Author name: judyann dutcher

Alaska – Day 4

We went to the Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks where Dr. Hui Zhang lectured on the aurora borealis. She presented what the aurora is, how it is formed, its cycle and how it affects us. We then had a presentation by the librarian from same institute. In the afternoon, we went to the […]

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Alaska – Day 3

We took a 12 hour train ride from Anchorage to Fairbanks. We passed through Wasilla which has McDonald’s, subway, Dairy Queen, Pizza Hut. Moose alerts. The moose hear the train and start running away. Magnificent. “We’re going to get a good view of The Mountain,” announces the conductor. We have perfect weather and can see

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Alaska – Day 2

Parka is the name for squirrel. Squirrels were used to make coats, hence parka. Icebergs are black in the spring because they soak up the mud they sit in. One hazardous sport is fishing on certain shores where mud is abundant. It is not uncommon for people fishing to get caught in the mud without

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Alaska – the Beginning

My travels to Alaska began at 4:15am. I got my four hours of sleep in so I was ready to go. I never “failed” going through security before so I was very surprised when I had to go through a manual pat-down by TSA. It was surrealistic to be out in the open, more or

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Unfamiliar Fishes

Unfamiliar Fishes by Sarah Vowell documents white man’s relationship to, destruction and annexation of Hawaii. The history covered is primarily 1820 through 1898 beginning with Cooke’s sailors, focusing mainly on the missionary colonization, touching on whaling, the monarchy and sugar issues. I first heard of Vowell as a contributor from This American Life. I know

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