Today is our shortest daylight of the year with 5 hours 41 minutes and 20 seconds! Tomorrow will begin the increasing daylight until June 21st. I believe that we will have only a 4 second increase tomorrow, but it is a start. Sunrise today was at 10:12 am and sunset will be at 3:53 pm. Our current temperature is 26 degrees and it is snowing. That aurora forecast is moderate for those in an area of no clouds. Yesterday’s high for the state was 5 degrees at Annette Island and the low was at the Mag. North Pole where it was -24 degrees.

A few weeks ago, the ball python escaped his terrarium and wandered through the pet room. My husband found him a few days ago. Apparently he had found food while he was out as he was still quite plump and still very healthy. He didn’t get near any of my birds. Actually, they are all too big for him to eat, which is good from all points of view.

Well, ANWR was rejected again today. It is really unfortunate for Americans, but those lobbyists really need to keep ANWR closed so they will have an income. If people really knew the area to be utilized was the size of a commercial airport (2,000 acres) and in an area far removed from any mountains or scenic area, they might have been more open-minded. I’ve flown over the area several times. It is flat, very little vegetation, lots of puddles, a tremendous amount of mosquitoes (I know people that have walked through the area), and basically a frozen desert. People are afraid that the caribou will be disturbed. Well, this is in an area that few caribou ever venture into. Also, the caribou was a major concern before the trans-Alaska pipeline was built. The caribou population has expanded.

It is really irritating for people who really don’t have a clue to dictate to Alaska how to take care of our own business. Opening ANWR would benefit those very same people. Well, to those people I would say, “Enjoy the gasoline prices we pay, now. Realize that the money for that gas also is paid to the leaders of nations that prefer to do us harm”. We, as a nation, are supporting those nations because we don’t want to use oil in an area you will NEVER see. Oh well. The lobbyist won. You lost. Pay more and don’t complain. Be sure to remind yourself when you pay for that gas that it was your choice to pay more to save those poor, dear mosquitoes.

I made my own farmer’s cheese this week. Vicki sent me some directions and it was very easy to make. However, I needed to make a change in the amount of lemon juice necessary for it to curdle correctly. I’ll be using that to make my smoothies this week. I used some for a creamy cheese sauce last night and it worked quite well. The down side is that it cost about $6.50 for 3 cups of fairly dense cheese. I won’t know the cost-effectiveness of this until I see how many smoothies it makes. Regardless, it is something I do plan to continue so we will have a neutral cheese available for baking and other uses.