovely pictures. I can’t imagine how cold it can get in Alaska.
Coldest I’ve seen is 63 below, though the record’s -66°F. That’s winter, of course. It can get up to 99 in the summer.
I’ve wanted to go to Alaska since I was about 5 or 6 years old.
I like it, though it does get cold in the winter.
Beautiful photos! I hope to visit Alaska some time!
Hope you can.
Great A post, Sue Ann. 🙂 I do envy your long summer days, but think it does take a tough person to manage the limited daylight come winter. 🙂
We actually have more daylight over the course of the year than places farther south, because the summer half-year is a little longer in the northern hemisphere.
I always say that a picture is worth a thousand words. Wow! It looks brighter there than it is most days here! I sometimes think that being somewhere that isn’t overcast 60% of the time would make me a lot happier.
Sun on snow is really bright.
Was fortunate enough to visit a few years ago…Loved the flight over the top of Denali. Beautiful state you live in!
Over the top? usually they just fly alongside.
Alaska is so beautiful! It was so green! I was so excited to see all the green and all the snow of course. Being from the desert both are not around all that much.
Stefani @ Dreams of Nyssa
Right now I’d like to see a little more green.