Wakey wakey

Small snow berms hide in the shade covered with dirt, insulated from the sun.  Road dust clings to trees, inhibiting their bloom.  Brown grass lazes around, too tired to be green.  Alaska sleeps then awakens only to hit the snooze button, not quite ready to come out from undercover.  Perhaps a dowsing of water will end this slumber.

Freshly fallen rain.  Splitter-splatter, kerplop and kadoink!  It falls from the sky to wash the Earth clean.  Gently at first but Winter's drudgery needs a stern scrubbing and soon a deluge pours down to scour the sleeping beauty of the North.  

Wind whooshes through the corridors between buildings.  Flags whip around high on posts.  Trees sway with the ebb and flow of the unseen force, bending in hopes of not breaking.  The lonesome howl of the wind careens past like otherworldly spirits on an express train to the next town.

Nature unleashes a minor tantrum then subsides.  Satisfied to have been heard.  Gleeful that Winter has been sent to its room to allow Spring and Summer to come out and play.  Nature has said her piece and is now at peace as night arrives.
 
The warmth of day still radiates from the ground and is met by the cool, damp air of night.  Over the field and marsh, a fog hovers silently.   Its delicate tendrils extend out with a life of their own and swirl with the slightest disturbance in air current.

The air.  Oh, how fresh the aroma that permeates the air after a rain!  Breathe it in deeply!  Let it fill your lungs.  You are at once relaxed and rejuvenated by the crisp, clean air.  Life giving.

It's midnight and there are no other cars around during the drive home.  Tiny water droplets spin off the tires creating the only real noise, almost soothing in its monotony.  A few stars twinkle in half the night sky.  Enough light comes over the horizon to keep the other half of the sky illuminated in a deep, azure blue.  A small reminder that in the Land of the Midnight Sun nightfall will soon be non-existent.  

The North is washed clean.  Fresh.  Ready to start anew when the sun next rises.  In the blink of an eye, the Earth will wake up and green leaves will appear seemingly overnight.  The cold, harsh Alaska that has survived another winter will find a reprieve in the upcoming months.  A beautiful sight to behold.

No red-nosed reindeer here

 

Lightning and her newborn calf (only a couple hours old) 

Born April 22, 2010 @ UAF Reindeer Research Project

On the day before my own birthday, I witnessed the birth of a reindeer.  If that's not one of the best presents ever then I don't know what is.  The opportunity came along quite by accident.  After spending the early afternoon photographing migrating birds at Creamers Field in town and driving around the back roads, I soon found myself on UAF Campus.  Driving alongside the enclosures at the Reindeer Research Project, a female reindeer plopped onto the ground on her left side.  She swayed her head back and forth several times and was moving her right leg around.  She certainly looked uncomfortable enough to be in labor but I really had no idea if this was calving season or not.  Sure enough the contractions came on strong and about half an hour later voila a baby reindeer entered the world right before my eyes!

The Mom's name is Lightning and the baby as of yet is unnamed though I did find out it's a boy.  This year UAF participated in an Artificial Insemination program for reindeer using frozen/thawed sperm.  The donor sperm traveled frozen from Canada to UAF where it was thawed then injected into seven reindeer.  Lightning was the only one to carry to full term.  This was the first documented birth of a reindeer using this insemination process.  A birth that made world agricultural history!

Adrift in a bubble

I've never thought of myself as a very passionate person.  Probably the only thing I'm close to passionate about is my photography.  I realize it's because I can see the world through the lens and not have to be directly involved in it.  I can be on the outskirts blurred into obscurity.  Unnoticed, uninterrupted, under no obligation to respond or interact.  Maybe that's why I take more pictures of objects, scenes and animals rather than people.

My imagination can be set free through the lens.  I come up with a "picture" in my mind then hope to capture or translate it onto film/mega pixels.  It's fun to see the results.  I'll admit it can also be frustrating when the end result refuses to mimic the image in my mind's eye.  But those so called failures are only avenues to new successes.  Several dozen pictures typically lead to only a couple keepers.

Photography is my way of leaving this world and going adrift in my own bubble.  Capturing the big picture then absorbing all the intricacies contained within.  Time slows and sounds wither near to silence, my breathing relaxes and my mind opens up.  Colors seem more vibrant, the tiniest details appear larger than life.  Or perhaps today those colors would be more luring if showcased in varying tones of black, grey and white.  Or maybe stepping back blurs the details and showcases the towering mountains in the big picture.  The possibilities are endless!

It can be the perfect hobby for a person with a short attention span ~~ subject matter can change moment to moment.  It can be a never ending challenge for the perfectionist ~~ beauty in the eye of the ever critical beholder is hard to attain.   It can be a curse for someone who refuses to give up ~~ just one more angle or exposure or shutter speed.  Well, I'm all of those things rolled into one.  I know it can be exhausting if you're unlucky enough to be around me in my photographer mode.  Which is why I reign myself in and rarely take photos any more unless I'm alone or with someone who knew the purpose of the day was to explore and take time to really see the world with me.  My imaginary bubble bursts, loudly, when I know my passion is an inconvenience for those around me.  And, you're right, I sometimes don't know when to say when.  Sometimes I don't want to.  Sometimes it's my way of finding me again.  And if I ask you to come along with me and my camera it's because I value your company and have allowed you into that part of my world.  If I don't ask you to come along, it just means I need "me" time.  Nothing personal.

Anticipating the end product is like being a kid on Christmas morning.  It's a great feeling to see the frozen image come out exactly the way you envisioned it.  For all the seemingly selfish "me" time spent out in the field, I have to admit there are a number of photos taken because I know someone who'd love to have them.  THE BEST FEELING of all is seeing the smile a simple photo can bring.  Like when, without knowing,  I captured the happy essence of a little girl fishing for the first time, eyes bright, smile beaming.  Her mom got a little teary eyed with happiness as she held the photo.    It's those moments that make my passion worthwhile.