Cold But Clean

It's a little hard to make it out, but the temp on the dash of Russ' truck reads -20 degrees. What does one do at -20 degrees at night on the weekend? Why... wash the truck, of course. Because there is one thing that we all know...a clean truck is a happy truck. Back in Florida, washing the vehicles meant putting on your shorts, cranking up the music, and getting a bucket of warm soapy suds out in the driveway. That is not the case up here. You have to find a nice heated car wash. This one was a little dark, but nice and toasty warm. I'm sure the Tundra appreciated it. (It doesn't get to hang out in the garage like my van.) Why is the bed still full of snow? Russ tells me he doesn't get rid of it because it is added weight, but I secretly think it's because he wants to see how thick it will get by the end of the winter.

After the Tundra was nice and sparkly, we headed for home... but stopped by the base Christmas trees on the way to check them out.
This is Ft. Rich's Christmas tree. Very nicely done in blues and whites.
Not to be outdone, Elmendorf's tree is decorated in multicolored lights with gifts underneath. (Notice our star's bigger than their star? I'm just saying...)This is the temp this afternoon. This is a little gauge that we have on the kitchen counter. It says the outside temp is -16. (Yes, the clock on it is wrong, and it is not am.)

Everything outside looks like it was dipped in white powder. It's very pretty. When the sun hits it just right, everything sparkles.

Even the icicles have frost on them.

Needless to say, we are hanging out inside today, and the kids are having a lovely time on the Wii. That has been the best Christmas gift we've probably ever gotten. All four of us have been playing tennis and bowling. Now if I can just order that tanning bed, my life will be complete...

Happy Friday!

It's a lovely Friday in Alaska. How's the weather, you ask? Cold, cold, and oh yeah...COLD! We had hoped to go tubing or sledding, but I admit that I'm too much of a wimp, so it will have to wait another couple of days. We are hoping for snow, because then it normally warms up into the mid to high 20's. Warms up to the 20's? You bet! That's a heat wave compared to what it is right now. It was -14 when I went to the Commissary today. My Mom asked why on earth I went out when it was so cold. Unfortunately, there wasn't much to eat in the house, so it was either get out and buy groceries, or try to keep the family from gnawing off my leg. Groceries won. (I was afraid I would fall asleep and they would get me!)

Cold Winter Day

It's 8 degrees. It's a dry 8, not a humid one, but no matter how you label it, 8 is cold. Stay in the house, curl up with a blanket, drink hot coffee cold. Did I mention how cold it is? It's cold. The weather station has lots of gadgets to measure how deep the snowfall is. Here at our house, we have The Table. It's our summer table located on the back patio. How much did it snow last night? I don't know, let's go check The Table. The Table never lies or approximates, it just tells it like it is. You can trust The Table. We got a LOT of snow this weekend.

It warmed up into the low 30's over the weekend, too, and we ended up with some great icicles on the front porch. They won't last long. The neighborhood kids like to break them off and sword fight with them. Among other things. One neighborhood kid just likes to eat them. No, it is not my kid.

Russ' poor truck doesn't care much for winter. It ended up partially buried in a snow drift yesterday. We had to dig it out. Did I mention we got a LOT of snow? Did I also mention it's COLD? Anyway, here the truck sits and dreams of summer days in Florida, or California, or Arizona...

The trees always look so great after a heavy snowfall. It reminds me of icing on Christmas cookies. I took this picture on Saturday out at Hillburg. This handsome fellow was hanging out by the lake there and watching for a meal.