Bear affects peaceful commute

I like bears, or at least I try to. I think they are pretty amazing animals. I also like biking and skiing to work. Even though the commute gets old at times, especially in winter, I mostly enjoy it because its a chance to get some fresh air, to organize my thoughts, and to put some distance between my personal life and work - though admittedly the last thing doesn't always happen.

What I don't like so much though, is when bears affect my morning commute. Granted, I didn't actually see a bear, but I did see this sign Wednesday morning just as I was entering a narrow trail through the woods:


That was enough to raise my heart rate even though I started biking at a somewhat slower pace.

Field appetite

You'd think that I'd eat a lot more food when I'm doing field work than when I'm sitting in front of my computer all day, but you'd be wrong. By a lot. A typical day of field work involves getting up around 7:00 and starting work around 8:00. On days that we fly up on the glacier there tends to be very little time for lunch since its expensive to have the helicopter sitting around doing nothing. That doesn't bother me too much, as long as I can get a few bites of chocolate and an apple. If we don't have the helicopter we are at camp tending to our instruments. Setting up the instruments requires hauling heavy batteries and solar panels around. (Once, while doing field work in southeast Alaska, I even hauled loads of rocks up the glacier. Seemed kind of pointless, since the glacier would just carry them back to its terminus...) On those days lunch becomes a little more important, but I still don't eat any more than I do at home. Dinner tends to be around 7:00 or 7:30 and is followed by a game of cards. Some days - especially if the weather is nice - we work after dinner though we usually try to avoid doing so.

Let's compare that to what I do when I'm in Fairbanks. I get up around 8:00 and am at work by 9:00 or 9:30. We have a coffee break at 10:30, which is occasionally accompanied by some sort of cake or chocolate. If not, then I'm hungry by 11:00. I usually make it until noon before diving into my lunch, which today consisted of a fairly large salad, and apple, and a couple of sandwiches. By 3:00 I was already thinking about dinner. I made it until 7:00 without eating anything else, but I had to snack on some munchies while I was cooking dinner in order to have the energy to cook. Its now 8:30 and I feel fine, but I'm pretty sure that a big bowl of ice cream will hit the spot in about an hour.

The only explanation that I can come up with is that my computer needs more than 4 GB of RAM to do all the work that I ask it to. It is forced to suck energy from me to complete all of its tasks.

What I'm listening, reading, watching: May 2008

Listening: Mr. Pitiful by Matt Costa

I discovered this little gem (great video) when I was looking through the Brushfire Records website. Brushfire Records is musician-owned company featuring some very good pop musicians (G. Love, Jack Johnson, Mason Jennings). I'm not so keen on Matt Costa's other songs, put I can't get this one out of my head. See if you can listen to it without tapping your feet and nodding your head. Its really catchy. I guess I'm a sucker for good pop music.


Reading: High Fidelity, A Long Way Down, and Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby

Since I'm on the topic of pop culture... Nick Hornby's books mix emotional turmoil and pop culture into funny, witty, and insightful stories. I've now read all of his novels and his autobiography (Fever Pitch, which is interwoven with the history of the Arsenal soccer club). I think the best two are High Fidelity and About a Boy, but they're all worth reading. I don't know of any other authors who can make breaking up with a girlfriend or contemplating suicide so funny. I'm sure that last sentence makes a lot more sense to people who have read any of his books.


Watching: Northern Exposure

Inari and I have now watched the first two seasons of Northern Exposure. I remember hearing of the show as I kid, but I never watched it. Its actually quite good, even though its portrayal of Alaska is off the wall. But then again, Alaska is a little off the wall. All of the characters are entertaining and unique. The show can be a little too bizarre at times, but I think it is just bizarre enough that you're okay with it. What I mean is, when you're watching the show you realize that you're not watching reality and you come to expect totally crazy stories in every episode.

Greenland photos

I've now had some time to go through my photos from the past month. I thought I'd post my favorites. I didn't take very many while I was in the field - I guess I've been to our site enough times that I can be there without feeling like I need to take a photo every 10 minutes.

A dog team on its way back to Ilulissat.

Naja took me dogsledding a couple of times in April. On this trip we headed straight up the hill in the distance. It was a lot of fun, and I really enjoyed seeing Greenland in "winter".

My favorite of Naja's dogs - a youngster name Nuka. She was really sweet. Naja doesn't let the dogs put their feet up on you, so this one figured out that she could stand backwards and lean into you for maximum petting.

The town of Uummannaq, which is named after its heart-shaped mountain. The town is on a tiny little island. To get to Uumannaq you can take a dogsled, a helicopter, or, for a short part of the year, by boat. It has the northernmost port in Greenland.

The view from my hotel room, looking east across the sea ice.

Aerial photo of sea ice, taken during the helicopter trip from Uummannaq to Qaarsut. From Qaarsut I boarded a larger plane and flew to Ilulissat.

An iceberg surrounded by sea ice.

Myself wrestling the camera away from Isbjorn.

maailmassa on virhe

Ennen luulin, että maailman voisi jos ei nyt ihan pelastaa, niin ainakin tehdä kovasti paremmaksi paikaksi luotoystävällisiä tuotteita ostamalla. En ole menettänyt vielä uskoani, mutta kummastuttaa mihin tuotteiden luontoystävällisyys unohtuu pakkausvaiheessa. Teepaketti on kääritty useaan muovikalvoon, luomumaitotölkki on varustettu muovisella kierrekorkilla ja luomujuusto on pakattu säälittävän pieniin pakkauksiin. Viimeisin harmin aihe: suosimani jäätelömerkki on uusinut pakkauksensa pahvisista muovisiksi. Ei tietenkään kokomuovisiksi, silloinhan koko paketin voisi pestä ja käyttää uudelleen, vaan kanteen on lisätty turha muoviremmi. Mikäli vanhat merkit pitävät paikkansa, kuukauden päästä kilpailevat merkit ovat myös uusineet pakkauksensa, ja jäätelöä ei enää saa ilman muoviremmiä. Piih.

En valittaisi, jos kysessä olisi yksittäinen tuotemerkki. Mutta ei. Neljän vuoden aikana useampi yritys on vaihtanut pakkauksiaan vaikeammin kierrätettäviksi, hankalammiksi, tai muuten vain lisännyt turhan tilpehöörin määrää. Pöh.

English summary: today's irritation was caused by an ice cream packaging. Someone has replaced the old (fully recyclable cardboard) container with a new package that comes with a plastic striped lid. Didn't anyone tell the organic companies that combining several materials into one package makes the whole thing much less recyclable? Not to mention how much oil is consumed to make this plastic strip. We must not be running out after all...

Greenup

Another year that spring rushed past us. So far, I have experienced spring ten times above 64 degrees. Yet, the astonishing speed of spring time continues to amaze me every single year. Last week there was still snow on the ground, and temperatures were around freezing. I wore my scarf, mittens and winter hat as I have been for the last eight months. Today, snow is gone, grass has turned green, and dandelions are blooming. In short, it feels like summer (and I finally shed my wool socks).

This breakneck speed always leaves me feeling a bit cheated. Where did the spring go?

My bizarre and wonderful trip to Uummannaq

Greenland - and the arctic - is a lot like a small town. If you know somebody that knows somebody that maybe heard of somebody else, then all of a sudden you have new friends and a place to stay.

Example:

Last Tuesday I flew to Uummannaq, a wonderfully beautiful little town on a little island surrounded by sea ice. By mid-afternoon I had seen the town and was wondering how I would spend the rest of the week. The next morning I knocked on the door of a Ann Andreasen, a Faroese woman who runs an orphanage in town and is famous for her hospitality. My motivation for meeting her was that I thought it would be nice to talk with the children at the orphanage about the changes that are happening in Greenland. Anyway, her husband/boyfriend Ole-Jørgen Hammeken, a famous Greenlandic adventurer invited me in for coffee. (It turns out that I had read about Ann, Ole-Jørgen, and their daughter Pipaluk in the book "This Cold Heaven" by Gretel Ehrlich.)

Ole-Jørgen has some pretty amazing stories. He has/is circumnavigating the Arctic Ocean in phases, was the first person to climb the northernmost mountain in the world, pioneered a new dogsled trail from Uummannaq to Ilulissat, and is planning on dogsledding to the north pole this winter to "commemorate" the 100th anniversary of Robert Peary reaching the north pole.

Side note: I may have discovered an interesting piece of family history during my discussion with
Ole-Jørgen. I share the same surname as the polar explorer Roald Amundsen (changed by my one of my ancestors to Amundson), that branch of my family comes from the same small town as Amundsen (Borge, Norway), and supposedly the Amundsen surname did not come into existence until the mid-1800's. Although we haven't yet proved it, there is a good probability that we are somehow related to Roald Amundsen. We know that we aren't direct descendants, especially since Amundsen supposedly didn't have any children - at least not in Norway. However, Ole-Jørgen told me that he met an Inuit person in Gjoa Haven, Canada, who claims to be a direct descendant of Amundsen. So maybe we have long-lost Inuit cousins! What makes the story even more interesting, if its true, is that supposedly Amundsen's shipmates didn't talk about women in his presence - he didn't approve. He was so focused and determined during his expeditions that he didn't want there to be any sort of distractions to him or his men.

Okay, back to Uummannaq. While drinking coffee Ole-Jørgen's house was suddenly filled up with a French film crew! Ann and Ole-Jørgen were in the middle of filming a feature film in Greenlandic, the first such film in 80 years. So now I had a bunch of French friends. They introduced me to yet another French filmmaker who was working on a project with the children at the orphanage. He then introduced me to a French painter, who immediately invited me over for dinner... I think you get the point.

It was a fun and somewhat bizarre week. I ended up seal hunting by dogsled (didn't see any seals) and also gave a short and somewhat unsuccessful presentation at the orphanage (technical difficulties). The hospitality of the people I met rivaled those of Fairbanks. At times I felt like an intruder, but they kept inviting me along. I turned down a couple of offers only because I felt uncomfortable. I probably could have gotten a place to stay if I had been more pushy, but as I already felt like an intruder I decided to stay at the hotel instead.

The dinner with the French painter, his wife, and one of the filmmakers was also very much fun. I'm not sure why the French get such a bad rap. Every French person I've met has been really generous and fun to be around.

myyrästoori

Tapahtui tässä toissaillalla, kun käytin ulkohuussia:

Keräämme käytetyn vessapaperin erilliseen ämpäriin, ettei kolo täyttyisi turhan nopeaan. Astiassa vain sattui pyörimään myyrä, ehkäpä Cletherionomys rutilus, vaikea sanoa kun eläinkirjani on aika onneton. Nostin muovipussin täytteineen ämpäristä toivoen, että myyrä tassuttelisi tiehensä, erinäisistä syistä kun pesän teko vessapaperista ei ole toivottavaa. Mutta mitä vielä, myyrä istui tattina paikoillaan ja katsoa killitteli ruskeilla silmillään. Siinä me sitten seistiin, katsottiin toisiamme ja räpyteltiin aina välillä silmiämme. Kauempana huhuili pöllö. Vihdoin ojentauduin pystyyn ja myyrä piiloutui ämpärin taakse, ilmeisen lähtöhaluttomana. Kyllä se sitten viimein suvaitsi lähteä, eikä ole onneksi tullut takaisin silppuamaan vessapaperia.

English summary: a vole (possibly Cletherionomys rutilus) wanted to claim our outhouse for personal use. I think I managed to convince the critter that it was not a good idea. During the process, we did spend some minutes staring at each other.

häivähdys koti-ikävää

Kysymys: Mistä tietää asuneensa liian kauan ulkomailla?

Vastaus: Kun Blogilistan ilmapallot herättävät hämmästystä. Mitä ihmeen syntymäpäiviä siellä nyt vietetään. Minulla meni puoli päivää tajuta, että ainiin, vappuahan on pyhäpäivä. Fairbanksissä oli eilen oikean oloinen vappuilmakin, viistoa räntäsadetta ja lämpoä asteen verran.

Ilmapalloista lienee siis tullut liian arkisia, kun niitä saa ostettua tavallisesta marketista. Onneksi Fred Meyersistä löytyy laulavia ilmapalloja, jotta jonkinlainen roti säilyy ja palloja voi vielä ajatella luksus-esineinä...