djm

Yeh, age has sort of done that to me, too. I used to love that -40F, it was so "cool" (haha). Nowadays it's more like -20 to -30F, as long as I have my 7-9 layers, hand and toe warmers, etc. I still think it's magic going out for run/walk at maybe -10F. :)

And the beauty of it is that it's going to keep getting darker for another four weeks :) :) This is the best time of year! :)

“When someone is properly grounded in life, they shouldn’t have to look outside themselves for approval.” - Epictetus, Discourses 1.21.1

Our Alaska wisdom is that you just need to make sure you're out there with someone who runs slower than you. Good luck!

And, considering you can't really go fishing without beer, that would need to be covered, too!

I know the feeling. "How hard can it be?" And yeh, if you don't mind it looking like crap, it's easy. But the look in the wife's face after seeing it...

That's a great turnaround! It's hard to do, I know. And so happy for you and Gunther. I've enjoyed your posts and fully understand how he can be one of the best lifetime companions. My dogs, especially Kenai, were by far some of the biggest influences in my life.

Congrats on that weight drop. It's a big deal. I bet you're able to roam the world much more easily with Herr Günther!

I've spent the last few years hovering just above and below that 25 BMI "border" case. I do feel a big difference in hill running (and stair climb) 3-4 lbs above or below.

My Reeses used to do this in the travel trailer. He was in his last months, how could I possibly say no!!

I loved them until last winter when I hung a chickadee feeder under the deck, and one squirrel was SO good at getting to it, then depleting it. I had to put in a lot of work in subzero temps (with old fart hands) to finally squirrel proof it!

Your experience shows! Using gloves!

I miss the peace of SoFo Heights, but I'm extremely glad not to be worrying about being first in line for SW flow dumping its first load on us.

This is one of the best Special Weather Statements I've seen. Does an excellent job of indicating the confidence and potential problem areas in the forecast. It's great CYA for NWS, and it's a great help to the users of the forecast. It's really the best we could hope for. @alaskawx.bsky.social

And, of course, it's even worse in "snow challenged" areas, and even worse than that if it's raining in "snow challenged" areas. Just can't see squat through a vehicle windshield under those conditions. Age makes it even worse! :)

As someone who runs many, many miles in the dark, I find that when I'm out "in it" I often feel like there's a fair amount of visibility and illumination, but when I'm in a vehicle under same conditions the visibility is much worse. Many pedestrians don't seem to realize (or care) this.

Yeh, things get a little backwards around here when you have to worry about food thawing in the winter time.

It was a strange paradox of beautiful spring weather, and glare ice roads.

What I remember was the dewpoints rose with the temperatures, and so those roads, still sitting at subzero temperatures were more than happy to suck some of that moisture out of the air and freeze it for long term storage. Some of the most treacherous driving I've seen here.

And a week or two later it was almost 100F warmer.

YouTube video by The Full Series Channel Naked Science | The Rocky Mountains Were Once Underwater, Here’s What Happened

Wow, I've watched a lot of geology documentaries, but this one has some wonderful animations on the evolution of the Rocky Mountains, and help to understand so much of the detail you see when you roam those parts. Highly recommend if you're interested -- youtube.com/watch?v=TGnDsZwAtRY

Is that picture with the sun from the Chapman parking lot? I remember in the mid 90's - early Internet - Mitch Roth used to have a webcam pointed out that way, before they were really a "thing," and I always loved seeing Live Alaska from down in America.

And then an hour later you get to drive through dusk!! I always loved that you could go out for a long lunch around sunrise, and get back to work for sunset.

That was a wonderful movie, loved it!

Yeh, that kind of sounded like the best part to me!

Hadn't thought about that angle. I suppose in certain contexts it's a scene from those dystopian scifi movies of the 1970s!

‘Are they going to eat me alive?’: trail runners become prey in newest form of hunting Nervous reporter is chased across English countryside by baying bloodhounds, in what could soon be only legal way to hunt with dogs

This really cracked me up. With the ban of fox hunting in England/Wales, people have adapted so that they're now chasing after volunteer human prey! It's actually a pretty creative idea. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

That sounds a bit "glass half empty" coming from you. Shouldn't it be more like "darkness gained?" :)

Splash screen for the post: October 2025 Arctic and Alaska Climate Summary:Arctic has the warmest October on record.

Last month was the mildest October on record for the Arctic, with the North American Arctic especially warm. Details in the latest from the Alaska and Arctic Climate newsletter. #akwx #Arctic #Canada #Climate #Autumn2025 @climatologist49.bsky.social

alaskaclimate.substack.com/p/october-20...

I'm still rooting for subzero before it starts going back up, but I'm not very optimistic.

Was just looking at one of my all-time favorite videos. Up at Eagle Summit (north of Fairbanks) in 2014 with my canine soulmate, Kenai, just doing "the life thang." #Alaskasky