Chasing the Light
Reposted from January 2022 newsletter.
Ever since I moved to Alaska I've been intrigued with the light... how much there is in the warm months, how little there is in the cold months, how the shadows are always at an angle no matter the time of year. Why?
A snowy day at Potter Marsh Anchorage, AK
Heading into the winter solstice, my interest became more defined; I really wanted to experience the solstice in an alert, cognitive way, in a special place on the globe that has an extremely limited amount of daylight.
You can read more about my experiences chasing the light through a new blog article (link below), and through my January Sketch just for you right below this section.
My attention is steadfast on observing the light in Alaska as winter progresses. The colors, textures, and shadows on the landscape are all so fascinating. And the clouds!
So dramatic, especially as a backdrop to the many, many mountain peaks.
On a gray day this month I headed south out of town, intending to drive the highway along Turnagain Arm and find a spot to park and paint.
Turnagain Arm is a body of water that separates the Kenai Peninsula from the city of Anchorage and all of Alaska's interior regions. The Arm is lined on both sides with steep, imposing mountains guarding the inlet like towering soldiers watching all that moves in or out of the waterway.
As I headed south the snow began to fall. The further south I drove the heavier it snowed. I turned off the highway on a last-minute decision and headed down Old Seward Highway, once a main route out of town, now a quiet back road by New England standards. The road ends at a big parking lot at the southern end of Potter Marsh.
The marsh lay quiet on the landscape. The low Alaskan sun creates a unique light with many shades of white in winter. The clouds sat low over the marsh, forming a wall of light gray in the distance.
The flat, diffused light and pops of color from winter vegetation and deciduous trees invited a deeply engaging effort. The earthy, neutral colors felt warm and beautiful against the whites and blue grays of the snow.
Potter Marsh is a productive wetland at the southern edge of the Anchorage city limit. It is nesting grounds for a number of bird species, including Violet-green Swallows, Arctic Terns, and Trumpeter Swans.
It's also an important stop-over for dozens more species on migration. Here, they can rest and feed for the long journey south or to top off for the final leg heading north to arctic breeding grounds. From April through August, it's a wildly busy spot. I am lucky to have this particular world of wetland life just 15 minutes away from my downtown apartment.
The marsh is asleep now under a thick layer of ice and snow. I've seen a few winter bird species picking seeds from surrounding trees, flitting about with impressive speed. These could have been Hoary Redpolls but they were too twitchy for my eyes to lock onto confidently.
Moose will browse the willows and birches. Bears are also common around the marsh, but mostly when the birders and tourists have left for the day.
I wonder what creatures might stay under the ice and snow at the marsh. Or if river otters move through in winter.
My New England experience would expect turtles, frogs, beaver, mustelids, fish, insects, and all sorts of microbes to spend part or all of their life cycle under the ice and snow. There are no reptiles in Alaska, however. There are several amphibian species, but all are found in the temperate rain forest of southeastern Alaska. Beaver live here, but I don't know if they're anywhere in Anchorage.
Oh, so much to look forward to learning!