Trailer Wife

In the post-Revolution French Republican calendar, the autumnal equinox was "New Year's Day." I've always agreed with this notion - that the beautiful withering of fall seems like more of a beginning than some random day in the dead of winter. And it seems oddly appropriate in Fairbanks today, because we received our first (albeit wimpy) snow shower. I tried to capture it in the photo above, and if you look really closely you can see blurred flakes. It didn't stick, but the forecast calls for more of the same this week, and I am secretly (and foolishly?) looking forward to a winter white landscape.


With the snow comes a new perspective on Alaska. Up to now, the weather really hasn't been that much different from Oregon - or Scotland for that matter. And so, life didn't seem that much different. But this morning, sitting on the porch gazing sentimentally into the rainy, slushy drizzle, I suddenly felt myself to be very far north. Very far from the world as I know it. I have no idea what winter (read: darkness, boredom, unimaginable cold, isolation, weight gain, etc) will bring. In my customary way, I have become very cavalier about the whole thing. But right now I'm feeling slightly under-prepared. Out-matched. Panicky.