Darn Winter!

  Every time I think the warm weather is finally here, it gets cold again.  Tuesday evening it was pretty nice even though there was a wind blowing but last night the wind turned extremely frigid.  It was cold enough a thin layer of ice formed on the lake.

Spring in Alaska is a fight between summer and winter.  Some days its absolutely beautiful and warm, while other days its so cold you see chunks of ice floating on the lake.

When I got off of work, the wind was blowing so hard, water on the lake formed peaks which moved across the lake like synchronized swimmers.  Its kind of fun.  Its the type of peak you see in movies where huge peaks rush down a narrow canyon, trying to fall over but in miniature.

In addition, the plane kicked up a huge cloud of dust much like a small dust storm.  The cloud headed towards the lake but it never quite got to the lake before it dissipated.  This morning, it was cold with only a gentle breeze and lots of rain clouds.

It may very well rain later today but I hope not.  If it does, all the nicely dried ground will turn into the oily, cruddy, grab your boots mud.  I hate it because if you stand still at all, it tries to suck you into the earth.  I really hate the mud.  Really hate it.  Playing tug of war over your boots turns your walk into something more.

When I took a walk this past Friday, I headed out to the tundra and around by the river which is not fully melted.  There is a channel in the center where the ice has really started to melt but the only time you see a lot of water is a high tide.  This village is about 15 miles inland via river with a lot of twists and turns.  We are close enough for the village to experience both high and low tides.

Back to the walk.  At points we were walking on river grass to avoid fighting with the mud.  Lots of nasty black slimy mud.  Other times, we had to figure out how to cross a miniature pond without going through the middle of it and possibly ending up with water going into our knee high boots.

It was almost like playing the children's game where you can only walk in certain squares.  I really enjoyed it because the wind was rather warm.  When I first moved here, we still had snow on the ground till the end of May, now it is pretty much melted except for the volcanoes. 

The volcanoes are extinct but I understand if you head out past them, there is some really good fishing.  I've never been there but it is beautiful.  Maybe I'll go out later today and take some pictures for tomorrow.

Have a good day.  Let me know what you think.