January 2007 Perfect Winter

If you like winter, as I do, get to Anchorage right away to enjoy the perfect winter we're having. Temperatures have been below freezing, sometimes well below, since the beginning of November, with only a few brief exceptions. We received a little snow in November; conditions were excellent for winter biking.

The snow started falling in December, usually 6 to 8 inches at a time -- enough to keep the decks and driveway clear and still have plenty of time to cross-country ski. The snowfalls increased in quantity around Christmas and New Year's, with a climax of 18" in one day on January 3rd. We only finished clearing the decks of that snow on this past Thursday, when the temperature hovered around freezing and threatened to turn what was left to ice. Before today's snow, I was estimating that we were around the 6 foot mark for snow. Most of it has been very light and dry so the warm temperatures this past week resulted in quite a bit of settlement.

The snow clouds have dropped another 2" so far today and don't appear to be moving on too quickly. You could be here in just a few hours, for a full day of skiing on Martin Luther King day!

New Year's Resolutions

I thought about breaking these out by category, but decided instead to make my first resolution ....
1. Integrate the personal, spiritual, and political aspects of my life because all these convictions should come from the same Source.
2. Remember daily how blessed I am and how many others suffer from illness, poverty, and war.
3. Let my government, especially my elected officials, know regularly that peace and social justice issues are important to me.
4. Reduce my support of war through my spending and investments.
5. Call someone in my family Outside (i.e. in the lower 48) weekly.
6. Munch less; move more; get outside.
7. Keep up on email and snail mail.

8. Keep up on the blog (now that I'm caught up).

31 December 2006 Prospect Heights

Paul is getting a little tired of using the snowblower, but the cross-country ski conditions couldn't be more perfect. We ended the year with a round on one of our favorite local trails, the Wolverine Bowl ski loop. It's a single-track that winds through meadows of tall grass and groves of white spruce. The deep snow hid most of the grass and slowed us down on a few steep pitches. The trailhead is only a ten minute drive from our house.

25 December 2006 Numbered Lakes Christmas Day

The temperature had dropped to 5 below on a clear Christmas Eve. Even after the sun had been up an hour (11:00), the temperature was barely topping zero. We called Deb and Jeff and suggested snowshoeing instead of skiing. We needed effort without glide or self-induced wind chill. Plus Paul's feet had gotten cold in his ski boots the previous day at 10 degrees despite all the work he did breaking trail.

Jeff broke trail as we tromped along the springs that feed Lake 6 and over the hill to the springs that feed Lake 5. These springs had been trapped by a beaver dam for years and the pond had been dubbed Monkeyflower for the small yellow flowers found here. Then the summer before last, the dam burst. This past summer, the fine silty mud that used to be the pond bottom was covered in bright green vegetation. The salmon didn't seem to mind the change; they were still swimming up stream past the old dam.

The American dippers didn't seem to mind either. These hardy Robin-sized birds, also called ouzels, weather an Alaska winter by fishing in open water. They not only endure, they immerse themselves. They dive into the water to find their prey. We saw at least 4 dippers along the springs creeks.

Another amazing bird greeted us back in the woods as we climbed over another small ridge and descended to Lake 6. The tiny golden-crowned kinglet, smaller than a chickadee, survives the cold and finds food, but Deb had just been telling us on Christmas Eve that the ornithologists can't figure out how they do it.

Our Christmas circuit of the Numbered Lakes was complete.

Sun dog around the solar noon sun