I guess it's spring-ish?

On Sunday, M came over to ski, and then we went to the Nenana Tripod Festival. The (four-legged?!?) tripod is put out onto the river ice, and tickets are sold to people who would like to guess the minute that the ice goes out each spring. It's Alaska's only legal lottery, and the jackpot is usually on the order of $300,000. Usually there are about 6 winners. Hmmm, $50,000, then the IRS takes a cut, and you have... not even enough to pay the balance of my mortgage! But I wouldn't complain if I won. :) It was windy on the river that day, so we didn't stick around for the full tripod raising. However, I have photos from past years here and here for your viewing pleasure.

Again, we caught the limbo contest:


St. Mark's Episcopal:


A gray, overcast day:


Only 3 lonely workers were out cutting the channel in the ice and assembling the tripod.






The ice is so clear!


The snow on the river was windblown:


When we got home, M's dog, Naya, had been waiting peacefully with my girls. For some reason, even though they hardly know each other, we could tell immediately that leaving them unattended would be no problem:


I always thought that Autumn was a very mellow, rather passive dog, but now that I've gotten to know so many others, I see that she actually has an edge to her that is unique among dogs who are as sweet on the surface as she is. Linden has it too, but Starbuck... not so much!

Look! It's the Amazing Boneless Dog!