Mother nature making some noise

In response to Nick's question: Yes, it was my first earthquake that we felt on Saturday. Unless you count trembles I slept through in Idaho last year.

Now it looks like we might have some more active geology this week. Everyone is rumbling about Mount Redoubt and the likelihood it could erupt in the coming days. If the wind is strong enough, Alaska residents might experience falling ash, in addition to rumbles rain, daytime darkness, thunderstorms and power outages.

I'm keeping my camera charged and my water pitcher in the fridge full. And for my mother's benefit, yes, we have flashlights and a disaster plan.

Shake, shake, shakedown

This morning, Josh was ironing his shirt and I was online when everything began to tremble, the furniture rattled and the walls and floor shook. "Are we having an earthquake?" I asked. It was over in about 30 seconds. Nothing fell or broke. I'm monitoring the local news stations and Web sites, but no one has reported it yet.

Bare trees and slush

After almost three weeks of sub-zero temperatures it has warmed up to the low 30s. Not only does the 40-degree difference feel like a heat wave, but it's wreaking havoc on the ground. Puddles on ice had me flat on my butt in a puddle in the parking lot when taking out the trash this morning.

All the Alaskans are walking around it T-shirts like it's springtime. I saw a guy yesterday wearing a wool coat with shorts.

A trip to the Animal Conservation Center and Portage Glacier

The Old Seward Scenic Highway.

Davin and his cell phone camera.

Portage Glacier.

No whales today

Chunks of ice float in Cook Inlet beyond a popular whale watching lookout.

The Sleeping Lady

Steam rises off the Anchorage shore of Cook Inlet on a negative-12 day. The mountain across the was is called The Sleeping Lady.

The Zamboni

Davin and other kids watch the Zamboni do its thing at the Dimond ice rink.

Weather update

It's warmed up to a toasty 5 degrees today. That's up from negative-20 day yesterday.