Sunday Morning

This is the day which the Lord hath made;
we will rejoice and be glad in it. (Psalm 118:24)

14 degrees. Coffee. Breakfast rolls with butter and home-made apple butter. My family all around.

It doesn't get any better than this; thank you, Lord!

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.

The Morning After

Good morning, everyone, and happy Sunday!

We're a little stiff and sore this morning, from yesterday's unaccustomed activity. But nothing that ibuprofen can't handle. I think.

Now that we've had a couple of rain-free days, the back yard is finally dry enough to mow. And there's a fairly substantial carpet of leaves on the driveway which will require the services of a leaf-blower. Have I mentioned the driveway is roughly 270 feet long?

The newly rocked-in area looks nice, and has changed the appearance of the front yard from "barely reclaimed from the forest" to "somebody lives here and is taking care of the place." I'll get a picture of it today, to show before-and-after shots in a later post.

Anyway, it's time for another cup of coffee. We've only just now gotten both eyes open and focused at the same time.

Have a wonderful day, my friends; thanks for stopping by.

17°

That was the temperature when we got up this morning, although it's 21 or so now. AccuHunch guesses we'll have a cloudy day, with more snow moving in tonight. We transitioned from fall to winter very quickly, it seems. And after last year's failure to provide winter at all, we're okay with this.

I went out after breakfast and scraped yesterday's ice and snow off my wife's SUV, and topped off the tank for her. She should be ready to go in the morning, except for any lingering snow showers leaving deposits on the windows.

As we expected, there were no trick-or-treaters in our neighborhood last night. This makes six seven years without Halloween visitors. We're okay with that, too.

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I suspect we'll stay mostly inside today, with a crock of homemade soup and some movies to watch. Or maybe we'll just read. Despite what I said, above, it's not really winter yet. But it's getting there. :)

Thanks for stopping by, my friends. Have a blessed day!

Sunday Morning Mehs

It's 27 degrees with light freezing rain. The weatherman says we'll get a tenth of an inch of the stuff by noon, today.

I'm thinking about another cup of coffee, and staying put.

Sunday Morning Police Blotter

We have sunny blue skies and 62 degrees at 10:20 am, going up to 72, or so guesses AccuHunch.

I've been out & about, running this errand and that. One of the chores I was looking forward to was to clean out my closet.

Turns out over half of my short-sleeve shirts, and nearly all the long-sleeved versions, plus all but three pairs of slacks are too big. Between my wife and myself, we now have seven trash bags full of decent but over-size apparel going to the clothing drive at her workplace this week.

The closet looks bare. But that's a good thing: between the two of us, we've lost some 107 pounds since January.

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And now for the bit you've been waiting for, from the Dutch Harbor Telegraph:

Animal – Protest about perpetual problems with pets pooping on plots other than their own.

Civil – Money was given to a third party for bail purposes and has since vanished.  [I don't know if it's the person who vanished, or the money. Perhaps both? - Paul]

Animal – Caller reported a dead cat in the roadway. An officer responded and found no dead feline, only a motley collection of Bald Eagles. [Make up your own joke to go along with this tale of road food. - Paul]

Theft – A man’s wallet went missing sometime after he left his backpack, containing his wallet, in a public changing area for several hours and in a public galley for several minutes. No suspects were identified.

DUI – A man reported that his intoxicated girlfriend had left his residence and was driving to another location. The girlfriend meanwhile reported to the police station and demanded that she be given field sobriety tests to prove the boyfriend wrong. Officers found no indication of impairment and subsequently accompanied the woman to her boyfriend’s home to recover some property.

It's a Dark and Gloomy Morning

The weatherman says all these clouds will eventuate in rain by tonight. I certainly hope so; what's the point in gloom if you don't get rain, too?

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You think you're having an exciting day? This guy found an unexploded 30-pound bomb while working on his property.

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Weird Alaska Fact of the Day: "Owners of flamingos may not let their pets into barber shops."

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A couple of new folks (new to the blog, not to being folks) have joined the list of followers. Welcome, Gerald & Rob!

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Brigid brings the story of a lady who can use our help. I know we hear about a lot of worthy causes, but this one really is. Go read, and help if you can.

Rain, Rain, Go Away ...

It's 47 degrees this morning, and has been raining for hours. We sleep with the windows open, and the sound of the drops falling through the blue spruce and northern birch trees right outside made a lullaby that was hard to resist.

Yesterday's outing to the local renaissance fair was a bit disappointing. The participants just about outnumbered the visitors. It's probably due to the weather ... at least, that's what I kept telling myself: cool, cloudy, and humid. Having spent many years attending buckskinner rendezvous, I felt for the participants. Ah well, they probably have a great time just getting into the leather, chain mail, armor, etc. I always enjoyed the historical reenactment, sitting around the campfire for a weekend, and the conversation with like-minded folk.

I was planning to replace a headlight assembly on Younger Daughter's car; the original is yellowed and cloudy, and there's a nice shiny new one in a box on my workbench. But the rain has me second-guessing that particular outdoor activity. If the rain lets up, then we'll reassess a number of plans for the day.

But right now, another cup of coffee sounds like a good idea.


Y'all have a great day, and thanks for stopping by.

Shiver Me Timbers

It's 30 degrees this morning, and the oh-so-helpful folks at the National Weather Service* issued a freeze warning for overnight ... but not until 4:40 this morning. How in the ever-lovin' heck was that supposed to help anybody?

Oh, well ... onward and upward.

There are still roughly a thousand customers without power from Tuesday night's storm, and the lack of heat is probably bothering them about now. Long-time Alaskans, and anyone with common sense, will have lots of blankets and/or a kerosene heater. Those who've come here from the Left Coast will be shivering, cursing the cold, and dialing 911 demanding to know when "the City" is going to do something.

I say that not to be insulting to transplants from nanny-state communities, but based on my personal observations of those who have recently arrived. Last winter, some of those folks complained that parking lots were slippery. This, an hour after the snowplows had come through & spread gravel on the freshly-plowed lots.

I finally had to write a memo to those who work in my building, explaining that Alaskans used to be known for their hardy self-reliance. "Look around you ... look at a map ... this isn't Oregon. Buy ice cleats, a flashlight, and a warmer coat, and be an Alaskan. Alternately, Portland is calling you."

Sheesh.    (/rant)

Groundhog asked in comments on a previous post what Alaskans in the smaller towns and villages do to earn a living. Some create artwork to sell on consignment through the various Native Corporations; some work for the State as traveling members of various exploration or response teams, or the Dept of Transportation effecting road repairs; Native Alaskans (you'd call them Eskimos, although that's not what they call themselves) get dividends of a few thousand dollars, annually, for their shares in the Native corporations which sell timber, oil rights, and own other companies in the States; and many live on subsistence, hunting and fishing for food. Some also fly or drive into Anchorage or Fairbanks for work.

That's an over-simplification, of course, but should partially answer Groundhog's question.

And with that, it's time for more coffee. Have a great day, my friends.



* and you remember what "service" means, don't you?

Sleepy Sunday Morning

Our Saturday went off as planned, which was a nice change of pace. By the way, Men in Black 3 is a good flick IMHO. The Avengers ... well, since most of you have already seen it, you know. It was too short & I wanted to see more of the invasion battle. Admit it: you did, too.

The evening was spent sitting around a fire. It was only a small fire, and not quite equal to the winds which developed in late afternoon. It was 52 degrees with intermittent sun, and a wind chill around 40. Everyone started out in one set of clothes, and within an hour, we'd all put on additional layers. But still, a nice evening.

I'm just over half-way through Monster Hunter Legion, and it's worth every penny, so far. So now, it's time to go back to the Kindle. Have a good day!

Sunday, Frozen Sunday

Winter continues to blow its frosty breath across this portion of the Great Land as temps have dropped to -10 or so. 10 below is five degrees warmer than yesterday, so we welcome the (ahem) warmer readings.

There's not much on our agenda today: our morning walk & workout at The Dome ... casual lunch at home ... we're going to hear the Anchorage Symphony perform Holst's "The Planets" this afternoon, along with the latest videos and photos from NASA, the Hubble telescope, and the Voyager satellite. While the music is enjoyable, I'm more interested in the pictures.

This morning, the living room is filled with the sounds of coffee cups in various levels of "filled with the nectar of life", the rustle of the Sunday paper (the only one I'll even glance at, these days), and a quiet discussion of where to dine after the concert, this evening.

Just another January morning where it's cold, snowy and frozen outside ... but inside, the warmth of family surrounds us.

It's a Quiet Morning Here in Lake Wobegone ...

Oh, wait. Okay, Anchorage then.

Same thing.

It's 55 and AccuHunch says there's an 80% chance of rain. When they're that certain, they're usually right. It does happen. So I'd talk about what we'll do today, but it's early, and my plans don't include the future.