Holiday Hiatus

This blog will now take after "Lost" and go on hiatus until January 2nd. I am obviously not much good at keeping up during the Christmas season. Plus, it is so dark out when I go to work and back, it is hard to get a photo opportunity.

But I'll be back, full of many pictures taken during our Christmas break to entertain through the remaining dark months. There is much sledding, skiing, falling on the ice, trapping, and cabin building going on that must be recorded.

See you next year!

Haste Makes Waste

I apologize for not having posted much this week. Three kids at three different schools makes for three evenings at concerts and much to do. I will pay penance for it by telling what must be the most embarrassing story anyone could tell.

One of the big hassles during winter in Alaska is filling the gas tank. Especially that of a Suburban, which takes half an hour to fill. I usually bring a crossword along while I wait on it. Filling up is a cold business that involves hands on frozen metal and scurrying in the wind and snow to the office to pay. Once, years ago, I had a friend who filled up at the local gas station, ran inside to pay, and then quickly got back into her car to get warm and drove away without removing the nozzle from her tank. The nozzle ripped off and the hose snaked all around while spilling gas all over the ground. I think she had to pay for $15 or so in gas.

A few months later I sat in my Suburban with my mother and, while we waited for the tank to fill, I told her the story of the broken nozzle. It was such a funny story. Then I ran inside to pay, and ran out quickly to jump in my car and try to get warm. And then, not 3 minutes after telling the story, I drove away with the nozzle still in my gas tank. I heard a loud pop and stopped, completely mystified about what the sound was. Luckily, after my friend's incident, the gas station had replaced the old nozzles with a special kind that could pop off without the gas spilling out everywhere. That's it. My horrific display of idiocy.

Horse Shoes

Blessing is really settling into her new home with the Ogles, the chickens, the lab who runs around her legs and the three legged boxer who barks at Blessing whenever she runs. Our daughter is able to take Blessing on nice outings without fearing falling so much because we now have special snow shoes on her. The horse shoes have little cleats to help her get a grip. My mother is bringing the same to wear for herself when she visits this winter, because, besides the more obvious reasons, when a human falls down the lab likes to run over and lick that person's face.

Winter Sunrise

It snowed that slow, clumpy kind of snow last night. This was the scene this morning. The sun is now rising at 10 a.m. and setting at 3:40 p.m. We just need to hang in there for a couple of more weeks and we'll start to gain our daylight again slowly. Right now we are losing two minutes and forty seconds a day of daylight.

Snow on Moose

This is one of our rental cabins in the fresh snow the other day. We named it the Moose Cabin because it is built along a moose trail. We put on our skis and head out almost directly in front of this cabin when we want to cross country ski. The moose are on to something here.

Trap Removed

The trap produced one mink. We've pulled the trap for now as the weather is making it difficult to check. The mink and trap are both in hand in this picture.

Ice with Extra Water

Time to check the mink trap again. Only this time it is more difficult as the river overflowed on top of the ice.

Morning Ski

We finally have enough snow for the high school ski team to get on some skis. It looks like it is early morning, but it was 10:40 when I took this picture. They were only able to start practicing on skis in the last week because of lack of snow. They've been swimming, running, circuit training, and doing yoga in the mean time.

How to Build a Log Home

The very first logs on the house are flat on one side. These are the only logs that will be shaped like this as John will hand carve each following logs to fit the round-topped shape of the log under it. He uses his saw mill to make this flat cut.