Our Christmas was as Christmases have been since we moved to Alaska: a quietly happy day of family time, good food, and music. We opened gifts, we called relatives in the Lower 48, and generally enjoyed the holiday. We gave thanks to God for His gift to us. That would be Jesus, for those who are keeping score :).
Today, wife and youngest are going out to reduce the balances on those gift cards. No time like the present. (Present, get it? Never mind.)
I'm torn between the desire to go out & get a couple of things, myself, or alter the routine & avoid the inevitable crowds in the stores. Tomorrow might be a better day for the limited shopping I intend (folding sawhorses from Sears, spare batteries for the new cameras my oldest & I received, and so on).
Our weather continues to be unseasonably warm (low 30s) and cloudy. If y'all in the Midwest are done with the snow & cold, we'd be happy to go back to seasonal norms. Due to the twisting of the jet stream, when it's colder there, it tends to be warmer here.
On the other hand, we've started a pool: the Weather Channel has been forecasting "a few inches" of snow for Anchorage for the last 10 days, and we haven't had any at all in that time. A quick check of this morning's forecast reveals their continued guessing of "an inch tonight, and 1 to 2 inches on Sunday." They seem to think we'll cool off to normal temps (low 20s) by Monday, so that's an improvement. At least the snow already on the ground would then cease its mushy ways.
Something strange has been going on among the homeless in Anchorage: each year, a couple of them die due to hypothermia, and another might pass due to alcohol or drug abuse. This year, though, we've seen 14 deaths - all but one are weather- and alcohol or drug-related. There were several deaths in the summer, when you wouldn't expect to see hypothermia cases. The police are baffled, as are the operators of the various shelters around town.
Well, there's usable light outside; sunrise is about a half-hour away. I suppose I should roust myself (why do I suddenly hear echoes of Sgt. Schultz?) and get going. The truck's tank isn't going to fill itself ... but wouldn't that be nice?
3 comments:
Sounds like a good Christmas on the family front, with happiness to share. As it should be, and I am happy for the clan.
On the homeless people buying it in larger numbers.... a thought came to mind. Perhaps checking into it would find the newly stiff amongst the homeless are freshly imported to the state, and didn't consider the implications. If they are from Kali or Seattle, they may have been expecting libs to come around in publicly funded vans to rescue their butts.
Just my first rude thought.... kinda sad though.
I expected to get home to a lot of snow, but IND only got an inch down in my part of the state.
It felt good to sleep in my own bed, and I had a really nice dinner with a colleagues family, ham and all the trimming, even if I arrived a bit late.
Brigid, there's nothing quite as satisfying as the first night home in one's own bed, and awaking to one's own things. It helps the travel-weariness melt away. I'm glad you had someone with whom to share a meal.
C, I had much the same thoughts. The earliest of the deaths were long-term homeless who drank themselves into a stupor, and then succumbed overnight without shelter. The others may indeed have been new, with expectations of more radical intervention. Up here, that isn't happening.
Post a Comment