23 October 2016

Sunday Morning

Good morning! It's 17° F. this morning, thanks to crystal-clear skies and a decent snow cover on the ground and trees. I'm sure it's quite a bit cooler along the river road, below.

I need to remember to take a picture of this valley from the river bridge, too. Unbelievably spectacular, that.

Since it is colder outside than originally forecast, Older Daughter and I will be putting up hooks on which to hang the extension cords for the three vehicles which have block heaters. All four vehicles have auto-start, too, but the block heaters use no gasoline, and it's rather nice to have copious amounts of heat shortly after pulling out of the driveway.

We used the gas insert in the fireplace this morning, for the first time. Not because of the cold, but just because. The flames are cheery, and made the waking-up process seem less painful. :)

AccuHunch guesses we'll get above freezing, roaring all the way up to 35 degrees by late afternoon. That, plus plenty of sunlight, will cause most of the snow in the trees to fall off. It's lovely when it falls, as the snow crystals sparkle and glitter in the sun, but it leaves the bare deciduous trees looking a bit ugly and forlorn. At least the black spruce retain their needles all winter.

The ladies have decided that we need to shop for our new Christmas tree today, so we'll be heading into Anchorage, later on. Beyond that, there's not much on the agenda for this lovely winter's day.

May your day be as peaceful, and as full of beauty.

Thanks for stopping by, friends.

5 comments:

Well Seasoned Fool said...

Block heaters are wonderful.

Motels in places like Wyoming and Montana usually have outdoor outlets for each unit. Traversing all the drop cords can be a challenge.

Rev. Paul said...

WSF - they are useful & quite welcome. Fairbanks has outlets everywhere, too. Anchorage, being in the banana belt of Alaska, tends not to have them. People there just leave their vehicles running when they shop.

Terry said...

"Banana belt" LOLOLOL

drjim said...

Are your block heaters the kind that replace a "freeze plug", or are they the ones that splice into the lower radiator hose?

I never had a block heater when I lived in Illinois, but I did have one of the little heating pads that went under the battery.

Between that, and using Mobil 1, I never had problems getting the car started.

And of course, I always carried a good set of jumper cables and a can of ether for helping other people....

Rev. Paul said...

Terry, a friend from Barrow used that term to describe southcentral Alaska. Since Barrow is on the north coast, some 300 miles north of the Arctic Circle, I let him have the point. :)

Jim, ours are the type that replace the freeze plug type, heating the coolant in the water jacket. The others are useless here. When the engine block stays warm all night, there's no need to heat the battery separately.