Full Moon

The full moon looked down on the clear, cold day as I hustled around downtown, blowing on my fingers in my too-thin gloves.

I've heard people ask what keeps some of us here in Alaska, besides the more obvious and easy answers tossed out at a Lower '48 party. Well, a full moon and stars in the sky at 2:00 in the afternoon is definitely one of those reasons. Nighttime in some places is a scary and dangerous place. Here in Fairbanks, all winter long, the daytime darkness has all the night mystique without the danger of the night. People are out skiing, walking, shopping and it looks like midnight. Maybe the feeling is like staying up all night when I was a child.

I worked all day on organizing math materials for GED study. It's coming along.

I am planning to go to Anchorage next week for a Winter Education Conference. It looks like the main speaker, Mike Schmoker will be talking about "Essential Elements of Improvement". The breakout sessions are about RTI, assessment and collaborations mainly. But it also looks like I'll get to congratulate Bob Williams, the new Alaska Teacher of the Year and friend from mentoring. He's known for his wacky costumes, magic tricks, and geeky excitement about math and teaching. I'll definitely be getting his autograph.

Tomorrow I go to a Pampered Chef party. The hostess prepares and serves food from some ingenious kitchenware. No matter how resolved I am to not buy, there is always something clever. Once I bought a can opener that doesn't leave sharp edges on the can. I love it. I also bought a handheld food chopper. The items are not electric, just nice looking and easy to clean. It should be fun.

Paul's taking a class right now on retrofitting a car to make it electric. I think he has his eye on my Geo. Too bad for him. It has 175,000 miles and runs great, except for dragging all the useless plug-in cords on the ground in the front of the car. My idea of lace trim. I hope it doesn't rip out the engine as it goes. Did I mention it gets 38 mpg? Better than some hybrids.

OK, I just read that there has been a recent outbreak of salmonella. It sounds just like the "disease" from which I just recovered. Unfortunately, it's usually caused by animal feces in packaged or prepared food or undercooked meat or eggs. The symptoms last as long as 5-7 days and should be treated by drinking lots of water. I guess old people and babies might need hospitalization.

Check out Mt. Hayes and Mt. Hess over the top of ice foggy Fairbanks. These mountains ridge the Denali Hwy. about 100 miles southeast of us by Delta Junction. One time Erin and I camped in Delta Junction in July and it was 95 degrees. It was so hot we just stretched out in the tent and waited for a breeze. Hard to believe now that it is that hot ever or anywhere.