I've been busy writing a grant the past couple of weeks - that Improving Literacy through School Libraries and really have done nothing else! We had another blizzard last week - this time the winds were whipping up the snow so bad it stung our faces. You have to keep every inch of skin covered. I bought a beaver hat from Carmen. She made it herself. I just love it because it is so cozy and warm.

Hmm, the snow is really interesting. The lake now is quite shiny - since the winds have blown the snow off. So it looks like water in places and then piles of snow elsewhere - except it is all frozen solid. Around our housing you have really slick iced places where the snow has been blown away and then there are these huge mounds of snow taller than we are. Every time we have high winds the whole landscape changes. At first we had to traverse a narrow ledge of snow to pass over one area - now that narrow edge had turned into a high flat road - as we have more high winds.
We are having some second thoughts about a snow machine - they are always breaking down. Any day you can walk outside and there's folks working on their snow machine or getting someone to work on them.I really don't think Tom wants to do that -not when we can easily walk -and the 4-wheeler works in the flattened snow just fine. You can't drive it too well is fresh snow though.

The dogs continue to love the snow. Right now we are keeping Libby - an eleven year old Black Lab. She is really old and decrepid compared to Roxie. Roxie contiues to be jealous - although the extent of her jealousy seems to be just being between us and Libby at all times. Tom is reading dog poetry. The cold weather doesn't seen to challenge Roxie at all- just poor Tom. Oh, Tom made some snow steps for us - just like steps but made of snow. We are rather lucky because we are right on the lake - the folks behind us, the whole row of housing, have to dig tunnels to their doorsteps because the snow is so high.

I signed my contract so I guess we are coming back. I am really looking forward to traveling around Alaska this summer.

Not much to tell, so I won't go on.