February 15, 2007

My internal clock hasn’t fully recovered from our vacation. I have developed this uncanny ability to get up for work without an alarm clock. I have known people who claimed to have this skill and I never believed it until it happened to me. Now my ability has slipped backward a touch. One night I woke up and had that sense it was time to get up. I looked at my watch. It was 11:30. Another night I never once woke up until Kris’ alarm went off. At least with her alarm I have a safety net.

These 5 day work weeks have got to stop. Two in a row is really wearing me down. At least this will be a three day weekend.

Our weather has been a little warm and dry. I think winter moved from Alaska down to the lower 48. I suspect the temperature in Ohio has been lower than here every day for the past three weeks. We have had virtually no snow. The temperatures aren’t above freezing, but they have been consistently in the high 20’s.

This weather has made a mess out of the skiing. Things got really warm while we were away. This started a slight meltdown. Then the temperatures dropped back below freezing. The mountain froze into a brick. We skied on Saturday, but it was pretty hard snow. Some of the off trail areas were virtually unskiable with frozen lumps deflecting any attempt at turning. We stuck mostly to the groomed runs and had fun, but not as much fun as ungroomed soft snow.

On Sunday, we headed to Eklutna Lake to do a little cross country skiing. It was a nice day and the flat trail along the lake was tolerable even though it was a little icy. We skied a few miles, got some exercise and fresh air. I ran into someone from work at the lake. I didn’t recognize him since he was on a four wheeler wearing a helmet. He knew I was there because he saw my truck in the parking area. I can’t hide anywhere in Alaska. Good thing I am not trying to hide.

We seem to be running into more moose lately. They seem to be crawling around town everywhere. One evening one crossed the road in front of me on my way home. It was cool to see people come to a stop and even back up to give the crabby looking bull some room. I have heard that impatience in the form of pressing distance and honking a horn can result in serious damage to your automobile. Maybe people weren’t giving him room out of courtesy and respect for our big animals. Maybe people were afraid, even sitting in their cars. Tonight I saw a couple moose in the field on the corner of our street. They were eating some trees. It is still cool to see these big animals, even when they are wondering around the city.