Wow...Mother Nature !!

Wow...Mother Nature sure can be spectacular !!

And since we returned to Haines 4 weeks ago, she seems to be showing off a little more than usual. On Valentines Day she gave us a special treat...the "Northern Lights"...one of the most spectacular phenomena there is.

We were doing our usual evening dog walking on a very calm and partly clear night (both a bit rare for the past month) when we noticed a green glow behind the mountains to the north of town and thought "that's an odd color sky". We soon realized what we were seeing as the aurora seemed to rise from above the mountains silhouette and start streaking and dancing across the sky. We were almost to the edge of town as we watched the spectacular light show when we decided to walk back to get the camera. I know what you are thinking "typical Dave, never has the camera at the right moment...what a surprise". By the time we got to the house, the aurora display had faded away and spotty clouds were moving up the canal from the south. The strange thing is, the northern lights reappeared briefly again later that night. That is when I grabbed the camera and went down to the marina. The photo above was taken that night...after the clouds had moved in. You can still see the green from the aurora shining through the thin clouds. Maybe I'll get a better shot next time Mother Nature treats us to a show. The locals say March is the best month...usually.

We check this website http://www.gi.alaska.edu/AuroraForecast/1 for the "Aurora Forecast" and hope for clear nights. Haines is near Juneau on the map.

Spaz WAD and her trusty sidekick Toby...stranded.

Wow...Mother Nature does produce some very unusual creations (but I'm not talking about the dogs). We found these pieces of sheet ice where the Chilkat river empties into the canal. We had some very cold days with temps near zero and much of the river froze over. These pieces must have broken up and been floated at high tide. Mother Nature must have decided they should settle into this unique statue when the tide went out and we were lucky enough to find it before it melted.

Notice the lane stripes...they used to line up straight.

The day we got back to Haines from our holiday trip we had an interesting event that has the whole town talking. It seems there is a slow land slide taking place. The worst part, and why everyone in town is so concerned, is it is taking the road with it. Not just any road, the only road from town to the all important ferry terminal.   

Wow...Mother Nature sure is powerful.

The area is roughly 1/4 mile wide and is shown outlined in red in the Google earth photo at left. The yellow arrow shows the general direction the slide is creeping. The whole hillside seems to be heading to the ocean. The borough began taking daily measurements to see just how much the area is moving. So far it is about 2 feet horizontally and about 1 foot vertically.

Notice the road crack headed right for the house

The saddest part is the beautiful house you see in this picture seems headed for disaster. The black arrow in the Google earth photo points at the house and the direction the photo at the left is taken. The owners have abandoned the house for fear it could go suddenly at any moment and they don't want to be in it if it does. There are already cracks in the foundation and the walls throughout the house. It should be interesting to see what happens when spring comes and all the snow and ice melts...stay tuned! 
Check out the reports here if you want http://hainesborough.us/slopemovement.html 

My 3 best friends look small there don't they?

Wow...Mother Nature can sure be creative and beautiful as you can see in this photo. Yes, of course I was talking about Lori, but also the ice masterpiece behind her. We seem to find many of nature's treasures while we are walking the dogs, which makes walking the dogs much more enjoyable.

It's not always while out walking. A couple of mornings ago, while having coffee, we watched an incredible scene from the kitchen window. We noticed some splashing in the water just offshore so we grabbed the binoculars to see a bald eagle swimming the breaststroke! The poor guy was swimming furiously against the wind trying to reach the rocks and getting tired. Lori and I were cheering him on "c'mon buddy, don't give up, you can do it". We don't know how he got into the water but once in he could not fly out and might have drown but...he made it! Wow...Mother Nature's drama.

Haines is really a very beautiful place, full with the beauty of nature any time, and in winter, it seems like almost anywhere you look you can find a masterpiece. Even something as simple as this leaf on the ground, having melted down into the ice and then beginning to freeze over, is a one of a kind treasure soon to be gone and never again reproduced exactly. 

We have really enjoyed being able to slow down our life and take it all in here.

Sometimes, it is just the colors Mother Nature uses at certain times of day to make the same scene more spectacular and different that when you looked at it just an hour ago.

This area, 20 miles from town got 42" in 16 hours on New Years day

It seems that we picked a record winter to stay in Haines. We have had over 300 inches of snow since November 1st...that's over 25 feet...and just a couple of inches short of the all time record snowfall for one winter! And, we still have 6 more weeks to go.

You can check it out on the Haines community website http://hainesak.com/
There is some other cool stuff there to check out if you want to get a sense of this place.
 

 Wow...Mother Nature !!