Well, there's no place like Nome in the Spring. I'm here April 2-5 for the semi-annual Spring Conference of the Lutherans on the Seward Peninsula. Basically, it's more of a song-fest than a conference. Every night, the singing and testimonies begin around 7 and go as long as we can take it. Last night, it went until 11 pm. It's supposed to get later and later as the days go by.
April in Nome doesn't look like April in Anchorage. There's quite a bit of snow still here, some drifts more than half-way up the houses. I walked by a church this morning (Covenant?) where I could barely read the sign on the building for the snow.
There was a such a blizzard this morning that no flights could land. The temp is around 25; not cold until the winds start howling. I commented that it was pretty cold and Judy Littau (wife of Pastor Matt of Our Savior's Lutheran here) said that was nothing compared to her last home in Wales (out on the extreme west of Alaska). Winds there would gust to 80 miles per hour. So this is the Seward Peninsula tropics :)
I'm continually overwhelmed by hospitality when I visit the Seward Peninsula. I spent a little time this morning at the Nome Rec center, then planned to walk the 5-6 blocks in the wind and snow. I had gone two blocks when a rusty white pickup stopped to give me a ride. It was the staff person at the rec center; he said he couldn't let me walk in that weather.
At the church, there's a warm feeling of fellowship as people from the villages greet each other, friends from Brevig Mission, Wales, Teller and Anchorage's Alaska Native church. There's plenty of good food, Lutheran coffee and conversation.
Stay tuned for more!
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