Hello everyone  --

We pray all of you are doing well.  Things go well here in Alaska.  We have already had a frost, actually two of them.  Some plants around town have been nipped and many have not.  On our  walk today we saw some squash plants that really looked horrible.  Many of the flowers are still okay.  While many of you are suffering from a heat wave we are having cool nights and pleasant days.  The days have been in the mid 60's.
The coolest morning was Sunday.  The man who taught our Sunday School class said his children wanted the furnace turned on.  He refused.  It was the principal of the thing.  This is too early.  He might start the furnace in mid September but not yet.  We have not used the furnace for our apartment yet.  So far it has not got below 70 in here.  I have no scruples, however, about when to start the furnace.

We went to the botanical garden at the University of Alaska Fairbanks last week.  Luckily it was before the frost.

This is a ice cream strawberry mum.

This is Larry by a big cabbage.It was about 15 inches across.  The biggest cabbage on record is 115 pounds.  It was from somewhere in Alaska but not Fairbanks.  ( In case you are wondering, I am the one with less green.)

Our van had been feeling it was on the outside looking in.  But no more.  It now has an electrical cord hanging below the grill like 99% of the other vehicles we see here.  It feels better but our pocketbook is feeling worse!  Three things get electrical heaters - the water, the oil, and the oil pan.

Friday we were going to a barber shop choir concert.  On the way in Elva and I were talking about whether or not we would see anyone we knew.  In fact we were wondering if we would ever see any one we know from the lower 48.  But, lo and behold, Ellen (former student) also came to the concert.  We had a nice talk.

Besides that, Sunday we visited a couple from Wisconsin.  They are James' next door neighbors and are volunteering with the army corp of engineers at North Pole, about 12 miles from Fairbanks.  So we saw more people we know.  Their volunteer work here is to be helpers at a dike or dam on the Chena River Dam.  Once every 20 or 30 years the Chena River has a devastating flood that destroys much of Fairbanks.  So the army corp of engineers built a 9 mile dike to keep the flood waters from reaching Fairbanks.  That is good.  Our apartment is about 150 feet from the river.

This is the Chena river flowing into the open gates of the dam.  Here it is about 50 feet wide, about the same as by our apartment.

                                                                     

This shows the dike.  You can judge its height by comparing with the pick up ahead of us.  It is perhaps 30 feet high.

If there is enough water in a flood the water behind the dam ends up flowing into the Tanana River at the other end of the dike.

Our apartment is beginning to feel like home.  Though since we left North English no place has quite seemed like home.  If I were to "go back home" I don't know where I would go.  Perhaps Cheraw, Colorado, where I grew up.  Perhaps North English where I have lived longer than any other place.  And our children grew up there.  Perhaps Wayland where we were just before coming to Alaska.

One day we went to Creamer's Field to see the sandhill cranes.  This is one gathering point for them before they head south to roughly the Rio Grande valley of Texas.  They are relatively tame here.  There are walking paths near where the cranes (and some geese and ducks and other water fowl) eat and they allow a person to get withing 50 feet or so from them.  Then they walk away and don't fly away.

Mature cranes, both male and female, have red on their heads.

We attended First Presbyterian Church last Sunday.  It felt good.  The people were friendly.  One elderly lady (91 years old) gave us each a hug.  The singing was more our style.  The sermon was good.  It is within walking distance.  That is, when the weather is nice.  It is about 3/4 mile away more or less downtown.

Elva's maiden name is Stryker.  When we travel we are in the habit of looking in phone books to see if we can see any Evers, Strykers, Planks (my mother's maiden name), or Shriders (Elva's mother's maiden name).  In the Fairbanks phone book we found none of these names.  However, Elva just read in today's paper that there is another Stryker in Fairbanks  --  the canine unit for the Fairbanks police dept. has one dog  -- and guess what, his name is Stryker!

Thanks for taking the time to read this.  Some people have asked if it is okay that they tell other people about this blog.  That is fine with me.  Anyone may read it if they wish.

God's blessing to each of you.

Larry and Elva

Things we have not seen.

No, we have not seen a totem pole.  We saw an electric pole with one painted on but that does not count.

No, we have not seen a moose, but there is one road we plan to go on where people say we should see some.

No, we have not seen and igloo.  Not yet at least and we have not seen any in any of the information about Alaska.

No, we have not seen northern lights.  But one person said they saw some good ones one year on Labor Day, so that is not so far away.  Another person, who came from South Carolina four years ago, said the northern lights are one of the wonderful things about living here.

No, we have not taken a ride on the public bus system.  We did get the information about all the routes.  Most routes that go near here stop about two blocks away.  It is free for senior citizens.

We have not yet done those things or many others.  And we will not be doing things as fast as we have so far.  So I will not be sending daily blogs after this one.  I will send one when we have good information to send.  I will try to do it mid week so that you will know when to look.

Thanks, if any of you have responses to the blogs please send them.

Larry and Elva

We attended church again today.  Last Sunday we went to a large nondenominational church, perhaps 400 attending.  This week to a small denominational church, perhaps 60.  Last week was to large for us, and too impersonal.  The man next to me talked to me and explained a few things as they happened.  No one else seemed to care whether we were there or not.  They could not have known if we were regulars there or not.

This week, even though it was small, the people seemed not to care.  The people who talked with us the most were other visitors.  The pastor and his wife talked with us for a while.  They had a pot luck meal at noon but no one invited us.  They asked if we were members of their denomination and we said no.  They seemed to have little interest after that.  HINT, NEVER ask visitors at church if they belong to your denomination.  HINT, ALWAYS make sure the lay members interact with visitors.  At Eicher I, as pastor, sometimes had a hard time getting to the visitors because so many people were talking with them.  That was good.

The weather has been very nice.  But we are getting close to September.  Here are the predicted highs for today through next Sunday.  72, 61, 55, 52, 54, 52, 61, 59 and the coolest over night is 36.  This reminds me, it is time to get the van to the shop to get it winterized.  We are loosing about 8 minutes of sun time per day now.

The high schools have had their first football game.  They have cross country but the season is short.  School starts here this Wednesday.  It also starts the same day for Marcia's children in Iowa City and for Paula's children in Pettisville, Ohio.  James' children don't start until after Labor Day, its a state law and gives no exemptions.

Have a good week !

Larry and Elva

We had a busy day Saturday, 8/17/13.

Ever eager Elva Evers washed windows.

This shows that it is the second story.

We pick wild cranberries.  They are small, three or four side by side would be about an inch.

We saw the Alaska pipeline, this is a couple miles across to the opposite hill.

This shows how big and high the pipeline is at this point.  It is mostly underground.

The exposed portion of pipe here is about 300 yds long.

This is an Alaska pig.

The purpose of pigs.

Alaska pigs are different from Iowa pigs.

This is a retired pig.

Have you Iowa farmers retired any of your pigs?

I hope  you can read these.  They give good explanations.

The things on top of the upright are heat exchangers.  They are to keep the holders from melting the permafrost.  The oil in the pipe at this point is about 100 degrees F.

We walked on peat moss.  This is my shoe with no pressure.  I also had a picture when I put my weight down and my shoe sunk in to the top of the shoe.  It was a good picture but my skills don't allow me to put it into the blog.  It was very strange and difficult walking on the peat.  The nearest description would walking on a bed.

We also went to the farmers' market but took no pictures there.  We bought one pound of small tomatoes.  They were small enough that the pound was six tomatoes.  Guess how much they cost  --  $5.00.  Not like Iowa most years where most gardeners are trying to give tomatoes away!

Enjoy church tomorrow.

Larry and Elva

The main new thing we did today was to go to the Creamer's Field Migratory Water Fowl Refuge.  With a name that long it should be a very good place to go.  And it was good.  It started as a dairy over 100 years ago.  At that time it was the only dairy around.  They had (and still have) an Iowa style barn that would hold 50 milking cows.  With the winters so cold the cows stayed in the barn all winter.  For that many cows for such a long winter they needed a lot of hay so the floor of the hay loft was lowered to just a few feet above the cows' heads.  More buildings were added and more cows to fill them.  When WWII came and the building of the Alaska Highway the dairy had a contract to supply the army base with milk.  The dairy had over 200 cows until faster transportation from areas south where having a dairy was less costly finally made Creamer's Dairy economically unfeasible.  The man who owned the dairy loved birds.  The dairy with the grain crops and cow manure made the fields supporting the dairy the migratory water fowl's favorite stopping point.  By this time many people of Fairbanks enjoyed stopping along the road and watching the birds.  So the owner of the dairy sold it to the city of Fairbanks and to the Alaska Fish and Game Department.  Now the people of Fairbanks feel the Refuge is "theirs."

The dairyman owned about 200 acres but the state has added more land and now the whole place is about 2000 acres.  Part of it is a boreal forest.  That simply means it is a northlands forest.  We showed up for a nature walk in the forest.  And we were the only ones who showed up for the nature walk.  So the two of us had a two-hour guided tour of a boreal forest.  A few of the things we learned:
--There are three conifer and three deciduous trees native to the area.  Conifer are larch, white spruce, and black spruce.  Deciduous are aspen, birch, and poplar.  The poplar are actually cottonwood.  There are no hardwood trees.
--Controlled burns are actually good for the entire ecosystem.
--Some of the plants are calla lilies, wild iris, wild roses, cranberries, blueberries, various grasses, and the trees mentioned above.
--The only amphibian here is a frog that actually freezes during the winter and then comes back to life in the spring.
--There are squirrels here that do not hibernate but slow down during the winter to conserve energy.
--We saw more mosquitoes at Creamers Field in two hours than all the rest of the time we have been here.
--Frost heaves do not affect only the roads.  A wooden walkway was "heaved" a couple feet in some places.  In the seasonal freezing and thawing deep cracks sometimes form in the ground.  These fill with water.  These then freeze widening the crack.  As the crack widens the ground next to it has to go somewhere and pushes upward, forming a heave.

Even though visiting Creamer's Field is free they do ask for a donation.  The state owns it but a non-profit is in charge of the nature center and some of the historical displays.

It still amazes me that people, animals, and plants find a way to thrive in these harsh conditions.  People naturally strive  to fill the earth and subdue it.

Sorry, we are not good at remembering our camera.  We will try to do better.

God's blessing to all.

Larry and Elva

Today we went to the Visitor and Cultural Center.  It is very informative.  Mostly we went to watch a video titled, "40 Below in Fairbanks."  The gist of it is that to do well in the winter one must make the most of it.  They do have plenty of  activities: mushing, ice sculptors, hockey, curling, normal activities for a college, snow machining (what we call snowmobile they call snow machine), skiing, native culture olympics, etc.  Our friend Ellen said that in the winter if one does not really work at resisting it, sleeping in is natural.  Those visitors who think they are early risers will find that they are not.  The video today did not say that exactly but said that most people have a strong urge to eat as days become very short.  That does not sound good.  Another interesting thing here is that there are small coffee shops all over the place.  Ellen said that is so that in the cold weather people can drive up to them and get their fix without having to get out of the car.

The Cultural Center has a good historical display also.  One thing Alaska is trying to do better than the lower 48 is to treat the Native Americans equitably.  Interestingly, as we were making our rounds through the Center the lights flickered a few times and then went out.  No one panicked.  An attendant said that in a moment the lights would be back on.  I asked him to define a moment and he said two or three minutes.  It was a little longer than that but soon the light were back on and everyone resumed their way around the exhibits.

We had rain today.  The natives were thrilled.  It did not seem like much to me.  One person said there has been no rain this summer.  Usually they have a rainy month during the summer.  The rain should help put out the wild fires.  We probably received a quarter inch or so of rain.

I've started looking at places to volunteer.  One is an adult learning center.  It is about 1/3 mile away, just across the road from the Cultural Center.  It would be within easy walking distance, even in cold weather.  At least that is what I hope.  I really don't know what walking in minus 60 degrees will be like.  The other is a Christian based tutoring center.  It is about 1/4 mile from the apartment.  The two public high schools are a couple miles or more and not so good for walking.

Some of you have been wondering how food prices compare.  90% ground beef is $ 4.99 on sale and $6.99 not on sale.  On sale peaches were $1.68/lb.  The cheapest skim milk per gallon is $3.39, not a lot different than IC and Washington.  Grapes were $1.68/lb. on sale.  Fresh salmon was $10.34/lb.  I'm not sure but that may be the regular price.

Unleaded gas is cheaper on the east side of town, where we are.  It is $3.89 at Safeway and it goes up to $4.13 in other parts of town and certain brands of gas.

Some of you have asked about our apartment.  Here is the bedroom.  The bed is a queen.  At first there was a king bed and there was almost no room other than for the bed.

The closet is at the other end of the bedroom.  It could have doors but the clothes hang better if the dressers are out a few inches into the doorway.  The door to the left of the picture goes on the doorway at the right of the picture.  Yes, that is my reflection in the bathroom mirror.

This is Elva in the kitchen.  We have some real togetherness when she washes the dishes and I dry them.

This is the dining room.  The hall seen through the door goes to the left to the bedroom and to the right to the bathroom.

The washer and dryer are just outside our inside exit.

This is the living room.  Yes we still have a few things to put away.  It is brighter than it may appear in this picture.  The light from the window makes the rest of the room appear darker than it really was.

This is our outside entrance.  There is an apartment above us and one below us.

This shows part of downtown in the distance and some cars at a small park across the road where parents often bring their children.  Next to the park is the Chena River.

Downtown Fairbanks is three to four times as big as downtown Fort Dodge.  But the population is only about 25% more (that is 24,000 for FD and 30,000 for Fairbanks.)  The reason is that Fairbanks is the hub for all of northern Alaska.  That is an area several times larger than all of Iowa.  The population of the immediate area around Fairbanks is about 100,000.  The area serviced by Fairbanks extends hundreds of miles east, west, and north.

God's blessings to you and yours.

Larry and Elva

We continue to work on the apartment.  Someday we will be caught up on cleaning and putting away.  So far, that day has not come.  We also do some fixing.  And buying groceries.  And ordering the daily paper.  And going for walks.  And eating, sleeping, and all the daily routine that needs to be done no matter where one is.

Some weeds here are just like weeds in Iowa.  I have seen lambs quarter.  Not far from here I saw dandelions.  It is dry here this summer, so not as pretty as sometimes.  Some trees are losing leaves because of the dry weather.

Some of the migratory water fowl are starting to head south.  There will be a program about the sandhill cranes at a wildlife viewing area the next several days.

For those who have been asking about pictures of the apartment, probably one or two days.  The cleaning and putting away is almost done.  It is a lot of work but less than when we moved out of the parsonage.  Then we also had to deal with the stuff going to our children and to crowded closet.

God's blessing to all

Larry and Elva