I’m in Alaska. I guess the snow makes me want to write again. I won’t apologize for the long silence (to whom, anyway?!); writing without a desire to write seems a bit dumb. Plus, my day job has me working so much with the web that I can’t really face it in my time off. I guess this blog will just remain an empty space until adventures start anew.

I’m in Alaska. I think I’ve always wanted to go to Alaska. Why Alaska.. and not northern Canada, Norway, Russia? Why Alaska? Because it’s all in the north? Because it’s friendly to people who want to move there? Because its miles away but culturally familiar? Because, despite being so damn big, you can still talk about it like it’s one place? I don’t know, but I do remember driving my skidoo to the runway from base in Antarctica and thinking, man, I wish I could live somewhere like this forever… do you think it might be like this in Alaska?

I actually spent midwinter and christmas in California and indulged myself in the approaching difference in climate.

Happy Midwinter:

Happy New Year:

I hate to admit it at the age of 33, but this was the first time I had ever set off fireworks. And here’s the boy I learnt it all from (and his Mum):

These photos were taken by my host, Matt Nolan, who, with his family, really has gone out of his way to show me the best of arctic winter. And soon you, too, can see this as though [almost] there through the eyes of his interactive panoramic photos. Watch this space and there might soon even be a panoramic of the aftermath of the fireworks…