Winter Has Arrived

Yesterday we had our first official snowfall. The flurry only lasted about a half an hour, but as you can see in the picture, the flakes were quite large! It is currently snowing and we are expecting 2"-4" of accumulation over night.

Let the fun and games begin!

An Ode to Fall

I love the Fall season and all that comes with it...school starting, Logan's birthday, our wedding anniversary, Halloween, my birthday and Thanksgiving (which happen to be one and the same this year). I love the cool air, the colors, decorations and even the comfort foods associated with Fall. Did you notice, the "s" word is missing from my love of all things fall? That wasn't an ovesight on my part. I enjoy the snow, but snow is what winter is all about, not Fall!

I mentioned to someone here that I was looking forward to Fall. That statement was met with laughter. I was promptly told that in Alaska, we go straight from summer (HA HA, that's a joke) to winter. Here I am racking my brain, trying to remember the last time I saw the sun and now I'm being told there is no Fall!!!! Well my friends, my dear acquaintance was not kidding.

Now granted, we do not have snow at the lower elevations yet, but as of this morning, the local mountain tops have had their first dusting of snow. Frankly, after our summer, I'm almost ready for a little snow. I mean really, if we're going to have miserable weather it might as well be more than just overcast and dreary. The problem is, I don't think there is such thing as a little snow here.

I guess I'll continue to patiently wait for my one day of Fall. If I'm lucky, I'll be able to take a picture to remember that one glorious day. I'll soon be thinking about Fall as I put on my winter coat, gloves and hat and head out to blow the snow off the driveway.

Is it really dark all winter in Alaska??????

Many people have asked, "is it really dark all day in Alaska during the winter?" The answer is "no"! When we came here to visit in December I was expecting it to literally look like nighttime all day long. It doesn't!!!!! There is a point when it looks like dusk most of the day, but now, on January 27 that is not really the case any longer. As a matter of fact, when it is the coldest outside it is usually the most beautiful outside.

I've decided to post some pictures so you can see for yourselves that there really is sun in Alaska during the winter!!!! These pictures were taken from various bedrooms inside our house. I thought you might like a snapshot of what we can see from inside our house when we look out to the great outdoors.