Alaska Life, Lifestyle, Science

Three things to love at 40 below

by Nicole Mölders

Great winter looks, twinkle lights, and crisp cold nights with aurora lights

Three things that I really love about the crisp cold winter nights in Alaska are twinkle lights, getting from the cold into the warm (and occasionally vice versa), and the dancing aurora.

Alaska twinkle lights

Twinkle lights are all over town to illuminate the darkness. They are wrapped around trees. Some buildings have snow flake or icicle lights hanging down the roof. Others have twinkle lights along the gutters, sometimes even down the corners of the houses. Twinkle lights are on fences. Some people even enter a competition for the best twinkle lights display. The local newsletter publishes the winners and people actually drive there at night to take photos.

The photo below shows twinkle lights wrapped around the entry arch of a local restaurant. In the back, you see further blue twinkle lights, but also a green oblong twinkle light display. It is actually an ad board. Who takes the effort to put twinkle lights around an ad board? I cannot imagine that anyone, but Alaskans do.

#fashionover50 winter outerwear to go to work in Alaska under aurora walkway
Walking under an arch decorated with blue twinkle lights in a shearling coat styled with a belt with bird stone inlays, structured bag, gray GNW tights and Vince Camuto suede boots, Rak chevron scarf, and LeatherCoatsetc. burgundy beret (all own) on my way to a work dinner

Warm houses

I am fascinated that a wall of just about 7 inches (18 cm) makes it possible to have 68F (20C) inside at 40 below. This condition means a temperature gradient of 15.4F per inch (3.3C per centimeter). Ok, to keep it that way one needs a lot of energy. Now think about the human body. The outside air and skin have an even larger temperature difference! The temperature gradient is even larger as it is a thin air layer skin to air. Having this in mind, can you imagine the feeling on your skin walking from the cold inside (or vice versa)? In the second and third photo of this post, I enjoy this feeling. Do you see the glow?

#fashionover40 Woman in winter neutral color work outfit sitting on a coach
Blush quilted Hinge front-zip leather jacket with dark gray layering top under gray GNW Luxe wool cashmere sweater with Eddie Bauer tweed skirt, GNW tights and Vince Camuto suede boots accessorized with carved stone necklace (all own)

Dancing aurora

I love to watch the green aurora dancing in the sky. Unfortunately, at the moment, the aurora displays are very late at night. This fact is not the reason why there is no photo in this post. Since the aurora moves, it is very tricky to take pictures. I prefer to watch the aurora from the warmth of a car or standing at the window inside. The painting in the photo below shows an aurora. I bet the painter did not sit outside painting. 😉

You can find more on the aurora, for instance, why a green aurora means the planet has oxygen in its atmosphere and the impact of  the aurora on radiowaves.

What I wore today

I wore this gray and blush pink outfit at the office and the following work dinner.
Neutral colors always look professional. #workstyle Click To Tweet
I added some interest and little pops of color with the carved gemstone necklace. As usual, I also styled the outerwear (see first photo in this post). I accessorized the coat with a belt, scarf, beret, gloves, and structured bag.

#styleover40 mature woman in neutral colors winter office look
Gray and blush winter work look styled with a GNW Luxe wool cashmere sweater, layering top, Eddie Bauer tweed skirt, GNW tights, suede Vince Camuto boots, Hinge quilted leather jacket and carved gemstone necklace to add some interest and color to the otherwise neutral color look

Photos: G. Kramm

© 2013-2018 Nicole Mölders | All rights reserved

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