Tundra Guitar Studio

Now that I'm settled in, I made productive use of my Sunday by setting up my little guitar studio. Scott Kritzer (Portland, OR) is on the computer screen delivering my e-lesson. Scott has been my teacher since 2006 through a combination of distance and IRL lessons.
I've had an on again off again relationship with my guitar over the past 8 years or so, I started to ask myself what if. What if I actually practiced more than once in a blue moon again??? So, I'm going to find out. I have myself on a 5 day a week practice schedule.....great way to get some consistency in my playing......prepare for an upcoming performance.....and to ward off the Alaskan winter blues!
And yes....for you classical guitar aficionados....those are Segovia scales on the music stand. Let the pain begin.......

Check out Scott Kritzer at www.scottkritzer.com! (Shameless plug)

The Great White Blizzard 2009

Now that I can think about this storm without pulling all my hair out, I thought I'd post some of the pictures that I took. Three days without power and water was tough....and cold. One thing we had no shortage of was snow. We melted bucket after bucket to flush toilets, wash dishes and wash us! I learned that living in the mountains is not without its hazards. The "city" does not come and scrape your roads. If you have good neighbors with heavy equipment, you're golden. If not, they'll have to come up and find you in the Spring! Lucky for us we've got good neighbors with oversized tonka toys.

All in all, the inconvenience and discomfort was balanced by the beauty of the snowy mountains. Reminded me of scenes from Cold Mountain....which is not far from here.

Click on the pics for a full sized view. All pics shot from the safety of my porch!

Early in the storm....

Later, we thought it might never stop. Unfortunately the snow was very heavy and there were lots and lots of broken trees.....the worst of which blocked roads and took out power lines.

Goin nowhere!

By nightfall we had over 1 1/2 feet

Diggin in to the back door

Fire on the mountain. Dawn day two. Sometimes it pays to get up really early.

By afternoon.....blue skies!

.........the 'new' fridge.....the kind that doesn't require electricity.