It snowed again last night, covering everything in about two inches of white. It's beautiful but no problem driving, and the snow plow doesn't even come out. By noon, the temperature was up over 40, and maybe there was some rain, because virtually all of the snow had disappeared.
Monday night was a Tribal Transportation Committee meeting, and the department director and I got the tentative go-ahead on several projects. Last night was the full Tribal Council meeting, and we got the final approval. One project is for me to attend a three-day conference on cultural tourism in Sitka, March 25 through the 28th. I'm pretty excited, as this will be a great opportunity to learn more, from other existing such programs, from governmental agency reps about funding opportunities, and to go on several Sitka Heritage tours. The added benefit is time off this island, which I'm overdue for, and can hardly wait for this change of scenery.
Ironically, Kathy's time in Sitka has been extended: she will be coming home the 22nd, and I fly out the afternoon of the 25th. Her stay is the longest we have been apart since she took her Mom on a cruise to (can you guess?) the Inside Passage, where they actually visited Sitka! Funny how things work out.
Yesterday was a Happy Feet Day for me. The weather was good enough that I actually wore regular shoes, instead of my hiking boots, which I'm force to wear because of rain or snow most of the time. It was so nice to have comfortably loose and flexible shoes instead of the stiff and tighter boots. We need more days like that.
You may have seen we've had 24" of rain through February. That's more than double the yearly average for San Diego, and it's our total for just two months. Talk about a drastically different environment. I'm surprised that I'm not bothered by the much colder climate. I would much rather be hot than cold. I would wear shorts and flipflops everywhere, if I could. And yet, it's not so bad, as long as I've got my big coat, a hat, and sometimes gloves. It is a pain to remember that the car needs work on real cold mornings: the windows have to be scrapped, and the wipers pulled free. I guess the rubber actually freezes to the windshield. We don't need to go without wipers again, and pay for another motor.
Quinlan and I went for a long walk on Sunday, down to the main road, along it past SEARHC, over the Klawock River Bridge, back on the main road, west onto Bayview and down along the harbor, past KCA where I work, to the end of the peninsula and the ball park where the Canada Geese are almost always found grassing on the grass, around to Anchorage Street, and back to the main road. Along the way i took good video, with narration, of different parts of the city. They all turned out really well, except when I went to upload them I found they were over 300 mgs, and would take about four hours to upload! What?! Yesterday I went to the Craig Library, where they have a T-1 line, and it was still going to take one hour, for a five-minute video! I've got four of them! So, still working on a solution. I really want to get these videos uploaded to show off the city in a whole new way, much better than stills.
We found a cool set of tracks in the snow this morning, right outside the office. It was nice snow, so showed off the tracks very well. My best guess was mink or some kind of weasel.
Another one bites the dust: one of the most active members of the Serra Mesa Community has received an offer he can't refuse to go to work for Boeing Commercial Airplane in Seattle, and so is getting his house, etc., in order to make the move. He was a real asset to the community, and they will really miss him.
Fun reading. Thanks, Doug.
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