On January 5th I flew with Cooper

 To Bethel Alaska.  He had been visiting us since the week after Christmas.  He and his brother Ben came down but Ben went home early because he wanted to go to a New Year Eve Party.

The Tundra across the street from Tricia's house.

While I was there, we got the tail end of the storm that dumped 25 feet of snow on Cordova.  We only got about a foot of new snow, but the temperature was about -36 with a wind chill into the -60's. It is so cold at that point that it hurts to breath.

Crossing a lake in Bethel.  It is the shortcut from point A. to point B.

This fellow had just been dropped off by the taxi on the other side of the river.  He walked across the river to his cabin.

The Russian Orthodox Church

We are crossing another lake here.  The sun is beginning to set.  Truthfully, it did not get much higher than this all day long.

My original intention was to stay until Tuesday but...........because of the storm, the planes were grounded in Anchorage.  There were no flights out of Bethel on Tuesday.  Flights resumed on Wednesday, but I was worried about not being able to make connections from Anchorage to Seattle.  I fly standby space available.  Knowing many people did not get out on Tuesday, I opted to stay in Bethel on Wednesday and return home on Thursday.  Thursday came and I changed my mind.  Tricia and Dave and the boys were flying out to Vancouver Washington on Friday, so I waited and left when they did.  Dave, the Boys and I caught the 8AM to Anchorage and then he and the boys went on to Vancouver and I caught a flight to Seattle.  Tricia flew out on the last flight on Friday night.

I must say, living in Bethel is interesting to say the least.  It is a village that is accessible only by air. Because of the permafrost and the tundra, water is a premium up there.  Dave and Tricia have a huge tank that they have water delivered to once a week.  You get used to yellow water in the toilet.  I remembered the old saying of if it is yellow, let it mellow.  I am so thankful that I do not have to do that. Showers are short and sweet.  I took a long one the morning after I got home and a long hot bath the next day.  I understand why Cooper always wants a bath when he comes here. I also have the habit of brushing my teeth with hot water.  Now don't look at me like I am some kind of freak!! You wash your body with warm or hot water, you wash your dishes in the hottest water you can, so why now wash your teeth with hot water?  It was hard to do there, because you  had to let about 3 gallons of  water run before the hot water reached the tap.  For some odd reason, the hot water tank is out in the detached garage.  I switched to cold, but just for the time I was there.  I am back to hot water, thank you:)  Also, because of the permafrost and the tundra, the sewer system is a bit spotty.  Again once a week, a truck comes and pumps matter from a large tank.  So much we take for granted.

Fast forward to today.  We have had one of our very infrequent snow falls in the Pacific Northwest.  The kids are all out of school.  Playing outside.

Olivia making a snow angel

Darius and Olivia sliding down the hill between my house and a neighbor house.
We have a 10 foot space between the two.

So much fun.  They had had enough right after that and were inside to warm up.

The Weeping Cypress we planted this summer.

Our front yard in its blanket of snow

I am inside, warm and toasty.  Still in my jammies.  Might be that way when Stan gets home too.  I love the snow.  I do not know if I love it enough for months on end of snow, but it is so beautiful and everything looks so clean.  The kids are excited and outside playing.  Sledding, snow forts, snow angels, snowball fights....all good clean fun.  Sometimes Stan and I think of the possibility of 6 months in Alaska and 6 months down here.  It would be a win win.  We both like Alaska and we could have more quality time with the boys.  We will see if it ever becomes more than a thought.

My tiny tree, I just had to have.  I hope it survives this cold.