Wow!!!! It is already November. This year has flown by! Winter has definitely arrived, too, with the state’s low today at Chandalar at -18 degrees. Our low last night was 12 degrees and it got up to 30 by late this afternoon. Tonight’s low for us is expected to be around 7 degrees. The daylight continues to shrink by 5 minutes plus every day and now we are getting close to just 8 hours a day now. The daily variation will slow soon and by the end of the month we’ll be at about 6 hours a day slowly ebbing to the 5 ½ hours just before Christmas.

The AFN convention was very good and we enjoyed looking at all the native artwork for sale. There were also some salmon strips and canned beluga whale for sale too. I love to see the beautiful handcrafted works of art that is so prevalent in the native community. They range from intricately woven grass baskets, to birch bark bowls, beaded slippers and jewelry, carved ivory, jade and baleen, or many other items. There were beautiful items to buy or just enjoy from one side of the building to the other.

Friday evening we enjoyed a big banquet of good food, most of which did fit with the blood type diet for most people, too, as the variety was plentiful. Hundreds of people attended the banquet but they were just a fraction of those attending the AFT convention. When the AFN comes back in two years Anchorage will have a new convention center which may be big enough to hold all the convention goers. This convention was so full that there was crowding from the conference room to the hallway and all of downstairs. But, a good time was had by all. Next year the conference will be in Fairbanks where they do have a very large convention center already. But, many who attend the convention in Anchorage don’t go to the one in Fairbanks and visa versa. Alaska is a very large state and the Indian, Eskimo, Aleut, Haida, Tglinget, and others travel quite a distance to attend one or the other conventions.

Dog sledding season is finally beginning as I saw two dog teams pulling two four-wheelers beside the road today. There isn’t enough snow on the ground for them to pull a sled as we only have maybe an inch. Those dogs looked so happy to be in tandem and going somewhere, almost anywhere, so long as they were in harness and heading out. If you want to see fun and excitement, just watch those dog teams someday. Those dogs are athletes thoroughly enjoying the excitement of participation and competition.

We had a nice and simple dinner tonight. It consisted of hamburger patties, applesauce, and my super salad and oil dressing. As it is continuing to get chillier, then I will be making more soups and stews, too. There are few things that warm us up so well and taste so good, too.

Well, this is all for tonight. Have a good one. Till next time…………………..