Finally, more than flurries

If you were to look outside through my front window, you will see an accumulation of snow that would have been seen after a major snowstorm that might have fallen in Eastern PA.  But with the always cold temperatures here in the interior of Alaska, any snow that falls... stays!

In the time that I have been here, the most that I have seen has been only an inch or so.  Well yesterday, there was close to four inches that had fallen overnight and into the early daylight hours.  It added to the flurry accumulation of about 2 inches, so I got to blow my driveway with close to a total of 6 inches.  The snowblower did a nice job of blowing the fluffy stuff off of the snowpack that is on my driveway and it was easier to see where I had blown it off than it has been the last several times I have cleared my driveway.

And I must be getting the entire process down pat.  I blew the entire driveway, including the pathway to my mailbox, AND shoveled the steps to the front door in about an hour and 10 minutes.  The first time I did it myself it took 2 hours just to do the driveway with no shoveling.  Yay, Jane!!!

This week I met my new Dermatologist, Maren Gaul, D.O.  She was young but did not remind me of Doogie Houser.  She was thorough and froze a couple of pre-cancerous areas on my face.  It seems that I am paying for all of the 'healthy tans' and nasty sunburns of my youth.  I also have a slew of other non-cancerous growths that have been and continue to appear all over my body.  Because of what Medicare pays for or does not pay for, these will remain as her fees for a simple extraction, removal and freezing make it too expensive for the sake of vanity.  But I will go to her for my annual check-up or when I notice any blatant changes in my skin. 

I continue to get my lower level space set up to serve my needs.  I was finding that while I was able to make coffee in the craft room, I needed to add a few things to help me eat better.  I found that I was not eating breakfast as often as I should, so the first thing I added was a hot water pot.  This is a glass pitcher that inserts into a base that will heat just water for hot tea or to add into quick oatmeal, etc.  I can select different temps and it heats in just a minute or two.  So now I have a selection of teas as well as K-Cups for my sipping pleasure.

I have a small microwave.  It is the one that was left in this kitchen.  But it was not very big and I replaced the one in the kitchen with a bigger one that has more options for cooking.  The small one works perfectly down here to reheat food or to keep my coffee or tea warm during a morning of slow sipping.  I also use it for popcorn when I am peckish in the evening or for those muffins in a mug things for breakfast.  It also cooks a mean bowl of oatmeal.  I have all of the plastic ware that I had in the car for the trip across the country down here for when I need it.  I also have some paper plates and bowls when I do not want to deal with cleaning dishes.

I also have some plastic glassware here.  I have several stemless wine glasses.  It protects me from breaking them here where I will be creating.  I have a large bottle of red wine... my cousin introduced me to it as I do not usually drink red wines.  I also have a bottle of single malt Scotch... I learned to drink Scotch when I was an aide to a State Representative in Delaware many, many years ago.  Finally, I have a bottle of Fireball Whiskey.  I have been hearing a great deal about this liquor, so I got a bottle to try and I really like a shot of it once in a while. It has a lovely cinnamon undertone and I enjoy a shot just before I head to bed.  I found some lovely real glass smallish glasses at Value Village, a thrift store here in Fairbanks.  They have a heavy bottom and there were four of them in the group in different colors.  "Carnival" was etched in the glass so I am assuming that they were a cruise souvenir from a vacation that someone did not want to pack up and move back to the lower 48.  The amount of Fireball is perfect for a couple of swigs before bed.

There has been a warmup of sorts in the past week.  We had temperatures well above zero.  Nothing above freezing, but it felt downright balmy.  The only issue that one has when it gets that warm is the shedding of snow from the wires and trees.  You saw the video in the previous blog.  It can be a large amount of snow falling in a small area very fast.  This last week, the power has gone out and come back on very quickly as snow fell from overhead wires or from trees across wires.  One morning it went off and came right back on three times within 10 minutes.  So far it has just been a nuisance outage, but it certainly makes me happy to have my generator in the garage and the external, whole-house plug installed, just in case.  I would not want to be without power when it is 40 below.

I have had several friends tell me that they are planning to come to visit during the summer, here in Alaska.  Sheila has already started looking at airline fares for her trip.  She found that the March flights are listed as quite costly.  She also asked about the preferred airline for coming to Alaska.  Not surprisingly, the best Airline for getting to Alaska is Alaska Airlines.  They fly out of most big cities, including Philadelphia.  Most of the flights from Philly will leave during the day and arrive here in Fairbanks around 1:00 AM to 2:30 AM.  It is OK.  Now that I live here, I am aware of that time and will happily pick you up at the airport and get you settled here in the house where you can catch a few winks before starting your visit.  I am only about 10 minutes from the airport and with just a few gates (the last I counted was 3 regularly used gates) you will be in and out quickly.  Sheila had noted that there were some cheap flights showing in June.  I asked people who have lived here longer than me and they said that these flights will increase in price as summer approaches.  Summer is cruise season.  There is a "Land/Sea" cruise that either starts in Fairbanks or ends in Fairbanks.  The cruise participants are on the sea, then on a train from Anchorage to Fairbanks and then fly home, or vice versa.  So busloads of people can arrive at the airport to fly home during the summer.  That can fill up a flight quickly.  So, if you are thinking about coming to visit me, you might want to start checking Alaska Air flights and snag one before they get really pricey.

 Rob is here again today.  He was dropped off yesterday.  Both he and Kate have colds.  Kate is at work.  She dropped Rob off yesterday.  I knew he had come into the house from the motion alerts on the one camera that watches the yard.  I thought he had forgotten something from when they were here on Saturday.  Imagine how surprised I was when he came downstairs in the afternoon after he slept the morning in the bedroom upstairs.  He is here today, still stuffy, but working from home.  I will be blowing snow shortly.  There is quite a bit of snow on the snowpack again.  The only issue us that it is once again well below zero.  Google says it is 25 below at this hour.  But it needs to be done.  Keeps me active and should the sun come out, I will get some valuable vitamin D.

So, have a great day.  I will be marching up and down my driveway!  Days like this get me close to my 10,000 steps each day.  No matter how many hours it takes, the number of steps is a shade over 6,000 to do the driveway.