Z is for Zarnowsky

I don't have a picture to go along with John Zarnowsky, but I am eternally grateful to him for giving me a "Z" word for my last post of the challenge!

A Russian, Zarnowsky has a dubious claim to fame, as he is known for unwittingly selling half of the richest gold claim on the richest gold creek in the Alaskan Far North for a sack of flour and a side of bacon.

Zarnowsky believed he was too late to strike it rich with his claim, which was along a small stream known as "Bonanza's Pup." That small stream would eventually become known as Eldorado Creek, which was the most valuable placer discovery in history.

Alex McDonald, who bought Zarnowsky's claim for that bacon and flour in 1896, later became known as the "The King of the Klondike," and made a fortune during the Klondike Gold Rush of 1897-1898.

I can't say for sure, but I would imagine poor Mr. Zarnowsky spent the rest of his life kicking himself.

And that's it for me and another round of the A-Z in April challenge! Thanks to everyone who has come by here, it's been another great year of A-Zing. :)


My A-Z theme of Alaska is inspired by my debut novel, Polar Night, which is set in Fairbanks and the Alaskan Arctic. Click here for all the info on the book. 

Y is for the Yukon River

Source: Wikimedia Commons

The Yukon River is the longest river in Alaska, and flows from the Canadian border to the Bering Sea.

The river was one of the primary means of transportation during the Klondike Gold Rush of 1896-1903, and was a major supply route for interior Alaska from the early decades of the 19th century on.

The Yukon is frozen from October through May, so prospectors, trappers, and missionaries used dog sleds to travel the river during the winter months. Riverboats and steamers could only be used during the relatively short summer season.

As I am a big fan of old photographs, I really like this photo of a steamer docked at Eagle, Alaska on the Yukon sometime between 1898 and 1903.

Source: Wikimedia Commons

When I see photos like this, I always wonder who was there in the picture. I wonder who was on this boat and where they were headed. Or where they were coming from.

25 letters down and one more to go! :)


My A-Z theme of Alaska is inspired by my debut novel, Polar Night, which is set in Fairbanks and the Alaskan Arctic. Click here for all the info on the book.

X is for Exxon Valdez

Source: Wikimedia Commons

This is my third year doing the A-Z Challenge, and the third time I've had a terrible time coming up with a post for X. This year I ended up going with one of the most devastating human-caused environmental disasters of all time.

In March, 1989, the oil tanker Exxon Valdez ran aground in Prince William Sound in the Gulf of Alaska and spilled between 250,000 and 750,000 barrels of crude oil.

This picture shows the oil sheen covering the Sound a few days after the spill.

Source: Wikimedia Commons

The oil eventually covered more than 1,300 miles of coastline and 11,000 square miles of ocean.

The region's wildlife was crippled by the spill. An estimated 100,000 to possibly even 250,000 seabirds were killed, as well as 2,800 sea otters, 300 seals, 247 bald eagles, and countless fish.

Twenty years after the oil spill, a team of researchers from the University of North Carolina found that its effects were lasting much longer than expected and concluded that the area may take more than thirty years to recover completely.

In 2010, an estimated 23,000 gallons of Valdez crude oil remained in Alaska's sand and soil.


My A-Z theme of Alaska is inspired by my debut novel, Polar Night, which is set in Fairbanks and the Alaskan Arctic. Click here for all the info on the book. 

W is for Willow Ptarmigan

Source: Wikimedia Commons

After the creepy volcanoes of my "V" post, I wanted to move to something much more gentle for "W." The willow ptarmigan fit the bill.

This cute bird is a member of the pheasant family and is the state bird of Alaska. The willow ptarmigan chicks above were photographed in the Denali National Park and Preserve, as was this male adult bird.

Source: Wikimedia Commons

What I found interesting about the willow ptarmigan is that the bird's feathers transition from light brown in the summer to snow white in the winter, giving it very effective camouflage from predators depending on the season.

Source: Wikimedia Commons

This is similar to the Artic hare, which has gray-brown fur in the summer and all white fur in the winter. I always find it interesting the way nature provides ways for animals to adapt and survive according to their habitats.

The ptarmigans are also equipped for the Alaskan winters through their toes, which are feathered in order to bring more warmth. In addition, the birds are more sociable in the winter and roost close together to stay warm.

Obviously these little guys know how to make it through a winter, and I've no doubt they do much better than I would in that climate!

Happy Friday, all! In honor of Vikki's Celebrate the Small Things hop, I'm celebrating the fact that we've made it through the last full week of the challenge! This challenge has been wonderful as always but I'm also more than ready for a break. Three more letters to go!

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend ahead. 

My A-Z theme of Alaska is inspired by my debut novel, Polar Night, which is set in Fairbanks and the Alaskan Arctic. Click here for all the info on the book.

V is for Volcanoes

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Having seen the Day in Pompeii exhibit at the Cincinnati Museum Center last year, I am totally creeped out by volcanoes. Given that, Alaska would probably not be a good place for me to visit, as a volcano erupts each year there on average.

The eruptions in Alaska are typically ash instead of lava, and the majority of the volcanoes are found on the Aleutian Islands or the Alaskan Peninsula. They are part of the "ring of fire" that encircles the Pacific Ocean.

The Redoubt Volcano on the Aleutian Islands erupted in December, 1989 and continued to erupt for the next six months. The eruption brought on devastating mudflows which inundated Cook Island, located about 22 miles from the volcano itself. Ultimately causing $160 million worth of damage, the Redoubt eruption is the second costliest eruption in United States history.

This image was taken in April of 1990, when Redoubt was in its fifth month of eruption.

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Redoubt erupted again in April of 2009.

Have you ever seen a volcano? I'm happy to say I have not.

My A-Z theme of Alaska is inspired by my debut novel, Polar Night, which is set in Fairbanks and the Alaskan Arctic. Click here for all the info on the book.

U is for Unga Island Petrified Forest

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Unga Island is one of the most interesting things I've learned about while researching Alaska. Part of the Aleutian Chain of islands, Unga Island's northwest corner is covered with black, yellow, and gray petrified tree stumps.

The Aleutian Islands are treeless, but the Unga forest suggests that the islands once supported  a forest filled with the ancestors of the California redwoods. The forest is believed to be either sequoia, found in Northern California, or metasequoia, now found primarily in China. Neither tree could survive in Alaska's current climate.

Scientists believe the trees date back about 25 million years to the Miocene or Oligocene epochs. The earth was considerably warmer during these times, which allowed the trees to thrive on the now stormy and windswept Aleutians.

The majority of the forest sits below the tide line and therefore can only be seen when the tide goes out. The stumps cover about five miles of beach, and have been described as looking as if they are marching into the ocean.

I'd love to see these marching stumps someday!

My A-Z theme of Alaska is inspired by my debut novel, Polar Night, which is set in Fairbanks and the Alaskan Arctic. Click here for all the info on the book.

T is for Termination Dust

When I first read the Alaskan slang phrase "termination dust," I couldn't imagine what it meant. But I figured it had to be something fairly ominous.

Source: Wikimedia Commons

As it turns out, termination dust refers to the first light dusting of snow up in the mountains each autumn. It signals the termination of summer and the start of the very long winter. The dusting is also a reminder, or a warning, that the first big snow is right around the corner.

In Fairbanks, the first snow typically falls in September and the snowpack is usually established by the middle of October and remains until May.

With snow covering the ground for that long, I can understand why the Alaskans mark the first signs of snow as a "termination." I know if I lived there I would hate to see the summer end.



My A-Z theme of Alaska is inspired by my debut novel, Polar Night, which is set in Fairbanks and the Alaskan Arctic. Click here for all the info on the book.

S is for Sun Dogs

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Sun dogs, or parhelions, come from ice crystal clouds reflecting or refracting light from the sun. They can be seen in Alaska in the winter when the sun is continually low in the sky.

The ice crystal clouds form a halo around the sun that interacts with the sunlight. If the light refracts through the sunlight, the sun dog shows a spectrum of colors, with red being the most common. If the light reflects, the sun dog will be white.

Sun dogs got their name because their fuzzy rainbows and lights appear to be "dogging" the sun.

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Even though this photo isn't of a sun dog in Alaska, I loved the shot so much I had to include it. A sun dog at the North Pole:

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Have you ever seen a sun dog?

My A-Z theme of Alaska is inspired by my debut novel, Polar Night, which is set in Fairbanks and the Alaskan Arctic. Click here for all the info on the book.

R is for Russian America

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Russian America was the name of Russian colonial territories in the Americas from 1733-1867. The territories included what is now the state of Alaska. The Alaskan land was sold to the United States by the Russians in 1867.

Because of this history, there is still a strong Russian influence in Alaska, particularly in the city of Sitka. Called New Archangel by the Russians, Sitka was the capital of Russian America.

Reminders of the Russian colonization of Alaska include the Russian Bishop's House, which is one of the sole remaining examples of Russian colonial architecture in North America, The New Archangel Dancers, who promote interest in Alaska's Russian history, and St. Michael's Russian Orthodox Cathedral, which is a National Historic Landmark. The original cathedral, shown above, burned in 1966 but was subsequently rebuilt in the same Russian architectural style.

I've always thought Russian architecture was really interesting, so I think I'd love visiting Sitka. 


My A-Z theme of Alaska is inspired by my debut novel, Polar Night, which is set in Fairbanks and the Alaskan Arctic. Click here for all the info on the book. 

Q is for Qiviut

Source: Wikimedia Commons

I think Q is always one of the hardest letters in the A-Z Challenge, so I was happy when I learned about qiviut.

Qiviut is the Inuit word for the wool of musk oxen, and it is most commonly used for hats and scarves. The wool is softer than cashmere and doesn't shrink in water, so it's not surprising that it's very expensive! A qiviut scarf can sell for more than $300.

Unlike sheep, the musk oxen aren't sheared, which seems like a good thing considering how big the animals are. Instead, the oxen shed the wool and it is gathered during the molting season.

Source: Wikimedia Common

The production and sale of qiviut items has long provided a stable income for the Inuit people in the northern regions of Alaska.

I have to admit that I'd love to have a qiviut scarf, as I'm sure they are really cozy, but I'm  not about to shell out $300 for one. It simply doesn't get that cold here in Cincinnati.


My A-Z theme of Alaska is inspired by my debut novel, Polar Night, which is set in Fairbanks and the Alaskan Arctic. Click here for all the info on the book.

P is for...well

I chose Alaska as my theme for this year's A-Z because it is the setting of my debut novel Polar Night. And while my intent is to focus on the state as a backdrop for my book, and I've chosen topics related to the state itself for every other letter, I couldn't resist choosing Polar Night for my "P" post. I hope you don't mind humoring me! :D

To say the publication of this book has been one of the highlights of my life is an understatement. Even though it's been more than two months since the book was released, I still find it hard to believe.

Earlier this week I got an amazing surprise when I discovered that my local library now has Polar Night in its collection. I didn't even know they had bought copies! It was such a thrill to walk into my neighborhood branch and see this on the "New Arrivals" shelf:

Here I am hanging out with Sue Grafton and W.E.B. Griffin. :D

My mom was with me when I took these pictures, and that made it even more fun as this is the same library my parents took me to before I was even old enough to read. I loved going there and picking out books to bring home. (Beatrix Potter was my usual choice.) I never dreamed that one day I'd be walking in and seeing my own book on the library shelves!

Polar Night is a supernatural thriller and is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords. Here's what some totally awesome people are saying about it:

"This isn't usually a genre I'm drawn to, but Julie pulled me into the story quickly and I didn't want to stop reading. And she has created two characters that have tremendous appeal - our hero, Danny Fitzpatrick, and our villain, Aleksei Nechayev." - Melissa Goodwin, author of The Christmas Village 

"This is a great, super fast read. I couldn't put this down. The main character, Danny Fitzpatrick is just the right blend of damaged and vulnerability with a good, healthy dose of skepticism." - Lisa Regan, author of Finding Claire Fletcher and the upcoming Aberration

"After the first few chapters, the story really takes off; and by the midway point, it races toward a satisfying finish. It kept me up reading way past my bedtime." - Goodreads reviewer Melissa Maygrove

"Polar Night" was one of the most refreshing reads I've had in quite a while." - Goodreads reviewer Akira Ravens

"Thank you good reads giveaway! This was a great read! Took it on vacation and had it read before day 2!" - Goodreads reviewer and giveaway winner Lisa M. 

I have to admit, "P" is my favorite letter of the alphabet this year! :)

O is for Otters

Source: Wikimedia Commons

If you are familiar with my blog, you know that I am an animal lover. So learning about Alaska was fun for me, because the state is home to 90 species of mammals. Among these are otters, both sea otters and river otters.

I really don't have anything else to write about the otters, as I chose them for my "O" word for one reason only. I think they are absolutely adorable! Can it even be argued? :D

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Source: Wikimedia Commons

If you're still not convinced, I offer this pic of two otters holding hands.

Source: Wikimedia Commons

O turned out to be a hard letter for me this year, but the otters came through. :D

My A-Z theme of Alaska is inspired by my debut novel, Polar Night, which is set in Fairbanks and the Alaskan Arctic. Click here for all the info on the book.

N is for Northern Lights

Source: Wikimedia Commons

To me it's hard to imagine anything more magical than the Aurora Borealis, or the Northern Lights. Seen above the magnetic poles of the northern hemisphere, the lights result from the collision of electrically charged particles that enter the earth's atmosphere from the sun. The southern hemisphere counterpart is called the Aurora australis.

I'm the first to admit that I don't understand a thing about the science behind the lights, but based on photos alone it's hard to imagine a more beautiful or magical sight than the lights dancing across the dark sky. The Cree people called the Northern Lights phenomenon the "Dance of the Spirits," and it's easy to see why.

This is a case where I think pictures speak much louder than words. The photos included with this post are all shots of the Northern Lights seen from Alaska.

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Have you ever seen the Northern Lights in person? If so, I am envious! :)

My A-Z theme of Alaska is inspired by my debut novel, Polar Night, which is set in Fairbanks and the Alaskan Arctic. Click here for all the info on the book.

M is for Moose

Source: Wikimedia Commons

As with everything else in Alaska, the Alaskan Moose is big, and in fact it is the largest subspecies of moose in the world. There is also a large population of the Alaskan moose, with about 225,000 ranging from Alaska to the western areas of the Yukon in Canada. As a result, humans who live in or visit the area frequently come in contact with these giant creatures.

My main reason for choosing moose as my "m" word was the memory of the moose who ambled through the fictional town of Cicely, Alaska in the Northern Exposure opening credits.

Northern Exposure aired from 1990-1995 but, in a sure sign of my advanced age, it doesn't seem like that long ago to me. I think the show had one of the best opening theme songs ever and I'm sure everyone who ever watched the show remembers the moose.

I tried to find a video of the credits but apparently all have been taken down from youtube due to copyright claims. So I settled for this clip of the music with a picture of the famous moose.




My A-Z theme of Alaska is inspired by my debut novel, Polar Night, which is set in Fairbanks and the Alaskan Arctic. Click here for all the info on the book. 

It's the third Monday of the month, which means it's time for another round of Writers4Writers. This month's featured writers are E.J. Wesley and M. Pepper Langlinais. I'm not familiar with M. Pepper, so it's fun for me to discover a new writer, but I already know E.J. and he is totally awesome and one of my favorite people in the blogosphere. He's also an excellent writer and his Moonsongs books are great reads. 

Visit the W4WS page here for all the info on how to support these two writers.

L is for Lakes

Source: Wikimedia Commons

As I mentioned in my J post, it seems to me that Alaska is a land of extremes. This became clear to me again when I read about Alaskan lakes. There aren't just a few lakes in Alaska. Instead there are millions, and 94 of those lakes have a surface area of more than ten square miles.

The largest lake in the state is Lake Iliamna, shown in the picture above. Located on the Alaskan peninsula, Iliamna covers 1,000 square miles.

The second largest is Lake Becharof, which is 35 miles long and covers 458 square miles. Lake Becharof is shown here:

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Becharof Lake is part of the Becharof National Wildlife Refuge, and is the largest lake in the entire U.S. National Wildlife Refuge system.

Source: Wikimedia Commons

I get the sense that everything in Alaska is beautiful in addition to being large. I'm sure there are some ugly things, but in my search of the state I've yet to find them. Based on these photos, they're not to be found in the millions of Alaskan lakes.



My A-Z theme of Alaska is inspired by my debut novel, Polar Night, which is set in both Fairbanks, Alaska and in the Alaskan Arctic. Click here for all the info on the book.

K is for Kiska Island and Celebrating the Small Things

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Kiska is an island on the western end of the Aleutian chain of islands. It is 22 miles long and varies in width from 1.5 to 6 miles.

On June 6, 1942, Japanese forces invaded Kiska and captured the sole inhabitants of the island, a US Navy Weather Detachment of 10 men. The next day, the Japanese captured nearby Attu Island.

While the islands were not important militarily, the loss of US territory to the Japanese was psychologically damaging to the American forces. In October of 1942, US forces led seven bombing missions over Kiska, and completed several more bombing missions during the winter months of 1942-1943.

In the summer of 1943, Allied troops landed on Kiska to find the island completely abandoned. Aware of the upcoming arrival of the Allied force, the Japanese had removed all of the troops from the island under the cover of extreme fog.

The site of the Japanese occupation of Kiska is now a National Historic Landmark and is protected under US Federal Law.

Much of the site remains unchanged since the 1940s, with bomb craters still visible in the tundra. Concrete lined tunnels, Japanese gun emplacements, shipwrecks, and other war relics have all been left untouched since 1943.

I had no idea that the Japanese troops had successfully occupied Alaskan territory during World War II. I thought this story was really interesting and would be curious to know more about it.

It's Friday, so that means it time for Vikki's Celebrate the Small Things bloghop.

Today I'm celebrating the fact that we're just about half-way through the alphabet! I hope everyone is enjoying the challenge so far and ready to jump into the second half.

I'm also celebrating that I finally feel like I've come up with some cohesive ideas for my sequel to Polar Night. I've written several beginnings so far and have scrapped all of them because I hated them and felt like I was going nowhere. But this week, thanks to my Haunted Places post, I had my own little "Eureka!" moment. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this time I really am on the right track.

What are you celebrating this week?


My A-Z theme of Alaska is inspired by my debut novel, Polar Night, which is set in the Alaskan Arctic. Click here for all the info on the book.

J is for Jade and the Juneau Icefield

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Jade is the official state gemstone of Alaska, and is found in large quantities in the state.

Jade Mountain, a 4500 foot mountain on the Seward Peninsula, is made almost entirely of jade. Supposedly when the sunlight is just right, the whole mountain turns a spectacular shade of jade green. The mountain is far from any of Alaska's major road systems, so pictures of it are hard to come by. I'd love to see it someday.

It seems that Alaska is a state of extremes, as my reading for the letter "J" took me from a mountain of jade to an ice field that covers 1,500 square miles. 

Source: Wikimedia Commons

The Juneau Icefield, which is located north of the city of Juneau, is the source of more than 30 glaciers, including the Mendenhall.

Source: Wikimedia Commons

The ice field is a popular tourist attraction, with helicopter tours taking visitors over the site.

Have you ever seen the Juneau Icefield? Or the "off the beaten path" Jade Mountain?

My A-Z theme of Alaska is inspired by my debut novel, Polar Night, which is set in the Alaskan Arctic. Click here for all the info on the book.

I is for Ice Fog

Source: Wikimedia Commons

I wrote about ice fog back when I visited Carol Kilgore's Under the Tiki Hut blog back in March. In the interest of time, I'm just going to share what I wrote for my post on Carol's page again here:

One of the most interesting things I learned about winter in Fairbanks is the presence of ice fog. Ice fog occurs when the air is simply too cold (usually -40 degrees or colder) to absorb the moisture that comes from things such as car exhausts or even human breath. Instead of dissipating into the atmosphere the moisture turns into fine ice crystals that are suspended in the air. Apparently the early settlers in Alaska called the fog “white death” because they believed the crystals could get into their lungs and kill them. I thought it was such a creepy phenomenon that I simply had to include it in my novel.

I've never experienced temperatures anywhere close to that cold, as the lowest recorded temperature in Cincinnati history is -16 degrees, and that was in 1936. So I can't even begin to imagine what ice fog would be like. And I sincerely hope it's not something I ever actually experience. Yikes!


My A-Z theme of Alaska is inspired by my debut novel, Polar Night, which is set in the Alaskan Arctic. Click here for all the info on the book.

H is for Haunted Places

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Since my book Polar Night features a fictional haunted asylum, I thought I would write about a few real haunted places in Alaska for my "H" post. And for the record, I have no idea who or what the woman in the above picture is, but I found the image on Wikimedia and thought it was creepy as can be!

The website theshadowlands.net includes tons of haunted places in Alaska, so I thought I would limit my post to the haunted sites in Fairbanks, which is the main setting of my novel.

Fairbanks' Birch Hill Cemetery is the home of many ghost sightings. There are reports of a girl in a white dress in the fashion of the early 1900s and this "White Lady of Birch Hill Cemetery" is the most famous ghost in Fairbanks. Other ghostly residents include a young boy dressed in the style of the 1930s.

Mile 8-12 of the Chena Hot Springs Road is haunted by ghostly lights and passing cars have been followed by what appear to be headlights (which aren't attached to cars) when driving the road late at night.

A young girl died on the third floor of the Northern Lights Hotel, and the floor was closed off following the death. Now, employees at the front desk claim to receive phone calls from room 303, although no one has access to the third floor. The calls are from a little girl who says she is looking for her mother, then hangs up.

The Westmark Hotel is probably my favorite ghost story. To quote from the site Haunted Alaska:

The Westmark Hotel was built on property where a house had been plagued by the ghosts of some mischievous miners. There are reports of items being moved and even thrown. The activity seems to have subsided over the last several years and now the ghosts only seem to bother the cooks in the restaurant.

I wonder why the cooks can't be left in peace. What did they do to tick these old ghost miners off?  :D

These are just a few of the haunted tales of Alaska. I admit I love stories like these and I think that, true or not, they are fun to learn about.


My A-Z theme of Alaska is inspired by my debut novel, Polar Night, which is set in the Alaskan Arctic. Click here for all the info on the book.

G is for Glaciers

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Alaska is the home of the two largest glaciers in North America, the Bering Glacier and the Malaspina Glacier, both of which are larger in area than the entire state of Delaware. The Bering Glacier is the longest glacier in the state and is more than 100 miles long.

Source: Wikimedia Commons

All told, there are an estimated 100,000 glaciers in Alaska, and glaciers cover three percent of the state's landscape. About 3/4 of all the fresh water in Alaska is glacial ice.

A few facts about glaciers:

1. Cracks on the surface of glaciers are called crevasses, and they can be more than 100 feet deep
2. Icebergs are formed when ice breaks off from glaciers, in a process called calving
3. Glaciers are constantly on the move, and they can sometimes surge to move as much as 300 feet at a time
4. Glaciers often appear blue in color because the density of the ice absorbs all the colors in the spectrum except blue. Blue is reflected by the ice. 

You can get a good idea of the size of glaciers from this picture taken in Glacier Bay. It's difficult to even see the cruise ship!

Source: Wikimedia Commons

I hope to someday see these glaciers with my own eyes. Have you ever seen glaciers in Alaska or elsewhere?

 My A-Z theme of Alaska is inspired by my debut novel, Polar Night, which is set in the Alaskan Arctic. Click here for all the info on the book.

F is for Fairbanks

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Fairbanks is the second largest city in Alaska, behind Anchorage, and is the primary setting of my novel Polar Night. My main character Danny Fitzpatrick is a detective for the Fairbanks police department.

Polar Night takes place during the dead of winter in December. During the winter solstice, which falls around December 21 each year, Fairbanks only sees 3 hours and 43 minutes of sunlight. The sun doesn't rise until around 11:00 in the morning, and it sets before 3:00 in the afternoon. I can't really imagine a day like that!

The winters in Fairbanks are long, and last from late September/early October until late April/early May. The winters are also cold, with average temperatures of -15 degrees Fahrenheit to -25 degrees Fahrenheit. The temperatures have been known to drop as low as -60 degrees during a Fairbanks winter. This is something else I can't begin to imagine.

Source: Wikimedia Commons

The summer in Fairbanks is quite different. On the summer solstice, Fairbanks experiences 21 hours and 49 minutes of sunlight. And even after sunset, the twilight is bright enough to allow for daylight activities.

For this reason, Fairbanks hosts the Midnight Sun baseball game each year. The game has been a tradition since 1906, and starts after 10:00 at night on the solstice. When the game begins, the sun is just beginning to set. By the time it ends approximately three hours later, the sun is starting to rise again. Artificial lighting has never been used for any part of the game.

Source: Wikimedia Commons

If I ever make it to Alaska I think the Midnight Sun game would be a fun thing to experience. And I know I would prefer to deal with the strangeness of a midnight sun than the cold darkness of winter! I'd never make it in -60 degree temperatures.

Kudos to everyone for making it through the first week of the A - Z! I hope everyone had a great time and got off to a good start. Happy weekend!

E is for Eskimo Ice Cream

Source: Wikimedia Commons

When I first read about Eskimo ice cream I couldn't help but think of the Eskimo Pies I loved as a kid. But I knew this ice cream was bound to be very different.

Eskimo ice cream is a traditional snack made from whipped seal oil, wild berries, and sugar. It is called Akutaq, which is a Yupik word that means "something mixed."

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Variations of the snack involve mixing roots or leaves with the animal oil or fat. My favorite variation that I read about is called Mouse Akutak, which is made from roots found in mouse holes. In the traditional tribes, the Elders taught that the mice needed to be compensated for the roots taken from their homes. It was customary to replace the roots with something else the mouse could eat, or to leave some kind of gifts for the mouse.

How can you not smile at such courtesy extended to a little creature like a mouse?

I doubt I would like to eat Eskimo ice cream, but I love the story behind it. :)


My A-Z theme of Alaska is inspired by my debut novel, Polar Night, which is set in the Alaskan Arctic. Click here for all the info on the book.