Wow! It is 41 degrees F and not even the middle of March. The weather forecast is for temperatures to remain like this for at least the next five days! The snow is rotting and melting at a rapid pace. Puddles all over the place, too. We still have about four inches of ice on our driveway with puddles of water afloat. When out and about there is a noticeable lack of winter jackets or any jackets for that matter. It feels as though we are having a very early breakup.

I’m certainly not getting my hopes up too high about an earlier than usual breakup. I’ve lived in Alaska for 41 of the past 46 years. This is most likely a teaser but whatever it is, real or imagined, it is a nice change to winter weather. It is an optimistic reminder that winter does fade away each year.

Next week we are to travel to Fairbanks where my husband will receive a very special award for his help with transitioning Alaskan Native males coming in from the villages into a prison system. He did that for 20 years before retiring 15 months ago. Fairbanks is about 550 miles from home and we will likely be driving through some really bad weather and road conditions both directions. We could take planes, but I really don’t want to go through the hassle of the airports’ infringement of my body and privacy. Boy, am I showing my age. So, I’ll drive the distance two days, each way.

I’m already planning my picnic basket of BTD foods to take along for snacks, beverages and meals. I’m finding it more and more necessary to avoid wheat and dairy. If I want to sleep without waking often due to stuffiness and severe drainage (both, although I don’t know how you can be both stuffy and draining) I must stay away from both wheat and dairy (except for butter). I’m going to need my sleep for this trip.

I wonder how many other people we know from up north that I'll be able to tell about the BTD? Well, there's Chad, Amy, Miranda,.....