We have been getting little snowfalls on and off for about the last week. They do not generally last out the day. Last night, I was up at about one a.m. for the usual pushing-sixty reasons, and I noticed that it was extremely foggy outside. The fog was actually thick snow, and this time it stuck. We shall see how long it lasts today, but there was some speculation between my wife and I about how long it will take before the first snowmachine makes its appearance. The daylight is shrinking by the day, and soon the darkness will be the predominant theme of the day. Of course, for those that know this area, the darkness will never rule completely here. At the winter solstice, there will still be about five hours of daylight. We do not have the long spell of complete darkness that characterizes places like Barrow. It also makes it easier to sleep in on the weekends.
Friends from back home often ask us how we tolerate the darkness. I find the long hours of daylight that come with spring more of a challenge to deal with on the whole.
I am sitting here listening to a Yup'ik lesson being run during my prep period. It is focused on the qasgiq, or men's house, where all of the men in the villages used to live in the old days. I have a student that just showed up after a long absence. The year flows on...
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