Notes from here and there

1. Happy Equinox! From here until Fall, we Northerners will have longer days than anyone else!

2. It looks like we are having an early Spring. The streets of Fairbanks look just like breakup time--streets are wet with slush, and piles of filthy, black snow line the sides of the roads where they have been plowed. The snow is sliding off my roof and crashing to the ground.

3. I haven't made up my mind about whether I prefer splitting wood in warm weather or cold. It's nice to be out in a T-shirt and no hat and not have the safety goggles frosting up. But on the other hand, splitting unfrozen wood is a lot like work!

4. Warm weather means eating less. I'm not sure whether I've mentioned this, but in Winter, I eat truly terrifying amounts of food and crave protein and fat. Sili valley friends reading this will probably shrug and say, "Arvay eats a lot? This is news?" But I mean, I eat items and quantities that I would never touch in California, where I was almost a vegetarian. In Fairbanks Winters, I eat at each meal until I cannot possibly fit more food down my gullet. Then two hours later, I'm eating again, likely a not insubstantial snack. Like a PBJ or a chunk of cheese. On weekends, I sometimes eat two lunches, one a BLT and later a half pound cheeseburger. If I fry an egg or two to put on my noodles, after I place the eggs on the noodles, I pour the cooking oil on top as well. Once, after I had friends over for pancakes, there was still melted butter left in the dish. I stared at it wolfishly for two seconds, then took out two slices of bread and sopped up the butter and ate those, too. I don't trim the fat off my meat. I eat ALL of the fried potatoes a restaurant gives me. I eat peanut butter by the spoonful. I am not a person who eats like this by nature, but in the cold, we all turn into ravenous, slavering beasts. And I'll confess, it makes me feel... happy! I love to eat, and this is one of the upsides of Winter in Fairbanks!

5. So per DJC's request but for the edification of all, I took the camera skijoring with me today. I let the girls run loose while I skied under my own power for a few miles, then hooked up to them. I needed them to be tired so they'd go slowly enough so that I could operate a camera while moving. My girls obey only three commands reliably--gee (right), haw (left), and whoa (slow down or stop). There is no speed control. And there's no command for "go." Silence equals consent. Oh wait; they do know one other--"on by." They are very good at "on by." It means, "ignore the moose/bird/person/dog/rabbit and keep going." They indeed zip right past and don't even look!

Here is a clip of a good, straight run where there are no bends in the trail for me to drop the camera on. This is also a pace I am comfortable with. No uncontrolled acceleration problems. :)


Here is where I attempted another straight run, realizing only somewhat belatedly that this is the turnoff for the trail home. I must have you know, though, that I did not fall down; I just dropped the camera. I'm getting better and better at remaining on my feet these days. :)



And finally, here we are making the turnoff to the spur that takes us right to our property line. This time when I dropped you guys, I just let you dangle from my wrist for a few seconds. :) But I had to cut you off entirely after that because it is a bumpy, turny-twisty trail, and I needed to use both poles to navigate!



Now here are some stills.

Happy, happy! Joy, joy!


Sunny ridgetop:


A trail lined with aspen. I'd dearly love to see this in the Fall, but I suspect this trail is inaccessible due to mud.


lolskijor:


And afterwards, we cuddle:


Cuddle wuddle:


And sprawl in sunbeams: