Fingers of Cold Creap Up in Kotzebue

Sunset behind a drift of snow along the shore of Kotzebue Sound.

After the brief warm up, temperatures have seriously dropped in Kotzebue. Sinking way below 0 degrees, the low for the day was -22 degrees Fahrenheit. Before leaving the house this morning, I put on a fleece face sock, thermals, my Eskimo parkie and heavy gloves along with work clothes. While much of the day was spent indoors, I came face to face with the frigid, arctic cold.

Everywhere the effects of the cold were felt. The upstairs temperature was cool. Not enough of the warm air from downstairs had made its way up the staircase of our apartment during the night. Water from the faucet was barely lukewarm when Rick took a shower before work. While the van idled for 25 minutes before the windows melted away the frost, I bundled up in several layers for the Far North temperatures. The dry air extracted whatever moisture had been in the air and formed frost on vehicles that were now idling simultaneously.

Driving the short distance to the club on Fifth Avenue, I marveled at the hardy souls walking to work or school. Eskimo men walked the frozen sidewalks with ice crystals that had formed on facial hair behind ruffs of fox, wolf, and wolverine. Young children with round faces skipped to school in snow suits and stylish hats.

At lunchtime, I rebundled my tall frame for the ride to and from home. The light had appeared in the sky and I was overjoyed at its presence. The shadowy moon appeared whole near the horizon. Removing my parkie, boots, gloves, face sock, and scarf, I prepared toasted sandwiches for a light lunch. With the short commute home, there was still time to relax before heading back to work.

After a meeting with the City, I walked outside to warm up the van before taking it out for some errands after the club opened. With the list in glove-covered hand, I drove over icy streets past the Northwest Arctic Borough School. Youths were making their way home attired in various levels of warm clothing. Most of them wore caps and snow pants with down parkas. Snow boots and gloves finished off their outfits. An occasional teenager wearing skinny jeans could be seen along Third Avenue.

Moonrise over the Kotzebue Sound.

Seeing the large moon hovering over the mountains across the Kotzebue Sound, I began framing a photo in my mind. Pulling up to the idling cars along Shore Avenue outside of the post office, the composition of the images would have to be created there for there was not much time before the bitter cold would make capturing this beauty difficult.

After standing in line with yellow card in hand, I took our mail and a package received out to the van and pulled out my Canon Powershot A650 IS camera from its case. Not bothering to put on my gloves or the face sock, I quickly composed shots of the moon rising at one end of the sound and then the sunset at the other.

Brilliant pinks and oranges reflected off the opaque surface of the ice. The core of my body remained warm under the 11 ounce lining of my parkie but my face began to burn. Fingers of frigid cold gripped my cheeks as only an arctic winter can do. The outside temperature had dipped to -16 degrees. Thrusting the point and shoot camera into its case, I closed the door to the van and made my way to my next stop.

Sitting in our warm apartment while writing this post tonight, I occasionally checked accuweather for the current temperature. The night temperature has dropped to -20 while the real feel is -31. Away from the cold that has the Village of Kotzebue in its grip, the current temperature is merely an oddity. Accuweather forecasts tomorrow's temperatures at -13 degrees for the high and -25 for the low. Just another day above the Arctic Circle.