I figure if I'm going to be stuck here interminably in pursuit of a PhD, I might as well take some more cool pictures. :) I thought I'd try something different this time: Since all the pictures on my digital camera are "date stamped," I thought I'd include the date of when each photo was taken, 'n stuff. If ya' feel strongly about this--one way or the other--please let me know, 'n stuff. :)
1/04/05 Returning from the tropical climes of south-central Pennsylvania. One can just see the peak of Denali/Mt. McKinley--under the left-side wing. Denali ("The Big One"), at 20,320 ft., is the tallest mountain in North America. My first year "up here" I had a great team, and was all set to go up it. Then, my team bagged out one by one, until it was just me. I asked myself, "Am I ready for a solo climb of Denali?" Then answer came back almost immediately: "No. -I'm not sure anyone is." The next year my blood pressure got too high, and I was told by my doctor that my days over 14,500 ft. were over. Sighhhh. Another "dream gone by. . . ."
1/05/05 Here is what awaited me when I got back---the truck entombed in snow and ice. (We had a very heavy "snow year," that year---at least for the Interior. :) ) It took a while to get it clear; of course, being a Toyota, it started right up, though. :)
1/9/05 It took me 4 & 1/2 years to get these next two pictures---and to get them exactly right. Tell me, at what temperature are Celsius and Fahrenheit the same?
I don't know why "the 'F'" didn't come out quite right---perhaps I took the picture at the very time the sign was changin'---I dunno'. Of note, one of the faculty here made a point of being most unimpressed (He has a tendency to do that, in general. . . .)--as another member of the faculty took a picture on the same day of himself in front of the very same sign . . . in his underpants. :) :) (No--I am not going to identify either one of them. :) ;) )
1/11/05 Me--on a really cold day. It got down to 61 below that day. Now tell me again why I turned down the opportunity to get my PhD in Hawaii??!! :) :)
1/14/05 I don't really remember why I took this picture---perhaps I was trying to capture the "inversion plume," a little right of center. It looks a bit parky, don't it? ;)
1/17/05 I saved this picture, mostly for posterity. :) This was the first time ever that I attempted to vary the exposure on my "cheapie camera" ( :P ). (The picture didn't some out all that great---but explicitly altering the exposure from the automatic setting made it possible.) Reading this now, it occurs to me that this can't possibly be right---I earlier took pictures of Chicago from the air. . . .
Anyway, [this is] the UAF museum at night. This time of year, it's pretty much perpetually "night." :)
On to more Alaska pics.