Winter

It is officially upon us.

Here in Kodiak, Alaska we've had snow for a few weeks now, but the past few days we've really had fun with snow+rain+ice! This morning we woke up to slushy, wet snow, falling gently and adding melty goodness to the compacted ice already frozen to our driveway, our cul-de-sac, and our street. It was warm today (high 30's) so I expected it to melt by the time I got home from work. Ahhh, no such luck. Here are some things I learned today out on the driveway.

1. There's a very good reason why people shovel snow. (No brainer, right?) I grew up where it doesn't snow--well, except once--so I always just assumed it was for convenience, and aesthetics. Turns out, it's for safety! When you don't clear your snow, it compacts, and melts a little, and compacts, and adheres itself to your driveway, and when you get a nice rain and a cold night, congratulations! Your front yard is a skating rink. Ryan bought me some ice cleats to slip over the soles of my shoes. Which I thought was pretty dorky, but I am seriously considering using them now. Especially since he gave me a pretty good wake-up call. I wasn't there to witness it but feature this: Ryan traipses down our porch steps, coffee mug in one hand, slice-o pecan pie in the other, hits the concrete landing and whoops! A stream of coffee like you see in slow-motion movie disasters flies through the air, and the pie hits the ground, as does Ryan's booty, and maybe his pride a little bit. But he was ok. And I am much more careful now. Thanks, Ryan!

2. There's a reason why they say shoveling snow can aggravate a heart problem. It's hard work! When it's powder, snow is all fun and games. But it turns into a big bully when a little slush gets mixed in. That crizap is heavy!

3. When the instructions on the Christmas lights say "connect no more than two strands together" they really mean it. Of course, we went ahead and connected five strands, which looked great for about three seconds until the fuse busted. (In the light, not the house.) Five fuses later, we made do with four strands and called it a day. That was lovely, for about three hours. Fuse, busted again. Poor Ryan, now he got really inventive and found another power source for one strand. And the other three, they are still all connected. Yes, we are rebels.

Another note about Kodiak . . . no one is selling Christmas trees around here! I heard that they get them at Wal-Crap a week before the big day, and they're all stale and dried out. No thank you! Someone else suggested we go out into the wilderness and cut one down. I get nervous about getting busted; I just can't do it! I come from a place where there are a LOT of rules about stealing from the woods. Therefore. We (I can't believe it) got a fake tree. Pre-lit! It was so easy to set up, and we were a little nervous at first that it would look horrible, but it really does look pretty nice. Not the same as a beautiful, piney, lush real tree. But we're happy.