Blue Spruce Flaming on the grate in the evening take the chill away fine


*Nitty Gritty Dirt Band circa 1970’s

“Rippling Waters” has been a favorite song during my lifetime as it feeds my soul of that longing for relaxation and small town living.  I’ve danced with my daughters to this music when each was a little girl and same with grandkids now.

The music has gone in and out of my consciousness over the many years but something seems to trigger its return to my brain and my well being.  “And now ripplin’ waters flows through pipes in the walls and they’re keeping me warm” which refers to the hydronic heating systems in houses here and many other places.  It is an everyday reminder in the wintertime of this song as you can hear the air bubbles in the pipes making the sounds.  It is soothing at night lying in bed as we do not have many thunderstorms here in Alaska so those sounds are comforting to many people.

We are approaching the official start of winter on the 21st when the winter solstice happens.  So far it has been a pretty rough “Fall” with many mornings dipping into the minus numbers on the thermometer which usually does not happen until late January or February.

Snow has been falling all day and the fire has been comforting as the snowflakes fall onto the railings of the deck adorned with blue/white Christmas light.  The glow makes for a nice scene as the long nights of winter sets in.  Sunset now is around 3:43 pm so nightfall comes before leaving work stretching all the way till first light around 9:45 am with sunrise just after ten o’clock in the morning.  Strange the first couple of years but it seem normal now.  Solstice will bring us about 5 and a half hour of light with sunrise about 10:30 am.

Cold, dark, and snowy . . . Many think us crazy to live here.

Ice

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