Alaska Man Monday - Robot Dogs and Protests

The birches and alders hereabouts are moving from their late spring, early summer bright green to the late summer, early autumn darker, flatter green. The fireweed is in full bloom, which is always a late-summer thing, and most of our other flowers – the columbines, irises, and so forth – have closed up their blooms and produced seed pods. But it’s also the berrying season, and it looks as though we will have a bumper crop of raspberries this year, which means plenty of raspberry jam. The lowbush cranberries are out, and I hear that north up towards Broad Pass there are good numbers of cloudberries and more.

You just have to watch for the bears while you’re picking berries up that way – or here, for that matter. A major-caliber sidearm is in order, or a good rifle – or a 12-gauge stuffed full of slugs.

On to our weekly report! Was he an Alaskan eco-protester? Or just drunk?

On 0728/2024 at 1300 hours, Alaska State Troopers responded to the area of Copper Creek Road for the report of a male laying in the roadway. Investigation revealed, James Segerson 47YOA was in the middle of the road obstructing traffic. James was arrested for Disorderly Conduct. James was remanded at Mat-Su Pretrial where he was held without bail per an Anchorage Magistrate.

This may well be some odd take on a “peaceful protest,” but my guess is that this is the latter of the options above; there was almost certainly some kind of impairment involved.

Alaska Man Score: 2 of 5 moose nuggets. Points for being different enough to raise eyebrows, but I have to apply many demerits for blocking traffic. Not cool.

Fairbanks International Airport has a robot dog! No flamethrower, though – more’s the pity.

The jokes are going to write themselves. The Fairbanks International Airport has started using a robotic dog to scare off birds and other wildlife that can pose a threat to aviation. The robot’s name is “Aurora” and the Alaska Department of Transportation refers to it as a “her” in the press release:
“Aurora, named after Alaska’s famous northern lights, is a technologically advanced robot with the capability to navigate rugged terrains and endure harsh weather conditions prevalent in Interior Alaska,” DOT said. “Her deployment at FAI marks the first time an American airport is utilizing a robotic dog for active wildlife control, setting a precedent for innovation in airport safety and wildlife management.

Alaska Man Score: 4.5 of 5 moose nuggets. Kudos to whoever thought of this, but I have to apply a slight demerit for their failure to include a flamethrower on the robot dog – they could have scared away birds and instantly flame-broiled any who failed to fly away.

And finally: Sunset in Utqiagvik.

Formerly known as Barrow, this is the northernmost settlement in the United States, and it’s waaaay up there on the Arctic Ocean. This is true “land of the midnight sun” country, but in another sign that fall is coming, the sun is now going down in Utqiagvik – briefly.
Here’s the sun schedule: On Thursday, Aug. 1, the sun will set at 2:16 a.m. and rise during the same hour — at 2:51 a.m. It will set again at 1:50 a.m. on Aug. 2, for about 22:58:43 hours of daylight. The sun will rise at 3:17 a.m. on Aug. 2.
And so begins the daily reduction of actual daylight until Sept. 22, the autumnal equinox.
On Sunday, it’s 35F degrees in Barrow, 71°17’N / 156°47’W, with light winds from the east.

Here in the Susitna Valley, as of this morning, the sun rose at 5:40 a.m., Alaska Daylight Time, and will set at 11:33. Not quite the same as the Arctic Ocean, but we are still enjoying some long days. On the winter solstice, though? While Utqiagvik will plunge into midwinter 24-hour darkness, we will be enjoying the sunrise at 10:21 a.m. and sunset at 3:36 p.m., making for about a five-hour day, during which the sun will describe a low, long arc on the southern horizon.

Living at these latitudes takes some getting used to.

No moose nugget score here; this is just nature.

Speaking of seasons: