Winter Break - Day One - Anchorage

I remember when winter break didn't start until Monday.  Those days were nice. 

We had a snow day on Monday, then no school on Friday: Seriously, there's almost no point to sending them to school for three days of cupcakes and singing.  Then of course there's a concert every night of the week. I needed to be at each school for at least an hour each day.  By the time the week before winter break was over, I was ready for them to go back to school.

I appreciate it, though.

My apartment is not big enough to house 4 hyper children.  I had my two children, the 7 year old that I usually just see off to school and the 12 year old that lives in the house behind us for most of the day. And to think I started the day in an awesome mood...

I just hope that I get through the rest of this break/vacation still intact.  I expect to have at least this many kids in my house daily for the next 18 days.  Tomorrow, I'll post some pics and vids of the kids sledding in front of the house.  Hopefully that will tire the younger ones out enough to take a nap.

1st Snow Day this School Year

How much snow does it take to close down the schools in Anchorage? It must be an awful lot, because this is Alaska, man! 

Above and Below: It takes about this much.

Of course what really got school canceled was a combination of the ice under the snow, the fact that the plows and scrapers hadn't gotten a chance to get ahead of it yet and the wind, which was just making everything worse. You can see how effective the wind has been lately, by how little snow is on the branches in the distance. But it's not stopping us from enjoying the world out there.

At first I was was less than excited that I would have 4 kids in my house all day long, but then I realized that I could just take them out of it.  We took turns sledding in front of the house.  This particular activity usually ends in bumps and bruises for me, but not today.  Then we walked to the school to try to iceskate, but the rink wasn't anywhere close to smooth, so we hitched a ride to Cheney Lake and just walked around throwing snowballs at each other. 

Just look at all the footprints. Here in Alaska, it doesn't matter what excuse "they" give us to take a day off, chances are we're leaving the house and having some fun with it. I bet you could have heard children laughing and snowballs landing before you got into the city limits. Aside from half the children that reside in Anchorage being outside having fun, it seems at least half the dogs were out to. I've never seen so many people walking dogs at the same time before. And the outfits on some of those dogs could be called torture.

I think there were at least 10 adults and 30 children.  Hardly any of us knew each other well, but it didn't matter.  Half of us were from the same neighborhood and the rest just kept joining us from the neighborhood around the lake.  By the time we were all done piling back into the cars that came, we were freezing cold, soaking wet and laughing constantly.  What an awesome day.

It's a shame that The Jazz Band concert was canceled, though.

I Miss the Public Library

Above: The Rainbow Library Main Entrance

The most surprising memories I have of Las Vegas have nothing to do with the nightlife. They are of our Sundays together at the Rainbow Library.  The kids would go off into the Young People's Library to look for Leapfrog products and kids movies. Then they'd get to pick 3 books each from literally thousands of books as simple as board books all the way up to children's chapter books.  Mario and I would go pick up whatever had come in off of our request list.  This was our scheduled time together.

Books and media were far from the only thinkgs available, though.  Louis and I used to go in for arts and crafts lessons.  Every time we learned how to make something new, we would come home with supplies to make more or a book with variances in it.  Then there were things for the younger kids.  Dance time on Tuesday mornings... Story telling on Tuesdays after lunch... Storybook reading on Thursday mornings... Oh and then whole family activities in the ampitheatre were hosted virtually every Friday and Saturday. We would go see family movies on summer nights, sitting on our blankets or laying out on our pillows, sharing soda and pocorn with the families sitting around us.  We attended dances featuring lessons in folk dacncing from around the world, plays concerts, etc.

We have libraries in Anchorage, but they are, well, they're just boring is what they really are.  They are not well stocked with adult or children's literature.  The location that I've visited the most often has only 4 computers to give time out on, no schedule or hold sytem and a very poor printing policy.  There are at least 4 elementary schools, one middle school and one highschool within walking distance of this library.  How are all of the kids with no computer, and/or no internet and/or no printer at home supposed to get schoolwork and projects done at the library as their teachers suggest when random neighbor number 4 won't stop playing solitaire and tween 2 is engossed in Selena/Justin arcticles?

They also lack the interest in young people and art that the ones in Vegas had.  No one would expect such dedication in Las Vegas.  The money is all supposed to be rerouted back to the strip to entice more tourists to come in and spend more.  The vicious circle is never ending and greedy.  While in Anchorage the money never leaves to begin with.  We all support each other.  It is the difference between the anonymous fast paced lifestyle of Vegas and the close knit community feeling in Anchorage.

Yet here the libraries seem forgotten.  It's hard to understand considering the thousands of dollars that are funnelled into the schools and the playgrounds and the children's programs on a monthly basis.  Nicholas Begich Jr. is the benefactor of the Begich Middle School, which my son attends.  This place is beautiful and the programs are incredible. Why aren't they trying to incorporate these into the library system? It is dry, boring and dull.  It should be a place that families come together to participate in programs and children go on sunless days to waste away a few hours. 

Above: "Raven Song," a sculpture of a raven engraved with phrases in languages representing the diversity of students attending Begich Middle School

I have no true interests in the politics of the world, but I don know who has spent money building the newest and most technologically advanced highschool in Anchorage, as well as the newest middle school with the most diverse curriculum in the Pacific West Coast. Hopefully, when the Senator returns to Anchorage we can encourage him to take notice of the libraries.  It seems that in Anchorage, when the Begich family gets together, things get done.

Here and There

Above:  Packing up my life to transport it 4000 miles away

Welcome to my corner of the world.  I currently live in Anchorage, Alaska, but for eighteen years I lived in Las Vegas, Nevada.  Vegas is an ever changing city and Anchorage seems more steady, but they have things in common as well.  I both miss Las Vegas and love Anchorage.  So I will be sharing with you my memories, my adventures, my happiness and my sadness.

I have a family of 4.  An 8 year old daughter a 12 year old son and an incredibly supportive and loyal husband (who often drives me nuts anyway).  We moved here to secure the financial state of our lives, and I'm happy here because of the weather changes, the community feeling and the art, among many other reasons.

Above: I have no idea if that is the United States or Canada below me as I fly on to my new life. But the flight is very excititing, as I have no idea what awaits me in The Last Frontier.

At first it may take a few posts to establish some continuity, but with patience and hard work I plan to turn this blog into an amazing, carefree and fun site to learn about places, people and their passions. We'll have guest contributers from time to time.  Photography and PSP contests will run on a regular basis.  Slowly but surely we are building up partnerships with different sites and companies in both Nevada and Alaska.  I am very excited for all of you to join me on this trip.

Our true launch date will be January 7th 2012. On that day we will feature some local photography from both states.  Then one week later we will announe the winner of the sigge competition being run on http://pimpinpspers.forumotion.com/  .

If you would like to enter your photography for a chance to be posted on launch, feel free to email me.

 desertbutterfly@mail.com

Above: In Anchorage, Alaska, Glenn Highway at L St appears to drop right off into the Cook Inlet.