By Holly A. Bell
It’s spring break in Alaska.
It’s hard to tell as it was 10 below zero Tuesday morning and there are still a couple of feet of snow in the yard with more on the way. While the Lower 48 had one of their warmest and driest winters on record we had one of the coldest and snowiest. In fact, we’re only a few inches away from the all time record snowfall in Palmer, while other areas have already blown through their records. Perhaps we should take our cue from Clint Eastwood and simply call it “half-time” at the University rather than spring break. That’s really what it is anyway isn’t it? We’re halfway through the semester, but I don’t know how we account for being three-quarters of the way through the academic year. Perhaps just “break” would be more appropriate, we all need one.
My husband is celebrating break by snow machining from a remote cabin with some friends. As a Doctoral student I can’t afford to be away from the Internet long enough to go with him. He did just call though to let me know the search plane flying around is not looking for them. This was good to know, especially since I was watching the news at the time. However, while you can’t get to this cabin by road, I do question how remote it is if he has cell service. I’m starting to wonder if they’re watching a big screen TV from a hot tub laughing about how they got the women to stay home. It’s OK I can take it.
As for me, I can’t figure out why I haven’t accomplished any of the things I expected to accomplish over the break. I’m blaming my broken dishwasher. While we wait for parts I’m forced to wash dishes by hand and I feel like it has consumed me. Not only do I have to wash and dry all the dishes, I have to stand watch over the kitchen to make sure my husband doesn’t dirty any. That’s a lot of work. Plus, I have to spend a lot of time on creative low-dish cooking. I could write a book on that subject by now. Perhaps I should adopt my husband’s strategy when it’s his day to do the dishes: We eat out. Yes, perhaps he is somewhat brighter than me.
The most exciting thing going on over spring break in Alaska is the end of the Iditarod. For those of you not familiar, it is a dogsled race of more than a thousand miles from Willow to Nome. This would not be MY idea of a good time, but they seem to get plenty of people to show up every year to participate. I’m sure the northern lights were spectacular out on the trail, but that still isn’t enough motivation for me, even though I do like dogs. Instead I’ve been taking a few days off trying to get some things done. I’ve started a lot of projects, but can’t seem to finish any of them. On that note, I think I’ll
I can tell you from experience that time goes faster the older you get. I know first hand that you had a birthday recently, what are you, like nine now? Oops, I forgot, I shouldn’t ask a woman her age. But that could explain why you don’t seem to get as much done.