Anchorage days, March 6, 2015

   Raindrops on the birch tree outside the kitchen window this morning.

Our bare backyard; photo taken for contrast just in case it actually snows tonight.

Some blue sky in the morning -- that was about it for the day.

Ice floes on the mud flats of Cook Inlet; calm water.

First dandelion, on the west side of the Court's Snowden Building.

Visitors on Fourth Avenue, heading east with their bags full of information from the Visitors' Center. Note the fencing already up along the curb, in place for the Iditarod start tomorrow.

Sculpture on Old City Hall lawn.

First Friday in Anchorage, so shows and artists all around downtown. Marla showing off an over-the-top boot for a little girl. Cinderella would be jealous, if not for the fact the Shu-Z-Q has even blingier shoes for grownups.

 Tamara Hageland was the featured artist at Cabin Fever.

The International Gallery on D Street had a structure whose interior lined with thousands (7,560, to be exact) egg shells.

Jim looking at the outside. I didn't get a chance to read all of the information posted about the endeavor, so am not sure what the purpose was (other than the fun of putting together something so improbable?).

Back on Fourth Avenue, people were busy setting up for tomorrow's Iditarod start. A tent on E Street.

More fencing going up near H Street, to separate the spectators from the dog teams.

The bronze statue for Balto the Sled Dog who was the lead on the last leg of the original run to the diphtheria serum to Nome (the Iditarod race was modeled after this 1925 1,000 mile run to Nome). This is a duplicate of the statue of Balto in Central Park in New York City.

The start line for the race at Fourth and D Street, with the flags for all the countries who have sent racers -- U.S.A., Canada, Australia, France, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden.

Snow plow downtown waiting for the snow to arrive from its storage spot on Tenth Avenue at the west end of the Park Strip. Rain was starting about the time of this photo -- drizzle, to be more precise. But not snow.

The lawn by the Captain Cook Hotel was snow-free (the little pile of ice toward the back is what remains of the ice sculpture that went up in mid-January).

The snow "vacuum" at the end of the Park Strip, sucking up snow to be sent in dump trucks to Fourth Avenue.

A long stretch of snow to move -- but note how dry the street itself is. At midnight, 39 degrees, not raining (that's good), instead of the promised six to nine inches of snow. Maybe it's falling in Boston.

One more bit of art -- a hand-painted purse at Shu-Z-Q.