Well it is officially the month of June now, (one of my favorite months of the year!) and June in Nome seems to be the equivalent of March or April in the North East of the lower 48; cooler temperatures (think 40-50, 60 on a warm day so far), some nice bright sun, some rain, vegetation returning to life from their 7 month dormancy, you know the usual spring routine! All the sea ice is gone now right in front of Nome, and I think that having the open water back is one of the most exciting aspects of this spring for me so far! You can see the ocean from the back of the volunteer house, and the air is taking on a bit of its former salt tang! It’s kind of like living at an East Coast beach but without all the development and commercialization of beach communities, and without being able to go swimming without you know, getting hypothermia and dying. So you know, exactly the same ;)!
There isn’t much snow left in town, and the tundra has the larger percentage of space on most of the hills and mountains in the distance, as the snowy patchwork shrinks. With Spring also comes a lot of baby wildlife, something I am really dying to get out and see, as I have heard tales of herds of pregnant moose and muskox cows. It would be awesome to see some bear cubs too, or just any bear in general, as long as it was from the safety of a vehicle, a well functioning vehicle with fully inflated tires.
Another reason I am excited about the arrival of June is the quickly approaching arrival of my family for a visit! They will be here in 19 days (I’m not counting or anything!)!!! I cannot wait for them to get here, but alas I will have to :(, I will just have to distract myself with this brilliant weather, and maybe a trip to a village will be in my near future for another Village Detour installment! I just need to figure out which village to choose!
Bekah
