There have been many years in the past when there was little need to crank up the wood stove on April mornings. Coffee came first — then maybe one could poke the coals in the stove to life and add a bit of fuel. Hmmm … 16 below zero this April 7 morning on Donnelly Flats. Not complaining, just sayin’. Winter is hanging on in 2023.
Birds? The buntings were more than a week late. Those little dudes are always in a rush. The males need to get up north to hold nest locations for the girls to follow. Geese? Oh boy, did I miss a chance to bet! Fairbanks has a guessing game where folks bet the day and hour of the first official goose landing at Creamer’s Field. Too late to put in a guess now, but after seeing the late arrival of the buntings, I was thinking the 14th.
The trumpeter swans always show at Parson on the 6th or 7th. They will freeze in this spring. The forecast is for a high of 14 above on Saturday for the Interior regions close to the Alaska Range. Our snow is still powder. There isn’t enough base to hold a snowmachine out of the willows. The only indication of spring is the chronic unexplained leak over my kitchen sink.
Fairbanks has recorded below zero lows only a few times in the past 60 years. The record low set in 1986 was 24 below. Cold. How quickly we forget; it was 21 below on April 7 in 2021. But, but, but — there wasn’t four feet of snow in my reindeer pen. We hatched baby chicks the last week in March thinking we’d get them out of the garage and outside by mid-April. They will be full-grown this year before they are even out of the house.
The gulls are in Anchorage; that is definitely one sign of warmer weather to come. The robins, which are usually at least thinking of showing up, are likely quite a ways south yet, just waiting. Juncos and white-crowned sparrows are also going to have to wait until some grass seeds start to melt out. The early birds will be looking for feeders on the front porch.
The Kobe 440 sled dog race kicked off April 6 in Kotzebue. The Kobuk is the last distance race of the season. Kotzebue is not normally a cold place. The snow hangs on for sure and it rarely gets real warm, but on this April morning, temperatures in minus 20s and 30s will greet the competitors. In the late ’80s I went to Kotz for the Kobuk with a pair of light Steger mukluks, so I could run. Oh yeah, I ran. It was 30 below on the river up by Ambler. Unusual that year also.
Cold still, lots of snow; seems unusual, but really it is just another Alaska spring. Grin and bear it? No, smile and enjoy. It is easier to take cold temps this time of the year because we all know that it will be decent by noon. And still light until after 9 p.m. True, the snowblower will have to make another trip down the driveway, but I can at least lose the facemask. The sled dogs can run today without overheating. The snowmachine might get stuck in powder, but snow doesn’t stick to snowshoes.
There are good things to be thankful for on this Good Friday. The sun is up and the thermometer is climbing. Remember — today is yours to do with what you will; it is “your own special cup to fill.”