SO, HOW ABOUT THIS WEATHER WE'RE HAVING? No matter where in the country you live, everyone is talking about the weather. And not just because you're in an awkward social situation and it's your fallback. "Wow, you smell amazing. Would you want to? Uhhh... I mean... this weather is crazy, right?" Our family in Florida is digging out their fleece layers; our family in New Hampshire is humbly bemoaning their below-zero temps; our family in Chicago has likely blown away. But here in Alaska? Balmy. Raining. Melting. Down-right unusual.
I went for a skate ski this weekend and had to avoid the tufts of grass poking out as I careened around the corners. Indigo just mastered her snowplow stops and turns at the Alyeska ski resort, in the rain. The organizers of the annual Winter Games extravaganza here on the Kenai Peninsula (remember the coolio ice slides from last year?) are fumbling about in a quite a tizzy - you see their tens of brilliantly carved ice sculptures created around town are melted, sad, stubby remains. It feels like we've moved farther South, not farther North.
Spring-like conditions!
Wet snow makes me fast!
They call this a bear riding a salmon? (note the lack of jacket or hat)
Since climate is generally defined by patterns observed over a 30 year period, I'm biting my tongue and holding back from making any scientific conclusions - but I am certainly joining the crew of folks remarking on the weather (defined as the current atmospheric condition) we're having so far this year. Yikes-a-mundo.
Fear not - J Leslie is looking into it...
All that said, Team Leslie has managed to kick off the New Year with some solid snowy moments, most often gleaned by climbing to higher elevations, like many folks need to do. Our favorite back-country yurts still provided a lovely white backdrop to the holiday break, and our neighbors' sledding hill provided an epic few days of play before the warmer air blew in and made a waterfall in its place (video of sledding should be visible on blog site).
The higher you climb, the more freshies you find.
Sledding in the boreal neighborhood.
These days we're spending a lot of time skating (at indoor rinks - we'd fall through on the local lakes), swimming (at indoor pools - it'd need to warm up just a bit more to get those lakes steaming), and waiting to see what the next climate, I mean weather, report holds!
Good luck to all of you in the Lower 48 and beyond... if you need a break from the snow and cold, consider The Alaska Adventure!
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