Nome sweet Nome

I got to play with a 1 week old puppy!

While I’m beginning to notice the steadily increasing daylight (it’s still dark until nearly noon, but it stays light until after 5pm now), Nome continues to face the unceasingly bitter cold.  Our “heat wave” was short lived, as temperatures have plummeted to below thirty or colder once again.  Out of the month's 31 days, only 2 days saw temperatures above average.  It has been the coldest January since the beginning of record keeping 106 years ago, with a daily average of -16.6 degrees; 22 degrees below normal.  We also saw our first -40 degree temperature in January in 13 years.  Our average high for the month was -8 degrees.  The icepack formed on the Bering Sea is 1/3 larger than is typical for this time of year, and is roughly the size of Texas.  Vehicles and indoor plumbing that was resurrected has returned to its frozen state.  Small talk around town always, and I do mean always, includes whether your vehicle is running or whether your pipes are frozen.

Cold, clear weather combined with a solar event resulted in a gorgeous light display!

It still amazes me how this type of cold affects your body.  I stand by the statement that I remember being much colder in NY than I have been in AK.  Part of that is that I’m far more prepared in clothing and preparation (dressing in layers with no exposed skin, starting my truck 15 minutes early), however some of it certainly is the type of cold.  NY is a wet cold, which permeates down to the bone and really chills you.  AK is a dry cold which you most definitely feel, but in different ways.  Rather than feeling cold, you lose your sense of feeling.  As your nostrils freeze up and your lungs let out a protesting and uncontrollable expulsion of air, you realize that you can no longer feel your hands, feet, arms, and legs.  I will touch an outside doorknob with my bare hand, and it’s so cold my hand will freeze to it and become instantly as cold as if I had held my hand under cold water for ten minutes.  It’s hard to explain or imagine.  Trust me, it’s an odd cold, but even with all I just explained I remember NY feeling colder.

Frosty hair - I was only outside for 5 minutes!

Over the weekend I walked to a friend’s house for his birthday party, less than a mile away.  I pulled a dumb teenager move and went wearing just jeans, boots, a coat and some mittens.  Walking over wasn’t too bad, but when the temperature dropped to nearly -40 as I was visiting, I realized how unprepared I was to venture back.  Jogging to my apartment in the cold, it wasn’t a minute before I noticed my thighs were completely numb, and moving like noodley appendages separate from my body.  My lungs hurt, and my eyelids would stick together just from the mere act of blinking.  My first exhale of breath formed white frost on my hair and hood.  When I got back home and into my pajamas, I noticed that all of my skin was bright red and freezing cold to the touch.  When I pushed down on my leg, my skin stayed white for a full minute before it returned to its natural color.  I was very lucky to have made it home safe, and know I can’t be so foolish in the future.

Believe it or not, it wasn’t during this episode that I sustained my first cold weather injury; a frostbitten toe.  One of my favorite ways to de-stress lately has been to play pickup hockey with the Mighty Musk Oxen three times a week!  The ice rink is located just a few houses away from mine, and the boys have been very welcoming to a newbie.  I’m definitely no superstar, but I’m also not a complete train wreck.  In fact, I’ve scored 7 goals thus far!  There are no teams, as we always play green vs. yellow, with reversible jerseys and balancing the abilities of players to get the game rolling.  The turnout is usually just enough for two teams when it’s this cold outside (10 people and a goalie), creating a new subgroup called the 20 below club (which I am now a proud member of!).  Playing hockey when it’s -30 degrees is not for the faint-of-heart.

A balaclava, hat, and liner gloves are a necessity.  Thick frost and ice will form all over, and your sweat and body heat will evaporate around you rapidly making you look like a ghost.  Your stationary hockey glove will freeze to your hockey stick.  Blue sparks will result from especially hard stops and changes of direction.  Instead of digging in, your skates will chip away the ice, which when it’s fresh is significantly faster than indoor ice.  And during the 2 hours of play, you will take breaks every few goals just to rewarm your fingers, toes, and face.  When skating my toes and fingers go instantly and completely numb, so it wasn’t until I went to warm up that I felt the extreme pain in the tip of my big toe.  This type of injury is as common as a papercut in Nome, so the boys had plenty of advice for helping me heal.  I’m already gaining feeling, but they told me that my toe may always be more sensitive and susceptible to the cold.  So far, so good.

Nome North Stars!

Reversible jersey changed to the Mighty Musk Oxen!

That's ice clinging to my eyelashes!

Riding on the tailcoat of our fuel shortage rescue is another dramatic turn of events.  Please keep in mind that this is an actual news headline displayed in the Alaska Dispatch:  Nome faces another vital shortage:  School lunch forks.  So here’s the scoop – Nome Public Schools started charging students 25 cents for each plastic utensil, which must be paid for in quarters.  Using a prepaid lunch account or even a dollar bill is not a viable option.  This new policy ruffled the feathers of many parents, who promptly went out to our stores and bought up each and every last spork.  Our shelves are now empty of plastic dinnerware as folks are hoarding the now valuable goods.  Nothing like small town drama!  It’s almost as good as the daily letters to the editor in the Nome Nugget complaining of double parking at the post office, dogs running loose, and venting about relational grudges.

And you thought your DMV was frustrating...

Another good place to get a sense of the town is by reading the daily Nome-announce emails.  It’s getting to the point where I know the people sending out the postings, and folks are getting to know me by my posts as well.  I was talking to an acquaintance only to have her ask if I’d found a vacuum yet.  Another time I posted asking if anyone had a certain book, only to have the librarian personally give me a call at work to see if I wanted to reserve it.  Here is a random sampling (I receive upwards of 50 per day) of emails from Friday of last week:

-Anyone making a dump run and willing to take an old water heater with them?  Stop by west 2nd if you're willing and able to help me dump this ole thing?  Quyanna!

- Hi NA, Looking to rent or possibly buy paper shredder.  If you have one you wouldn’t mind renting out for a few days please give us a call.

- Yesterday, while gassing up at Crowley, I found a set of keys laying on the ground.  4 house type keys, plastic tag.  Two of the keys had masking tape on it, one said "D BOLT" the other "FRONT DOOR."  If these are your keys, give me a call, text or email me and I will bring them to you or meet with you somewhere you can pick them up from me.  I'll have them with me when I drive into town this noonish.

- I have a tea cup size pig that needs a good home. He is semi potty pad trained as well.

- Does anyone have some pike in their freezer that they want to part with?  I would like to pickle some.  Please email me if you do and want to part with some.

- Fresh hide from bull muskox for sale.  Shot on Saturday.  $200.  Email if interested.

…and the crowning glory?

- Hammacher Schlemmer / The Dog Dung Vacuum. This device vacuums pet waste into a disposable bag, eliminating the need to bend over and scoop excrement by hand. A 30,000-rpm motor quickly suctions dog waste from grass, concrete, or even snow-covered ground into a plastic bag that removes for ease of disposal. The bag wraps around the vacuum's intake to prevent waste from touching any part of the device. About the size of a leaf blower, the cordless vacuum transports easily around a yard and stores unobtrusively. Provides up to 50 cleanups after a 12-hour charge via the included AC adapter.  Dog Dung Vacuum, $99.95. 50 Extra Waste Bags, 19.95.

Shipping, 29.90. Yours for $100.00.

The Nome-announce website; my postings come conveniently to my inbox

One last Nome phenomenon (for now!) is getting paid in what I call pirate money.  A huge construction endeavor is underway, and a significant percentage of the town is gainfully employed building the new hospital.  Rather than getting paid a per diem to cover transportation, lodging, and meals, workers are paid in a Nome specific currency.  Each silver coin is worth a bizarre amount of money, $21.50 to be exact.  I found out about this local money as I was waiting behind a man in line at the grocery store, attempting to buy his food with a ziplock bag filled with these coins.  He was frantically trying to calculate his purchases closest to a multiple of $21.50, as the store cannot give back any change for this coinage.  I couldn’t help but wonder why he was trying to pay in silver doubloons like a crusty sea dog, and fortunately he was more than happy to explain it to me.  The local shops and restaurants love this system, as it’s forcing business to stay within Nome.  I’m all for monopoly money if it helps boost our economy!

If you've got the money honey...

...you can buy lunch in Nome!