We had an amazing amount of snow on Thursday. Twelve inches, the most snow in a single day since 1970. Driving was treacherous, between the unplowed roads; flat light that would not allow road features to be distinguished from one another readily (think: is that the road, or the snow bank on the side, or the ditch?); falling snow; swirling snow; and sticky suck-your-tires into the ditch soft, wet snow at the road's edge. I drove up the hill to my house in first and second, every muscle in my body paying attention to my tires moving on the road. Made if safely.
This twelve inches fell after a very recent six inches, which at the time it fell was the most snow in a single day in Fairbanks in over a decade. I hear snow totals had been slightly below normal, but we caught up all at once! Twelve and six inches might not sound like a lot of snow for someone living in the humid midwest or upstate New York areas, but... It's a heck of a lot of snow in the dry climate of Fairbanks. And it WILL get a car stuck. The neighbors were all out with plows and snow blowers. I took to the driveway with my shovel, and with my dog for entertainment.
Kaia is so much my Alaskan snow baby. She snuffled in the snow, covering her face, with frost building up around her lips and on her eye lashes. She belly slid, dove, bounded, rolled. She jumped into the piles building up on either side of my shoveled drive and tunneled through. Tossed snow over her back. Snuffled again, snorted snow into her nose, coughed, and started all over again. She made shoveling a great deal of fun (I normally don't mind it anyway).
Anyone getting tired of winter should get themselves a dog that adores it. Life is better this way!
