Yesterday I was out skiing in our neighborhood, rounded a corner, and was suddenly dumbstruck. Golden sunlight streamed down all around us--I had forgotten that sunshine was warm! It is so different now than it was in deep Winter, when the faraway sun provided no warmth and seemed to serve only as another ornament in the sky, like the moon.
So different now! The sky was deep, pure blue, so blue that the shadows in the snow looked blue. A scene I'd seen dozens a times, now transformed by the quality of light.
I don't think I've experienced joys and sorrows as simple and profound as I have in Fairbanks. On the surface, it looks like any generic small town in America. But there is something strange and wonderful about living here. The sun and the sky can make you experience joy on a visceral level. You step out at night to do some mundane chore--let the dog pee, retrieve something from your car--and WHOA--shimmering curtains of green light are waving around overhead, the juxtaposition of their gaudy brilliance unnerving against their silence.
And I cursed like a sailor when I saw that Rosie Creek had melted. Cut off from half the ski trails! &*$@!!
P.S. very funny article on how Fairbanksians obsess over temperatures. And true, I can assure you. :)
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