WASILLA, ALASKA: WHERE THAT LONESOME WHISTLE BLOWS
This morning’s northbound Aurora Winter Train was scheduled to arrive at Wasilla Station at 9:55, official sunrise to follow at 10:14. The sky was clear, the quarter moon on a slow descent into the western horizon. It was -15 F at our house, -11 in “downtown” Wasilla. While we had a bit of wind over the past couple of days that I feared would blow all the beautiful snow off the trees before the Aurora arrived, it didn’t. The morning air was still. This situation was unlikely to repeat itself for awhile. Where, I wondered, should I take the picture? I left the house early to check out a few different locations. First I checked a spot about half a mile west (northbound) of Wasilla Station where the tracks run parallel, close to the Parks Highway. Just beyond the tracks stand a narrow band of snow covered trees just before the icy line land gives way to the white, frozen waters of Wasilla Lake. Above, the moon. Once before, I shot a picture of the nearly full moon over the lake and train here, but the trees in that picture had been swept bare. I still had plenty of time to compare other locations, so I drove east (southbound) to Wasilla Lake. There were no skaters on the rink, but there were two different sets of distinctly Wasilla Holiday lights in the shape of moose, wolves, bells, trees and such with the frozen lake in front, Condos and big lighted real estate office behind with the moon above. Next I checked the Dog Wash, with Dog Wash overpass off to the left behind and Engine 557 Restoration Company to the right, moon above. So how did I wind up shooting the Aurora in this comparatively bland setting at the East Glenwood Crossing instead? It’s a long story - too long for the Instagram word limit. I will note that in the end I had no choice but to launch Sancho here at the very last moment or miss the moon and train together. The Dog Wash would have been best, but then this is the first Sancho the drone image I have shot of this scene. — in Wasilla, Alaska.
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