Monday & Weekend Observations

It's hot. Okay, it's very warm.

For Anchorage, it's going to be hot today, tomorrow, and Wednesday all week. I don't expect any sympathy from folks in the Lower 48 - and deservedly so. Temps that leave us panting for breath would constitute a cooling trend in Missouri, where I used to live.

Just the same, temps around 80 degrees, with high humidity, are forecast for most of this week. That's quite hot, for us.

To put it in perspective, we usually have highs in the mid-60s, with very low humidity. That's near the upper limit of our tolerance for warmer weather, after seven months of winter with temps as low as minus-20s.

We don't have A/C, except in large commercial buildings. When you live in a place where 75 is considered a hot summer day, A/C is almost unneeded. So the evening hours, when the temp has hit its peak for the day, will result in a bunch of people laying around, tongues lolling, with as many fans blowing as possible. Or we could all throw ourselves into Cook Inlet and refuse to come out of the water until the temperature cools back to normal.

* * * * *

I did a little rifle shopping on Saturday, and found a Savage model 111 in .270 for $420. This includes a 3x-9x scope. Of course, there was no ammo to be had. The ammo shelves at Sportsman's Warehouse were 98 percent bare. I looked over the few boxes that I could find, and saw that they had only .454 Casull. Nice, but not helpful. There were one or two boxes of pistol ammo in strange calibers, but no rifle rounds to be seen.

Taking a deep breath, I asked the clerk if they had any ammo behind the counter, or in the back, to match any of the rifles available. What the heck; something is better than nothing. But no, sorry, they had none.

Wal-Mart had some .223, but it was gone. Both stores had birdshot shells in .22 LR, and some 12 ga. skeet shells.

I'm hoarding my last thousand rounds of .45ACP, which makes me reluctant to go back to the range. I have a problem with paying the $9 fee, only to fire 20 or 25 rounds & go home.

* * * * *

Otherwise, the weekend was strangely quiet. The neighbors had mostly gone camping, and we didn't hear the usual 'banana republic revolution' of fireworks that usually accompanies the holiday. There weren't more than three dozen reports, all Saturday night. Very unusual.

I also noted that the celebrations surrounding Independence Day were more subdued than in years past. It seems the majority of people are waking up to the state of affairs in this country, and it has sobered them. 'Bout time.

* * * * *

Several of my Lower 48 friends have asked for our take on Sarah Palin. Frankly, we're as curious as anyone else. I find her reasoning that the complaints having paralyzed the Governor's office to be quite credible. However, my wife & I also feel like she's abandoning us; it's a difficult thing to accept, because we believe in her ability to get things done. We are being a bit selfish, I admit. In a way, we don't want to share her. But ...

Even given her ability to come back from the political dead (she's done it a couple of times), it's hard to see how this can do anything except feed the Lower 48 perception that she's a political lightweight. Many hardcore conservatives, here, think it's a huge mistake.

A wise friend once told me "if you are following God, truly following, there will come a time in your life when you do His bidding - and EVERYONE will think you're out of your mind." (The Bible teaches that God's ways are not our ways, and His thoughts are above our thoughts.) If He's to be God, they'd have to be!

This may be such a time, for Sarah.

Governor Palin has made a career of overcoming steep odds and proving the unbelievers to be wrong. Don't count her out. She's not done yet!