Winter solstice in Alaska may be one of the best days of the year. You might think that summer solstice would be better, with nearly 24 hours of daylight in which to play. The problem is, you know the downhill slide is beginning and the days will just be getting shorter. Spirits begin to sink in anticipation of rain and the end of summer. On the winter solstice, however, despite having less that 5 1/2 hours of daylight here in Valdez (and no sunshine at all above the Arctic Circle), everyone is full of hope and optimism. The days will start getting longer tomorrow, and that is definitely something to look forward to.
Before long, it will actually be light when I go to work in the morning and get off work in the afternoon. Until then, I'm thrilled to take advantage of whatever opportunities I can to get outdoors during the day. Yesterday, that meant a trip over to the Valdez Marine Terminal in the morning. The VMT is where tankers are loaded with crude oil from the North Slope. My coworkers and I were there to renew our security badges and do a quick inspection of some oil spill response boom.
We were lucky to get out on the water at about 10:00, just as the sun was rising over the mountains. These views are to the west. The rising sun behind us was casting a glorious alpenglow over the peaks surrounding Port Valdez. Cold, clear, and beautiful - the best of winter in Alaska.
The structure in the above photo is a loading berth at the VMT. You can see a blue-hulled Polar Tankers ship at the end of it. The ship is full of oil, nearly a million barrels, and getting ready to head out to sea.
Today, it's snowing and the light is flat and gray. On days like this I begin to feel like I live in a black-and-white world. I'm spending the day indoors, playing with color and light in my studio. Tomorrow, however, we'll have a few more seconds of daylight. Before we know it, summer will be here with its endless days. The years circle on.
