Friends   ---

Welcome to another message from far north.  This is the Christmas tree at First Presbyterian Church.

We have not had any other pictures this week  --  sorry.

The shortest day for us is coming up shortly, actually the shortest day for everyone in the northern hemisphere.  And the longest day for everyone in the southern hemisphere.  The closer one is to the poles the more dramatic is the change.  Here are the sunrise and sunset times to the nearest minute:

December     Sunrise       Sunset

15                 10:51         2:40

16                 10:53         2:40

17                 10:54         2:40

18                 10:55         2:40

19                 10:56         2:40

20                 10:56         2:40

21                 10:57         2:40

22                 10:57         2:41

23                 10:58         2:42

24                 10:58         2:43

25                 10:58         2:44

26                 10:57         2:45

27                 10:57         2:47

28                 10:56         2:48

29                 10:56         2:50

So it does not take long until the days grow longer again.  They make a big deal here about the winter solstice.  There will be dog sled races, businesses will have special sales, there will be sleigh rides, caroling, and what one pamphlet calls "winter fun."  Hopefully we can get some pictures of some of these.

We actually had some wind last Wednesday and Thursday.  It will not sound like much wind to you, but  it made the paper here.  There was wind of 15 mph here and 25 in Fort Wainwright.  Yes, I remember much stronger wind in Iowa and Colorado with cold temperatures.  But wind here is unusual.  We were talking with some people today and they still were talking about the wind with cold.  It was generally around zero when the wind was blowing.  After that it gradually got colder.  The official low Monday was -38.  Our thermometer got down to -28.  It was only a couple degrees warmer than that when we took our walk yesterday.  Today it is gradually getting warmer.  Now (8:00 pm) it is about -9.  Day and night makes little difference in the temperature.  The sun does not shine enough to make any difference.  Cloud cover and wind direction seem to determine the temperature.

After talking with several people, we finally did it.  They all said it would be safe.  Coming home from our walk this afternoon we walked on water!  We had seen tracks of people walking, cross country skiing, and snowmachining, but were reluctant - until today.  We walked across the river on the ice.  It was too dark at about 3:30 for a good picture.

Last Saturday there was a "Community Messiah Sing."  Anyone could come, pick up a copy of the music, practice for  about 45 minutes, and then sing the Christmas portions of the Messiah.  There were about 250 singers and maybe 25 in the audience.  Elva sang, I listened.  Everyone we talked with really enjoyed it.

God's blessings to all.

Larry and Elva