I'm thankful for snow...

November 6, 2010 – Snow

I’m thankful for snow. Winter is my favorite season. The snow makes everything look fresh and new and cozy. It covers up the trash on the ground in my village. It covers up Nali’s anaq (Yupik for poop) which is nice for now, because I don’t have to clean it up, but it will be a real mess next spring when the snow melts. Sorry, I digress.

I love to ski. I love to watch Nali bound through the snow – winter is also her favorite season (and Sarah’s). I love to ride snowmobiles (called snowmachines and snogos in Alaska, depending on what region you are in). Snow makes me smile.

As a side note, since I started writing this, the fog has rolled in and the snow has begun falling in earnest. I can see the flag flying hard in the wind as I sit in my workshop in Bethel (it’s lunchtime) and pray for the weather to clear so that we can get home tonight. At this very moment, snow is not my best friend. The weather folks call it "freezing fog." Visibility is currently at 1/2 mile. It has to be 2 miles for us to go home…