Tag: nome

#NomeLife, PHOTOGRAPHY

Nome : Seasons

by TamaraVLeave a Comment on Nome : Seasons
Nome : Seasons
Blurry signs of spring: More muskrat spottings!

It’s been a year since I’ve updated. In that year I’ve had a few downs and ups and done a wee bit more exploring, mostly away from Nome. Since last May, I’ve visited New Orleans, the North Carolina’s Outer Banks, Boston, Spain’s Barcelona, France’s Paris, and London in the UK. In my opinion, Nome, or perhaps Alaska in general, has some of the least pretty sights of man-made infrastructure, but some of the most lovely wild places, still preserved.

Here are a few bits of the lovely in the last year from around Nome.

May 2023:

So much driftwood
Snow dumps started melting
Spring Furry Friends

June 2023

Beach finds
Muskox napping
Fresh green
So many wildflowers!

July 2023

Dropping a line.
Wild Iris
Beach finds
Eating subway on the boardwalk around the Train to Nowhere
Beach finds
Foamy seas and drama clouds
Happy little moss
The Last Train to Nowhere
Bird on the march
Last Train to Nowhere
Last Train to nowhere,  rusting away

August 2023

Salmon berries were late this year thanks to a slow start start spring.
Fall storms bring fun seas.
Salmonberry picking!
Musk oxen on the hillside.
Can actually see the sunsets again before late bedtime.
Kougarok Road drive
Salmon Lake
Nome river just before it meets the Bering Sea
Other side of the Nome River
Nome River as the tundra begins to change.
Tundra Turning.

September 2023

Rainier days mean more rainbows
Nome blueberries
Nome – Council road, with Council in the distance. 
Views off the Nome Council Road
Nome Council Road views
Sun is much lower in the evenings now.
Coming back the end of September, most of the Tundra has already turned
Rainbows Galore!

October 2023

Finally sunset season again
Fall storms bring rough waves
Frosty tundra out the kougarok road
Views from the nome river bridge out the kougarok road
Council of gulls and ducks in the Snake River before it freezes over

November 2023

The colorful twilights are some of my favorites
The ocean calms a bit as it cools, but no sea ice yet. 
The moon sees me
Snow sticks on the beach, but the sea hasn’t frozen yet.
Stunning skies
Skies on fire
We can leave the Christmas lights up till January (or beyond)

December 2023

11:24am,  before sunrise on 12/4
Nome’s Christmas lights add an extra glow to Front Street.
Sunrise at work,11:56am on 12/7.
12/8 sea ice begins to form, sun above the horizon at 2:07pm
12/13 at 12:36pm sunrise with chunks of ice in the ocean
Sunrise on 12/19 at 12:59pm, the seaice has extended further from shore.
Dawn at 12:24pm on 12/23 overlooking the frozen Snake River.

January 2024

Houseplants have no idea and send out buds 1/1/24
Drifts beginning to form.
Roomies car became a good snow measurement over 48 hours
Drifts galore.
Snow removal got a little complicated after snow many blizzards
Sunrise from work 1/19 at 5:02pm
Long shadows but the pink dawn and dusk set the world aglow.

February 2024

Pretty much the only outdoor picture I have of February, and I guess it sums it up. 😄

March 2024

Sun returns.
Iditarod Nomies.
Iditarod Musher Ryan Reddington coming into Nome just before sunset
Iditarod musher at sunset
Iditarod Dog Mushers coming into Nome on Front Street
Athletes at the end of their 1000 mile run.
Denali out the jet window after I leave Nome to head to Europe.

April 2024 – I missed the first half while in Europe, but only missed 2 or 3 blizzards.

Denali on the way back to Nome in Late April
Flying home over Nome late April to a still very white landscape.
Picked up some new wheels I’m pretty happy about.

May 2024

May 10th brought fresh snow, unsurprisingly.
May 14th with more snow flurries.
The sea ice broke up and left all over one week the end of May.
May 31, Safety Sound’s open water
Fresh beach grass at Safety Sound with snow/ice still by the shore.
Fluffy summer clouds are my favorite.

June 2024

Return of wildflowers and seashells.

If you made it to the end of this crazy post, I’m impressed, because even my blog editor was trying to quit long before with all these pictures. I hope you got a little taste of what makes Nome so special and why we love it so.

#NomeLife, PHOTOGRAPHY

Spring Muskrats

by TamaraVLeave a Comment on Spring Muskrats
Spring Muskrats

Spring in Nome, like in most of Alaska, was late in arriving. Our sea ice is juuuuust now leaving our coastline this weekend.🥳 Today I joined some friends for a campfire on the beach, and talked myself out of wearing sandals at the last minute. I was later thankful for my persuasive self-talk, because windchill was still 39℉. 🥶 Nevertheless, we soaked up the sun on our faces, and returned home smelling of woodsmoke and seabreezes.

a scattering of fuzzy pussywillows on a background of new willow growth

I pulled my camera out from its spare-closet grave this afternoon and brought it along for a “just in case moment.” I got one that I was NOT ready for.

After almost 8 years in Nome, I checked Muskrat off my list of Norton Sound Regional wildlife. After spotting a cluster of particularly fuzzy pussywillows behind our AC store, I pulled the car to the gravelly shoulder and hopped out to snap a photo. On the return to the car, I spied something scurrying in the bushes on the other side. I didn’t have a chance to change my camera settings to better capture *movement* so below are the ancient-cellphone-like quality snaps.

muskrat swimming upstream

What I first thought might be a baby beaver was scampering into a run-off stream. The flowing water was only a couple feet wide, but the little creature swam up it and dove under when it noticed me.

I realized it had a skinny rat-like tail and was very furry, though soaked. It dawned on me that it must be a little muskrat! It froze under the water for what felt like a minute, and then came back up and went on its merry way, sideeyeing me with beady little black eyes.

It was fun to discover that there are still *new* things to experience here. Nome is full of surprises!
Hoping my next post will be of summer wildflowers; they’re already blooming up on Anvil Mountain! 😍

Sea Ice has left the coastline at the mouth of the Nome River and typhoon Merbok left us plenty of campfire fuel for the summer.