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VirtualTourist Member catalysta


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catalysta   
'An open path with nowhere to go, you start to wonder while sitting at a red light...'


Real Name: Wendy
Lives In: Anchorage, US
Birth Date: October 28
Member Since: Nov 07, 2003
Last Login: Feb 21, 2008   15:13 UTC
Member's Time: May 13, 2008   11:21 AKDT
VT Rank: 203
Deals Rank: Unranked
Travel Interests: Wine Tasting, Historical Trip, Other Arts and Culture, Scuba/Snorkeling, Beach/Ocean/Sea



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Escaping Winter

by catalysta - last update: Nov 6, 2006

Thanks for all the wonderful birthday greetings!!!

Annnapolis in Autumn
October update: East Coast Autumn

I just got back from a visit to Maryland, spent my birthday week with my family in western MD and in Annapolis. The blue skies and brilliant leaf colors were spectacular, it was sooooooooo hard to come back to cold grey Alaska....
Caribbean Blues

Virgin Gorda: A Voyage In Caribbean Blue

I can never quite capture the exquisite shades of blue & blue-green that permeate the waters of the Caribbean. Aqua tinged by the soft pale sands shifting beneath in the shallows protected by the reef...A deeper green-blue floating beyond the reef...a sudden change to darkest aquamarine blue where the ocean shelf drops off to the deeps...melting at the horizon where the blue of the sky seductively rubs up against the ocean...and then it slowly becomes one dark midnight blue, merging the sky & sea together as the sun sinks low, and finally the stars so bright on black velvet dazzle my sun-drenched mind.

My body came back to Alaska, but the rest of me resisted admitting that I ever left that perfect island (some call it "jetlag", right?). New pages are all done now, drop in for a glimpse of paradise Caribbean style:
British Virgin Islands
Virgin Gorda
Beef Island
Tortola

For a list of Islands I Have Known (with links to pages) & another of Islands I'd Like To Know, see Travelogue My Obsession With Islands.
Frozen Trees

The Seasons of Alaska

Morning In Late October 2005

Fall fell so quickly in Anchorage, it was all over in one blustery wet night. The birch trees were stripped bare by furious wind gusts clocked at up to 70mph. The next morning they stood out in stark contrast against a backdrop of the Chugach Mountains covered with white "termination dust".

You'll notice I have no spring or fall shown here in the "Seasons Of Alaska"; that's because the 2 transitional seasons pass so quickly I have no good photos of them. This year I was down in America when autumn happened in Anchorage, and then it was all over while I was still too jet-lagged to catch it.

Back at work here on the Pipeline, the long winter has solidly arrived. We're coping with our first heavy snowfall of the year. The plows are running continuously to keep up with it all, and I have to step outside to shovel the entry deck & stairs outside my office every 2 hours or so, or it will build up to a depth that will block my door.

Heavy sighs...Have to control myself, I'm supposed to stay at home this R&R, but already I'm longing for warmth, sunshine, salt water...the tropics are calling again!
Windsock Sunrise, 9:30am

Post Winter Solstice Notes, early 2005

It was a bitter cold winter 2004-2005, the coldest I've experienced in Alaska so far. Had several days where the temperature hovered around -40F, and then the winds started. My god was it cold!

Longing to take my frozen body parts to Florida again....
Denali Closeup

Denali's Winter Face

Caught this shots from the crew change flight on the way to work for January hitch. Glad to be in a heated airplane, not down there, whew.

Strangely, when we landed in Fairbanks that day, in -30F temps, there was a freezing fog so thick at the airport that we wondered how we could land in it. Flew down into the cloud blanketing the runway, & suddenly we were on the ground. Impressively smooth landing! (Grateful for experienced pilots.)
Sunrise 7:20am

Early March Morning 2005

Slowly the sun swings north, ice melts...

Alicin rushes into my office, breathlessly ordering me to come see the red sunrise. I grab my faithful C770 and trot out the door, slipping and sliding on the half-frozen slush in the yard. I look up to the east and there it is: Red glowing over orange, but fading quickly. I click and I capture this beautiful moment, still seconds too late to record that phenomenal glowing redredred.

Each day is measurably longer, as we yearn for Summer Solstice. "It's coming," I tell myself.
Rainstorm Sunset View From Condo

Summer Storms & Rainbows

Thunderstorms...people up here tell me they never used to get thunderstorms in Anchorage, not for decades. But now they are a regular occurrence every summer (one more in-your-face evidence of global warming). In 2004 they triggered the terrible forest fires that destoyed over 10 million acres in Alaska, and millions more in neighboring Canada.

For several nights running, the storms over the Chugach Mountains east of town provided us with lush and gorgeous color shows, and one perfect arcing prism.
Old Sketch Of A Friend

A Plague of Artists

We are gradually and very surreptitiously taking over VT, and my VT friend Sean in Cardiff has started a list of VT artists for you to view. Just go to Sean's homepage at aaaarrgh.

To see a few more of my drawings, check out the album:
Drawings

catalysta's Albums
Title [Click to view]Travel YearPictures
Once upon a time, I lived on an island....- 4
My all-time favorite ever news story- 1
My obsession with islands- 4
A Few Drawings- 6

Comments for catalysta
jadedmuse Sun Apr 6, 2008 02:33 UTC
 Damn, girl! Where are you these days? Holed up in the northern lower 48, I know...hope all is well. Still love ya, Eddie.
butterfly_girl Mon Mar 24, 2008 12:11 UTC
 Wendy...how is life with you these days? We miss Alaska...it was so beautiful there and so nice meeting you! What's new?
VeronicaG Thu Mar 20, 2008 16:10 UTC
 Hi, Wendy. Just stopping by to wish you a happy Easter. Hope you seeing signs of Spring!!
highlandlaura Mon Feb 25, 2008 23:53 UTC
 HI, great drawings!
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