No sign of global warming in Alaska!

Global cooling and a new ice age is a lot more believable. Keeping in step with much of the rest of the US, this has been the worst summer anyone here can remember. We've had high winds and rain for almost 2 months solid, and most mornings the temp inside gertee is around 44 degrees f (much like a Seattle winter). I've had to keep a fire going almost every day, not a roaring fire like in winter, but I had anticipated not needing a fire much except on a few cold mornings. I also thought I'd be getting wood stacked and ready for winter when instead I use it as fast as I can haul and cut it. I've heard several people exclaim, "this is the worst winter, I mean summer, I've ever seen!" Last night the clouds looked very strange; there were long, straight lines of breaks between them where the midnight sun could just barely be seen peeking through. I've had to fully insulate the summer gertee in order to keep it livable, and the museum stays so cold I can't be in here for long unless I wear longjohns and a big coat.

The only good part is it's too cold for the hornets and wasps and we've only had a couple short waves of noseeums (tiny, tiny horrible little mosquitos). And I finally got to see how the museum gertee walls react to a huge gust of wind. It sits alone without any trees to break it, and when I heard it coming I cringed and waited with baited breath. It hit the northeast wall and rippled around to the middle, moving the khana like a wave, and then it was gone. Both roof covers have stayed on with just a few extra ropes lashed over the tops and a bunch of extra staples. So if I was unsure about the 20 footer "blowing over" I'm confident now that it won't.

The dipnettters on the Copper River are finally getting fish, 2 months overdue! The wheels are still slow. Most locals think the big floods 2 years ago affected the salmon runs. Crops have been ruined across the state, and with what happened in the midwest, food prices and availablity will certainly become more of an issue. I'm going to have to learn to can fish and hunt this year, we might just need a caribou and a moose to make it through the "real" winter.

Are there plans to start charging us for every website we visit? Here's an interesting Canadian opinion: http://realitycheck.typepad.com/.