Fairbanks, Alaska

Our day starts with an amble in the Georgeson Botanical Gardens on the campus of the University of Alaska. This place must be a wonder by the end of the growing season. In mid June, it boasts lots and lots of columbine, lilacs, honeysuckle, day lilies, iris, spirea, and Jana’s peonies, a type I haven’t seen before. I definitely want to plant this interesting peony in my own garden.  If it can grow in Fairbanks it ought to be able to grow on Riegel Court. I particularly like the sign on a fenced area stating that the fence was moose protection. They love young apple trees, enough so, that they will eat the entire tree.

Also on the U of A campus is the Museum of the North. What a fantastic place! The architecture is slightly reminiscent of the Guggenheim in Bilbao. The bright white points and curves of the exterior and the interior spaces that contract and expand are meant to evoke whales, icebergs, mountains, and glaciers. The collections of cultural, wildlife, and historic objects are displayed so cleanly and effectively that I think this might be my very favorite museum ever. There is an exceptional space that tips the balance; it is called “The Place Where You Go to Listen”. Inside this narrow all-white room is a partition of changing color. The rest of the room is filled with virtual sound. It’s like chords, but not music, with a bass line of reverberations that resonate like an irregular heartbeat. The forces of nature resound in this room. We exist in an ecosystem of sound and light. The earth and air and sky are filled with vibrations that we can’t hear. The sounds in this room react to sensors which are placed around Alaska. The deep sounds represent seismic activity in the earth, (which is constant). The chords and colors change in response to sunlight and moonlight, (they say you can hear the difference between night and day). When the aurora is present the chords transform. There is a feeling of connectedness here. If you sit on the one and only bench and close your eyes you feel bonded with the earth and sky. Awe-inspiring!

The museum has a movie presentation on winter in Alaska, (Alaskans eat more ice cream than any other Americans. They say they need the calories to help them stay warm), another on the construction of the unusual museum building and a third on the aurora borealis, (finally, an excellent presentation). We watch them all. Did you know there is an aurora in the Southern Hemisphere, (aurora australis)? OK, but did you know it exactly mirrors the one in the Northern Hemisphere? Neither did we.

The afternoon is gorgeous, all sunshiny and blue so it’s perfect for a paddlewheel boat “cruise” on the Chena River. We make one stop at a replica of an Athabascan village. Our young guide is Athabascan and we enjoy the authentic portrayal of her grandfather’s primitive life-style, (she says now he has email). She still goes with her family every summer to fish camp where they harvest and preserve salmon for the winter.

An extra highlight on the river was a stop to see where Susan Butcher lived and trained her sled dogs. Susan won the Iditarod four times, in 1986, ‘87, ‘88 and ’90. She died of cancer in 2006, but her husband, David Monson and her two daughters still raise and train huskies. Dave demonstrates how the dogs run with a sled. Their enthusiasm, strength, and speed are impressive.

Just as the boat reaches the dock our sunny day ends abruptly in a heavy downpour. Fairbanks averages only 12 inches of rain in a year. Seems like they got most of that this afternoon.

Wildlife count: 0

Airstreams: 0

Miles: 0

Gratitudes: PKB: U of Alaska JMB: my wife

Gin Score: J: 1285 P: 1285 

Botanical Gardens

Susan Butcher's Dogs

Stuffed Wildlife