Random Stuff...

The temps have been below zero F since last week, so not much to do outside; it's even been too cold to run the dogs. Trying to get stuff done on the cabin, just finished sanding and varnishing one the interior log walls. Before it was so rough you couldn't run your hand over it without getting a splinter, now it's just a little uneven. One more wall to do and the original cabin's pretty much finished. Not bad for forty years!

After getting  a new sander, brush and some vanish, then just like that, the wall's done.

Went outside the other day to watch the lunar eclipse. They'd been making a big deal of it on the news and it was pretty cool to look at it with binoculars. Unfortunately, the door didn't latch when I went out and the cat pushed it open, then headed up the trail to the wood piles. Tried to get him back in, since it was fifteen below zero, but he ignored my calls and kept on trotting, staying just ahead of me. Finally cornered him at the farthest wood pile where the trail ends, I guess he didn't want to head off into the fresh snow even tho it's less than half a foot deep. Not exactly an arctic explorer, but he still struggled to get away, and was a handful to carry inside. Somehow I managed to twist my knee bringing him back down the trail in the dark, so now I have to deal with that. Next time I'm leaving him outside.

But the sunsets are pretty decent this time of year and you don't have to head out in the dark at midnight to see one. (Both photos by Andy)

My Name Is Earl...

Back in the "oughts", there was this TV comedy about a loser petty crook named Earl who tried to turn his life around by doing good deeds. He thought it'd  change his karma. Kind of stupid, I know, but it was funny and we watched the first few seasons before it got too stupid even for us. Well I had an issue that arose after a recent physical. When the prognosis improved, figured it was time for a change in karma. That's when I saw an ad for rehoming some sled dog pups. What's better than giving a dog a new home? So I called and found out that the pups were from a Yukon River village and were brought to town for rehoming. So I went over to the address I was given, but apparently no one was home. After waiting a bit, wandered around looking at the pups. They were all staked out on chains with their own dog houses and seemed pretty friendly. When the woman finally showed up, the first thing she said  was "did you see Earl?" I figured she meant one of the pups, so I said "sure, I've been looking them over," or words to that effect. That's when she pointed and said "no, he's over there." Then I saw someone at the far end of the dog yard, standing behind a dog hauler truck. So we went over to talk to him and I found out his name was Earl. He was the brother of a musher I'd met years ago who used to race the Yukon Quest. As we talked, he pointed out one pup and said he was out of his leader and his nephews lead dog, both proven racers. So these pups were bred from locally world famous sled dogs.

And that's how we wound up with Little Earl. When I told her the story, Andy said we just had to call him that. Now he's adjusting to life in a new dog yard, a long ways from his Yukon River home, but hopefully it'll  improve both our karma.

Whether the Weather...

Haven't blogged too much about the weather lately, the last one was Spring Has Sprung 4-22-21, so here are the latest summaries from the NWS...

Month Ave. Temp. Dep. High Low Precip. Dep. Apr 26.6 -5.9 65 -29 1.35 1.04 May 51.9 1.6 73 30 0.36 -0.18 Jun 63.1 2.1 84 45 1.06 -0.42 Jul 64.8 1.9 88 45 2.19 -0.08 Aug 56.8 -0.2 89 36 3.67 1.57 Sep 44.1 -1.7 75 17 0.37 -0.98 Oct 30.8 4.6 48 15 1.31 0.55 Average 0.3 0.2

Interesting that the extreme range of temperatures, from near thirty below to almost ninety above, occur during what are the more temperate months of the year. 

There's not a lot of differences, if you're just looking at the departures from average for the last few months. Is global warming a hoax? I suspect not, but when you're looking at a short periods of time, well your guess is as good as mine. Here's a pic of the wood cutting yard on Halloween with just a few inches of snow. You'd expect to see more snow at the end of Oct, most years, so go figure!