Logbook: Nuiqsut to Wasilla, entry 5, final: Jim

As always upon my return Jimmy went nuts with joy and relief to see me. I got a couple of frames off and then my iPhone went dead. I sat down at my computer for a few minutes. Jimmy was all over me, jumping onto my lap, climbing onto my shoulders, standing on my head, meowing both in happy greeting and scolding. I joined Margie and went to bed without finishing the logbook. It was 2:00 AM, I was tired and I figured it could wait until I got some sleep.

In Anchorage, the airport temperature had been -4F, downtown Wasilla -10 and -17 in our driveway. We got the fire stoked but the heat never really warmed up our bedroom. Jimmy got cold and so tapped on my head with a paw. I let him under the covers. After I fell asleep he decided he was warm and so slipped out and got on top of the covers. Pretty soon, he got cold again. He tapped me on the head again and woke me up. I let him back under. And so it went, all through the night until finally I got up.

Still, by my standards I slept pretty good.

Logbook: Nuiqsut to Wasilla, entry 3: picked up by wife

I didn't take pictures on the flight down because my battery was nearly dead. Three percent. We landed in Anchorage half-an-hour early, so I gave Margie a call to let her know. Now I had one percent charge. I have yet to buy a car charger for my iPhone 5s. I did not think the one percent would hold to Wasilla, but I took no pictures in Anchorage or anyplace in between but hoped somehow the charge would last until we reached Wasilla. I feared that it would take more battery power to turn the camera off and then back on, so I left it on. In Wasilla, I had to stop at a red light so I pulled out my iPhone and it still read 1 percent. I snapped this single frame. There was one more picture I had to get to make the logbook compete. Would the charge hold? 

Logbook: Nuiqsut to Wasilla, entry 3: A nearly empty jet

The jet out of Barrow was nearly empty. Ten people boarded. Among them was Alice Glenn @alyalyalice along with a young man who I had never seen before. I was not going to let a fellow Instagrammer go uninstagrammed. Alice introduced me to her boyfriend Alan from Florida. Not only had this been his first trip to Barrow but on this day he had taken his first snowmachine ride. He had enjoyed Barrow, Alan said. The snowmachine ride was great. Florida is even farther away in distance and climate than Mobile, Alabama, but Alan received his introduction to the Arctic from his beautiful girlfriend - and that made all the difference. 

Logbook: Nuiqsut to Wasilla, entry 3: smile from an old familiar face

As I climb the stairs to board Alaska Airlines and depart Barrow, a woman comes down the stairs. Lest there be any confusion, the smile referenced in the title is the one on the jet's vertical stabilizer.

Logbook: Nuiqsut to Wasilla, entry 1: taxiing to depart Nuiqsut, 4:15 PM

Three weeks ago, I did not want to leave my wife and family, cats included, but I was eager to go to Barrow. One week ago, the thought of leaving Barrow made me sad, but I was happy and excited to be going back to Nuiqsut. Today, I felt downright depressed that my time in Nuiqsut was already coming to an end. Too short. Just altogether too short. There's something about Nuiqsut that I simply love. I did not want to leave. I wanted to stay, but of course I was eager to see my wife and family, cats included.

This is how I live my life - never wanting to leave, always eager to go.