In the Lower 48 today is Groundhog Day, but up here in Alaska it’s Marmot‘s Day. We like winter – nothing beats some nice snow and crisp temps so we can get out on the snow shoes or cross-country skis, or up on the logging roads on snowmobiles, or on the slough with ice skates if we get a long enough cold snap. Did the Marmot see his shadow today? I’m not sure – there aren’t that many hours of daylight to make a shadow. But as long as there’s some snow and sunshine, it’s okay if he did see his shadow.

We FINALLY (pronounced with great drama) got some snow and a couple of cold clear days – proper winter weather! So far, most of this winter has been ceaseless rain and moderate temps – useless for getting outside to play. But when the snow flies and the sun shines…

…it can be magical. Fortunately the temps dipped down below 20F, so hoar frost started to form. The kettle ponds that dot the muskeg (Alaskan word for bog) freeze over so there’s no danger of falling in, and the frost makes beautiful patterns.

The views from the top of the hill above town were spectacular – I could see the water of Wrangell Narrows as well as Frederick Sound and the Coastal Mountains. Our red church spire was all that rose above the trees around town.

As much as the wide view was grand, the hoar frost kept distracting me. I tromped around the muskeg on snow shoes most of the afternoon, captivated by millions of glittering crystals.

In the photo just above, you can really see the angular shape of the crystals. This is just 24 hours’ of formation – if we get temps that persist in the 20s or below, those crystals would continue to grow. Sadly, the temps warmed up a bit and the hoar frost was a fleeting gift. But still… the panorama was lovely, and you can see the tracks where someone headed off towards the NW on skis.

January has been a difficult month, with too much sad news from family and friends. Jim’s Dad passed away at 96, living life to the absolute fullest. And we know too many people who are battling serious illnesses at ages too young to comprehend. It teaches us to savor every day, every smile, each thing of beauty. And so we do, because sometimes it’s all we can do.

Each day the light disappears behind the mountains, but we know with certainty that it will return again tomorrow.

The “dark days” have been upon us for a while now, though the promise of the approaching Solstice gives us hope, as it marks the date when the days will start getting longer once again. Today we’ll have less than 7 hours of daylight.

Every day the tide ebbs and floods – some days it’s a smaller change and sometimes it’s a huge change (depending on the moon), but we know that when the water leaves it’s only for a while – it always returns… and so does the light.

We’ve had a lot of “darkness” these days – Covid of course, the election, inflamed racial tensions (although recent events are helping to shine a light on what has been going on for far too long – that gives me hope), etc. Locally, Southeast Alaska has had epic rain storms for the past couple of weeks – feet of rain, not just inches. Petersburg had over 8″ one day and over 5″ another day – it has been pouring rain for quite a while. Landslides are now a significant danger all around southeast Alaska, with several communities impacted – none as badly as Haines, about 130 miles north of us. Two people are still missing after a massive landslide obliterated their home early one morning. The road out to a number of houses was severely damaged, along with the water and sewer lines. 50 families have been evacuated to hotels and shelters in case of further slides. When the big slide first occurred, people stood on the shore in the dark, freezing temps and howling rain storm and shined a flashlight to signal for help. Others jumped in their boats and patrolled the shoreline in those bad conditions, watching for a flashlight beam. I love to see the way a community comes together in times of difficulty – it’s a beautiful thing in the midst of horrible things.

So this time of the year we think a lot about light – savoring its beauty when we have it, and creating as much of our own when we don’t. This year the town’s Christmas tree is better than ever, with extra lights installed by our power line crew.

Christmas is a big deal in Petersburg, and although the town is making some concessions to Covid, nothing can keep us from finding ways to celebrate. The annual town tree lighting was a more subdued event this year, with no parade and two “showings” of the tree lighting. The organizers added a little skit with some familiar characters, and Santa’s arrival by fire truck to make things a little more fun for the young folks.

Masks and family groups keeping some distance from others, plus fancy lighted batons and lighted balloons made the annual event fun and special despite the safety restrictions.

We’re all about the light around town. Holiday lights go up early (some even before Thanksgiving), and they stay around well into January. People like it, and no one thinks that’s tacky. Timers are set to turn on the outside lights on homes and businesses in the morning as well as the afternoon, since the sun isn’t up until around 8:30am, and it’s long gone by 4pm. We put lights up for ourselves and for our community. We all try to bring some light for each other in these dark days – one way or another.

We just heard on KFSK (“fish head radio”) that the annual Community Holiday Concert will happen this year, though the performers will be isolated and it will be presented by live-stream only. We’re all missing the festive band concerts and dance recital, and who knows how Julebukking will happen, but we know creative minds will come up with something to celebrate the holidays as best (and as safely) as we can.

We wish you Peace, Health, and Joy this holiday season, and hope that we all continue to shine a light in the darkness.

We’re down to 8 hours of daylight, still disappearing at a rate of more than 4 minutes per day. The good news is that we don’t have to get up early to see the sun rise; the bad news is that we have to fight the urge to fix dinner at 3:30 in the afternoon once the sun sets.

Mornings can be so beautiful – the pre-dawn light is pastel pink…

… and when the sun rises above the Coastal Mountains, the early light kisses the snow-capped mountains.

Here’s a short time lapse video to show you what it looks like with a 20′ tide and the shallow arc of the winter sun.

We’ve had snow already, though it hasn’t accumulated or lasted just yet. One sunny afternoon last week we took a drive Out The Road, and saw some of the creeks starting to freeze over.

The edges of the ice show how the crystals form, delicate fingers reaching and branching into the still water.

The days are cold now, but it’s still too early for the bears to den up for the winter. The bears are restless since they didn’t get enough to eat this summer. Recent years of drought caused poor salmon spawning, and fewer mature fish to return to the streams this year. We also had a very cold, wet summer (which made up for the droughts), resulting in a poor berry crop… which all adds up to hungry bears.

In the 7 years we’ve been up here, this is the first year we’ve had problems with bears in town. Lots of problems! They’ve been up on the decks of people’s houses, cubs climb into trash cans – in fact, the worst part of the problem is that sows are teaching their cubs to look for food around humans. We can’t un-teach that lesson to those cubs, so they will keep returning to human areas in search of food.

Fish & Game will try to trap and re-locate problem bears to the other end of the island (35 miles away), but that’s no guarantee that the bears won’t find their way back to town. It’s a sad situation. Last week a cub got down on the dock! The poor thing was so scared, running from the Fish & Game officer trying to net it with no mom in sight. Another only-in-Alaska type of story is yesterday’s local news item – an Alaska Airlines 737 struck and killed a brown bear on the runway in the small town of Yakutat.

So that’s the story here. We’re hunkered down, wearing masks when we need to go to the store or post office, and keeping busy. Stay safe out there, and have a very Happy Thanksgiving.

Vote.