Climate Change and Environmental Stewardship Study, Number 5: Bacardi in Ice, Day 5: Pelted by rain

Yes, that's right, rain. The weather has gone nuts.

This morning on Facebook, a friend posted that the temperature in Nuiqsut had risen to 32, with heavy rain and winds of 55 mph. Nuiqsut! Many of you were with me on September 15 when I boated into Nuiqsut from Cross Island with the EMN Crew in a light snow storm. The snow stuck. The temperature dropped into the 20s, then teens.

Mid-September.

Historically, one would have expected the temperature in Nuiqsur to then basically stay below freezing until mid-May, with a warm day this time of year being about -5 F and a cold day -40 or so.

I took this picture at about 4 PM. It was hard to do because the rain was splashing all over my iPhone and it was pretty dark. Now, the rain is turning to snow again. According to the forecast, Wasilla could be flirting with the zero Fahrenheit Mark in a day or two. By then, I should be in Barrow – weather permitting. 

Text added at 5:08 PM. The Squarespace nightmare continues - day 50 and counting.

Scary drive home: we watch for falling moose and bears

"It's raining cats and dogs!" So exclaimed Jobe, after we walked through the morning rain from Abby's to the Ford Escape and I strapped him into his car seat. Kalib had to do him one better. "How about it's raining moose and bears?"

It was a scary drive home - not only did we have to worry about the ice with a film of water on it that covered the road, but we had to watch real close for any moose and bears that might be falling from the clouds.

If one had struck us, it surely would have smashed the car.

Text added at 4:45 PM. (Absent minded me. I thought I had added it right after I added the text to the previous entry). The Squarespace nightmare continues - day 50 and counting.

Where Abby comes from

I have taken long time followers of my blogs to Grotto Iona many times. That's Iona, in whose memory the grotto was made by her husband Paul who stands by her side in this picture. Paul himself lives only in memory now. And that's their daughter Abby with her husband Andy, the owners and chefs of the best little home cooking restaurant in all of Wasilla: Abby's Home Cooking.

My favorite place on earth to order breakfast.

Text addeded at 11:39 AM. The Squarespace nightmare continues - day 50 and counting.

Abby's is packed – boys go to playroom

Abby's is jampacked today. All seats taken. We gave the boys some lessons in table manners - "Please pass the ketchup!" Then we turned them loose to go to the play area that Abby built just for such people as these.

Text added at 11:34 AM. The Squarespace nightmare continues - day 50 and counting.

Boys step out onto porch to see… Rain!

We slept late. The boys wanted to come to Abby's, so I opened the door and they stepped out to see… Rain! On snow… means ice on road… the slipperiest kind of ice…

Text added at 11:31 AM. The Squarespace nightmare continues - day 50 and counting.