It is amazing what a little bit of almost daylight can do for the soul. Today is the first clear day since I’ve been here in Barrow. You can see the stars. You can see actual clouds in the sky. You can see a perpetual sunrise/sunset/absence of sun if you look towards the horizon.
Another thing that’s doing wonders for my soul is the fact that I’m leaving today. Any semi-shitty situation can be overcome when you know it’s going to be over soon. But before it’s over I hope one thing happens: I hope the northern lights come out. If there was going to be one day today is it, and I hope that the fact that my flight leaves for Fairbanks at 8:11pm doesn’t mean I’ll be leaving too early to see them. I was blown away when I walked outside this morning and realized it was clear outside. I knew it seemed brighter than normal. And then I pranced all over the city taking pictures and happily kicking snowdrifts, and I almost felt bad that I was so excited to be getting out of Barrow. I thought to myself, “Shit, too bad I’m not staying another night — I’d probably definitely get to see the northern lights if I stayed here through the night.” But then I thought, “Fuck that.”
The Barrow airfield as the sun inches towards the bottom of the horizon, only to shyly retreat before it ever gets there.
Roof of the Barrow Distribution Center, purveyor of alcohol and jolly times.
I wish so badly that this photo was in focus. Maybe I should consider acquiring a tripod.
I don’t know what happened here, but it’s rad.
Frozen power lines and an elevated view of the city.
Gnarler.
The King Eider Inn. I am not staying here.
The Barrow airfield.
This entry was written by , posted on December 22, 2009 at 4:39 pm, filed under Alaska and tagged ak, Alaska, alaska airlines, arctic pizza, barrow, barrow distribution center, osaka, pepe's, polar bears, whalers. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.