Blow Me Down!!!

According to the elders, the fall season is full upon us.  There are lots of puddles up here, lake sized puddles, because the ground is too frozen for the water to absorb very far into the ground after it rains.  We are beginning to see that these puddles are frozen over in the mornings.  Twice last week we had to scrape a thick layer of frost off the van before we could drive it.  The water levels in the ocean are rising.  As per my previous posting a while back, the Arctic Ocean was nipping at the road, but the waters receded.  We began last week with wonderful temperatures....above 10C and the kids were all dying to get outside to play.  It was beautiful!  The ocean receded 40-50 feet back from the road.  You could walk out on the sand amongst the driftwood.  Now, however, the water is making its way back to shore again.  This morning the waters of the Arctic were slate grey, and looked foreboding and frigid.   I can stand the cold, the frost, the look of the ocean, and the frozen over puddles.  What I can't stand, however, is the wind.

The wind is blowing constantly here.  You can always see waves on the lake, which is across the road from the Arctic Ocean.  Incidentally, the lake is a freshwater one about 20 feet from the other side of the road, which houses the Arctic Ocean.  Anyway, you can always see the flags blowing at top speed at the Northern store, and there is a pick up truck flying half a German flag which is always blowing in the wind.  In the nice weather, the wind is gentle, but constant.  That is why it doesn't get too hot up here during the summer.  During the fall, however, the wind picks up speed and blows with a ferocity that exceeds fierce!  Sometimes it is so strong the house shakes, and clouds coming off the ocean are literally navy blue.  It is wild and crazy!  When you go out in this wind, it takes your breath away, and walking into the wind takes more stamina than a small child or elder would have anywhere else in the world.  Up here, on the other hand, the locals walk in it like experts.  You can tell who is a local up here and who is not by how they are walking in the wind!  All of us are wearing our winter jackets now, or what are now being referred to as our fall jackets, because we will be outfitted in goose down parkas in order to survive the winter, and we are wearing hats and mittens or gloves if we have to be out for any length of time.  The locals, however, are still wearing windbreakers and hoodies.  They laugh at our gloves and our pulled up hoods on our coats. This makes me think we will come home at Christmas and put on our shorts!

The wind permeates everything.  The school is freezing cold, even with all the warm (well, not so warm) bodies in it, and those kids who don't have indoor shoes are complaining about their feet being cold.  We even had a fire drill at school today, and the kids had to walk about 5 minutes from the school to the youth hall, which is our gathering place.  Since it was a fire drill, we were not allowed to stop to put coats on.  Talk about cold!?  The wind was blowing right through my sweater, and smaller children were crying and shivering in the wind. We are having trouble keeping our house at a comfortable temperature, even with a wood fire.  We are wandering around in double layer socks and wool sweaters (thanks Gramma Wilson!) and when we have to get dressed we moan, anticipating the cold making parts of us tingle that shouldn't be tingling!  Apparently, the wind will die down come winter time when the temperatures plummet,  and then we'll all be able to keep our houses warm and cozy.....until a blizzard blows in!!

In the meantime, I implore you, "Send us hot chocolate, NOW!!!!"