Visions of Igloos Danced in My Head

A couple of things I learned today. 1) It appears that standard equipment in everyone's truck is a tow strap or a tow chain. 2) Don't EVER leave your cell phone on the counter when you leave the house. 3) Not ONE person in Barrow will drive by you when you're stuck in a snow drift.

How, you may ask, do I know this? Oh, just guess.

In my defense, I was distracted. You see, I saw this igloo in someone's yard. How cool is that?! It's not as though it's a common sight. And look at the construction! It's really fabulous. Then there are the colored lights that rotate onto it. So, I was thinking, "gee I'll have to get a picture and write about it on the blog' and WHAM! into a huge drift drove I. The drift was right in the middle of the plowed road and it was a biggie. The snow was plowed up to the hood of the car, though there was escape in the rear of vehicle. However, it was clear I couldn't get the car out myself. And...I had left my phone on the kitchen counter. Along came one truck. He got out and looked to see if he could attach his tow chain. Determining that wasn't a good idea, he and his wife offered to drive me home. Beauty of a small town, I just told him who I lived by and he drove me right to my house. Off Husband and I trek to the car to see what we can do. We got to the car to see about pushing it out and along come two other trucks.

Both guys have tow straps. One of the guys just went for it. He figured if we were gentle we'd be okay with hooking the strap to whatever doohickey he found under the car. Just like that, I'm out of the drift and back on my way. Thank-you to all of my fellow Barrow citizens for your help. It is true if we don't help each other we will die. It was -31 (with windchill) during this adventure, by the way. Shortly after my adventure, the plow came by to clear the road.

While I was out doing errands today I was also thinking about all of the things that appeared during this season that I wasn't really expecting. For one thing, folks here take the whole house lighting exercise VERY seriously. In fact, the day after Thanksgiving, the festivities began. It was as though a light went off (heh, heh). This is one of the best examples. Now, think about it. No matter what day they put up these lights it was mighty cold. It hasn't been above 0 in weeks. I get to drive by this house every day and since it's dark most of the time, it is always a cheerful sight.
No one turns their lights off during the day...I mean, why would you? The other big surprise to me was the city lights. This, I really wasn't expecting. You do expect it in big cities, but we are just a small village. How fun when these appeared! Sadly, the biggest disappointment is that the Post Office is still closed on Saturday. You can't even get in the lobby. It's sad because it's holding one of my packages hostage! I ordered in plenty of time, but the vendor delayed shipment and now I can't get to the package even though I know it's in there! So, we'll leave for Anchorage/Palmer tomorrow without it, but the most important things will be with me...Husband, Raven, and McKinley! And we'll get to spend time with Raven and McKinley's aunties and uncle. What more could we ask for?