Today in Alaska it is 41 degrees Fahrenheit. The wind is blowing pretty hard, which isn’t unheard of but is pretty unusual. Some gusts in the valley that I live in have been said to be upwards of 75 mph. Here where I’m at we’ve had about 30-40 mph gusts.

What is a typical January and February here in Willow, Alaska you might ask? Rarely above freezing, and not unusual to be well below 0, often -20 or colder, for much of these two months.

My husband, who was raised here in Willow remembers as a kid having -50 or colder for 2 or 3 weeks in a row, followed by a warm up to just above freezing, lots of snow, and then cooling back off to -40 or -50 again. I have lived here for 28 years, and I have seen -55 one time, the first winter I lived here.

It used to get down to -40 quite regularly. But it’s been a few years since we’ve even seen it that cold. Last year the coldest we got at our house was -38, but only for a couple of days and then it warmed up to -20.

What is causing it? Could it be global warming? I don’t believe so. Could it be the government messing with the weather through cloud seeding and what not? Possibly. Could it be the natural cycle of the earth? That’s the one I’m going with for now.

I actually don’t mind it too much. I grew up in the desert southwest. We did have 4 seasons, but the winter one was a lot shorter than the other seasons! I enjoy the heat, not so much the cold. So winters like this don’t bother me quite as much as a lot of people. The ice does add a little to the lack of enjoyment, but I just love not having to wear a huge coat everywhere I go.

One thing that has caused me problems however, and what has taken me most of the day today (as well as the next few) to deal with, is that I have always used the outside in the winter as an additional freezer. We put all sorts of things right outside the door and they stay frozen more solidly than in the deep freeze.

Not this year. We purchased a whole beef in November and put some of the packaged meat outside to stay frozen until we could clear out space in our freezers. Usually by the time it warms up we have room for the remaining meat, or most of it. I pressure can what’s left, which is usually not a lot.

Today, because of the above freezing temperatures that we’ve had for the last couple of days, I went and checked on the meat. It was thawing out! Still mostly frozen, but it is costly, so I don’t want to waste any by accidently forgetting about it.

I have canned 18 pounds of ground beef so far today, and will continue tomorrow and for however many days it takes to finish the process. There is probably 50 pounds outside that need to be dealt with.

Canning meat is definitely a process, and not always my favorite thing to do, especially when it has to be done quickly. But I just keep reminding myself how convenient it is to have on hand once it’s finished. It makes meals with ground beef super quick and I am always grateful once it’s finished and every time I open a jar to make something.

So, onward and upward. Warm temps mean less fuel needed for heating, which is also nice. Hopefully the wind will die down sometime evening. I hope all who read this are safe and cozy in their homes and that all is well with them.