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An ‘ol timer said so! I met a man in the Doctor’s office yesterday, he must have been 97 years old. He said that he’s sure spring is here. He said here in the Matansuka Valley you can count 5 warm/cold cycles every year. This is the 5th this year, so he knows it’s the real thing! The 8 inches of snow and the 2 degree weather we enjoyed - ugh- in the middle of February was the last for this year! The phone number here in the valley for time and temp is 844. This morning’s report - Imagine the “recorded” voice saying:
“Good Morning, Today is Thursday March 18 – Matanuska telephone time is 5:56am. The current temperature is 25 degrees. Now Palmer’s only official forecast. Partly sunny today, highs in the mid 30′s to the lower 40′s. Mostly cloudy tonight, chance of snow after midnight, lows in the 20′s. Mostly cloudy on Friday, a chance of rain or snow, highs around 40.
We’ll have 12 hours and 3 minutes of daylight.
Thanks for calling the weather phone, another service of Matanuska Telephone Association.”
5 years ago, we did get a surprise. On May 5, as soon as I had gotten the kids snow gear all packed up and put away for the summer, we got over a foot of snow! The kids were in elementary school so we had to get them all back out again! I’ll trust what the ‘ol timer said for this year!!
It’s time to put away the snow gear!
You might be an Alaskan if:
1. A snowmachine is something you ride, not something that makes snow.
2. You don’t understand what’s so exciting about seeing a moose wandering through the middle of town.
3. Texas seems awfully small and crowded.
4. You need an air conditioner when the temperature soars into the 60′s.
5. You cannot imagine life without duct tape. (they say we are the duct tape capital of the united states! Duct tape is used for everything up here! If a jacket has a rip in it, duct tape. If the car has a broken bumper, duct tape. Fix anything: eye glasses, tools, gardening equipment, building supplies, shoes, all with duct tape. The high school kids have theme days to dress up for fun during homecoming week: school colors- blue & white day, 50′s day, Harley Davis day, Hawaiian day and Duct tape and tarp day (the kids literally create outfits out of tarps and duct tape!) It was a crack up when Wal-Mart ran out of duct tape one time (people were jokingly saying it was a state emergency!)
Darlene Davis (57)
Toni King (28)
Peter Fuller MBA (25)
Belinda Cunningham (18)
Val Wilcox (16)
March 18th, 2010 at 7:02 pm
Linda,
Duct tape? Don’t think there’s even one roll in the garage. Thanks for explaining it though. It must have something to do with your cold weather?
Alaskan weather remains an enigma to Southern Californians. Don’t you have long periods of time without any sunshine?
It would be a kick to see a moose walking down the street …
Darlene Davis´s last blog ..Passion For Music – Part I
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Linda Grace Reply:
March 19th, 2010 at 4:00 pm
Funny you should say that! My husband and I were driving home from Anchorage, Friday 19th 11:30am. We were on the frontage road, getting ready to get on the highway and there was a moose jogging down the street with us! Poor thing! Cool for us to see, but reminds me of the cartoon “Over the Hedge.”
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April 1st, 2010 at 7:00 pm
Hi Linda
Brrr!! I’m glad we don’t get snow like that in the part of Australia where I live!
I say that, however, many years ago when I was in primary school, it snowed so much that the few of us that were on the school bus, got off the bus (with the permission of the driver and later, the teachers and our parents!), and we stayed the entire day on a friend’s property where we played in the snow, rode on toboggans and got frost bitten fingers! lol
With regard to the duct tape … that’s so funny! I’ll have to tell Mum about it. She uses it for lots of things too. I think she gets that from her father, my beloved “Gongy†(that’s what I called him when I was little and the name stuck).
Gongy could fix anything and he tended to use duct tape or baling twine to hold many things together! He’s gone now and I miss him terribly, but I have a lifetime of wonderful memories of him, including many of his little “inventionsâ€, gadgets and “fixeruperer†jobs.
~ Kylie ~
Kylie Doak´s last blog ..Have You Made Your List of Dreams Yet?
[Reply]
Linda Grace Reply:
April 1st, 2010 at 9:06 pm
I thank you Kylie! It’s fun to hear about your life! I can imagine the joy of the children getting off the bus and playing in the snow!
And the duct tape – funny that you can relate! Gongy sounds like a treasure!
I really enjoy hearing about your life!
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