Beautiful

This amazing and beautiful phenomenon is technically referred to as light Pillars, but the locals call them Sun Dogs. This happens when tiny ice crystals, often called "diamond dust," are floating in the air. They reflect light from the streetlights and headlights, creating what looks like a light aimed at the sky.  I didn't take this picture, it was taken up by University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) last night.   I see these regularly now, but I am still in awe.  Being so cold and the fact that ice crystals are nearly always in the air this time of the year- you see them everywhere. All of the green lights on the left are the airport and the right side of the picture is town.  Just thought you might enjoy a beautiful pic this morning!

So Not Funny

You have got to be kidding me.  I try and find humor in crappy situations, but no matter how hard I try- I find nothing funny about this.  I mean really, really God, not a funny joke.   What, you ask, am I referring to; Weather aka - the severe lack of temperature.

As I write this from my house in the hills, it is negative 29* up here and a balmy negative 38* in the booming metropolis of Fairbanks.  And, we are not the coldest!  Eilson Air Force base recorded negative 42* this morning!  And guess what- it is only November 16- I have 3 more months of this Hell…. I guess that is the wrong word….Hell depicts fire and heat…..Anyways, come March we will start to see single digit temps on the positive side of the thermometer (that is the rumor that I have been told anyways) and then I might wear only 3 layers of clothing.

When Dale and I left the house at 7am it was negative 29* and we started the car 30 minutes prior to heading out-completely necessary.  I was only going in to town to work out and then head back home for a few hours but I still had to get the dogs to go out and do some business.   Well, they are totally smartening up- Foster keeps his boots on because with them on, he can be out long enough to pee!  I cannot imagine how cold it has got to be on their feet- they both come in (when they have had their booties on) and immediately run to their beds in the dining room and lay down and wait for us to come cover them up- true story.  Tuke is naturally more prepared for this arctic hell, and for some freakish reason, likes to be outside in this weather.  Yesterday, when it was negative 20* I had to physically pull her into the house after 20 minutes- she didn’t want to come in!

So, how many layers does it take to keep all your digits you ask? Too freaking many!  This morning I had on 4 layers and I was still cold. 

First layer: Work out clothes- shorts and a tank

Second Layer: Windproof/waterproof ski base layer and long sleeve top base layer

Third layer: Hooded sweatshirt, Smart Wool socks

Fourth layer: Insulated jacket, hat, gloves, Skoop (skirt style snow pants), Sorel Boots

YUK!!!

Pesky neighbors

Whenever our neighbors come to visit, they eat EVERYTHING they come close to! So much for the raspberry bush;(

It's So Warm it's Snowing

Well I have totally been slacking lately- my bad!  I really don't have a super excuse besides that we don't have internet at home, and as previously pointed out to me, I tend to delete my posts on a regular basis so it is best to do it when I have internet so it saves automatically for me :)

So what is new in our lives.  Well, it is cold, snowy and dark- so nothing new there.  I am still not working- nothing new there.  Dale is working like a dog, yup- still no change. 

I do have to share something that I witnessed this morning- I think this man is a genius...  Its cold out, like -2* this morning when I left the gym. After I busted my hiney on the treadmill, I wanted to throw away all my hard work and get a nummy calorie infused coffee.  As I was heading out of Fred Meyers (they have a Starbucks inside!) I watched a sweet couple load their groceries into the bed of their truck- this is normal.  The bizarre part, they loaded all their milk (5 or 6 gallons) into a cooler, like they really need to keep them cool; it is -2* out.  I didn't say anything, thankfully someone else hollered, "You do realize how cold it is right? Your milk is likely to freeze if you keep it in the bed of your truck, let alone if you leave it in the cooler!". He replied "I make my own ice cream- by the time I get home my milk will be ice cream and I can make it any flavor I want." Pure Genius.  I may have a new hero!

So other than that, not much excitement is happening in our world.  This weekend we are going to watch some Ice Dog Hockey, should be a good time.  Maybe car shop some more- depending on how much it snows.  It sucks looking at cars when you have to scrap off the windshields!

As promised- pictures all dressed up! It's hit the negative temperatures regularly for the last few days so Dale finished winterizing the truck- it is now plugged in and on a timer;) I took this as a great time to go out and play. It's a mere -8* at 9:30 PM and it's disgustingly cold! The dogs had a good time though!