Have you seen those lovely Christmas cards that show a wintry scene of ice covered trees? Well, that is how it looked yesterday as we drove through town. All the trees, shrubs, and grasses were coated with that white hoar frost. Hoar frost occurs when there is an ice fog which clings to whatever it touches. It is amazingly beautiful and gives such a serene and surreal effect to everything you see. Wow! Even though it must be very cold for such to happen, the sight makes it worthwhile.

Today the temperature has warmed up to the low 20’s. That is quite a jump. It is expected to be in the 20’s and 30’s throughout the coming week. The roads will certainly become more treacherous as the temperatures rise, especially if we do get a freezing rain and snow mixture as forecast. Out will come the cleats so walking will be less hazardous. That is a dangerous time for man or beast to be moving around. Just imagine walking on a wet ice cube. It’s a little unnerving.

Today we are at 6 hours 5 minutes 41 seconds of daylight. Sunrise was at 9:52 am and sunset was at 3:58 pm. We still have about half an hour of light to lose before the 21st of December when things begin to turn around again. The state’s high was 44 degrees F at Annette Island, while the low was -47 degrees F at Eagle, a difference of 91 degrees!

I’m beginning to feel a bit more human. I estimate that it might take another week or so for me to be totally back to where I was before the teeth incident. Tomorrow I’ll be getting a Vitamin C cocktail IV. That should make a considerable difference just as it did last year when I was recuperating from the flu. Hardly anybody hates needles as much as I do, but after getting this IV last year the difference was so dramatic that I’ll gladly undergo the needle anxiety again.

Tonight’s dinner was so good. We had steamed rice covered with turkey gravy (kamut) with large chunks of turkey, onions, and peas. It certainly didn’t look very fancy, but the flavor was wonderful and everybody ate their fill. It was a wonderful winter dinner.