More snow tales

Yes, we're having our fourth straight day of snow falling. It's mostly light today, but there was an hour or so when it got a little heavier. Things are starting to warm up a bit as the snow on the primary streets are turning into slush. But elsewhere there is dusting of snow on top of hard-pack snow and ice. This makes for more challenging driving and walking, as you might imagine.

I walked over to the minister's coffee this morning. It's about a mile or so, and it was mostly okay. The only challenging part was that right before getting to downtown from where we live, there is a small hill. Walking up wasn't a problem. Walking down, however, required some careful, cautious steps so as not to take a huge slip and go down hard on my rear end. The sidewalk had been plowed, but what was left had turned into ice and there was a thin layer of snow. This afternoon I found one pair of YakTrax that I have, so if this cold continues into tomorrow I'll be using that to get a bit more traction.

Last night, Shelley went to a WyldLife sledding event. There is a gentle sledding here behind the airport, and when it snows that is where the kids -- and kids at heart -- gather to slide down. We're used to the Cascades kind of hills and slopes -- steep and fast. But around here there are none to be found that would be safe for sledding. Any steep slopes are still quite covered with trees.

Shelley got to know a few of the kids in town, and had fun there last night. We've gotten acquainted with another homeschooling family who attends the Baptist church. From what we heard, they were discouraged by their pastor from having their kids participate in the YoungLife and WyldLife events because the kids might pick up incorrect theology. Although I can understand his concern, where there is a threat I also see opportunity. First of all, kids want to have fun, and in a small, isolated town like this, we need to take advantage of every opportunity to do something different and enjoyable. Secondly, the mission of the groups isn't to convert kids from one denomination to another. It's to bring in kids that would otherwise not be exposed to Jesus. It's a way for our kids to be missionaries, too.

Elise has now completed 10 of 14 units in the RN Refresher course. She is currently running around trying to arrange everything necessary to start her clinical portion of the course. In Alaska, no training license is necessary -- each hospital can use its own criteria to determine who gets admitted into clinicals. So there is slightly less paperwork and waiting than she had originally expected. The hospital operates on 12-hour shifts, so the clinical portion will take about 7 days.

A couple of the churches are planning Thanksgiving events and services, so we will be joining them for that. Unlike larger cities with large churches, there is a lot more of churches working together and spreading out big events so no one church ends up having to do everything.

This evening, we are getting together with one of the member couples, the wife who is celebrating her 80th birthday, for some pizza.