THE CRACK IN THE ICE AND THE RUNNING FAUCETS

Walking across the lagoon last weekend, I noticed an inch and a half wide crack in the ice that ran across its entire width from the road to the dike.  It was puzzling as the ice had been frozen for weeks.  My only thought was that it might have been caused by the 5.3 magnitude earthquake that shook Anchorage a couple of weeks ago, but I hadn’t heard that its rumbling had traveled this far north.  Valerie told me later that she’d seen a large truck driving across the lagoon earlier in the day and we both imagined that its weight had caused the ice to crack.



People at work this past week talked about the weather feeling colder and the temperature has been steadily dropping.  Last night Julie called me to remind me to leave the water running in the faucets to keep the pipes from freezing.  This morning it was -34ᵒ F, but warmed up to -21ᵒ later in the day.  However, as I realized the moment I stepped out into the whipping wind, it was much colder.  I learned later that with the wind chill factor, it was -50ᵒ F this afternoon.  Brrrrrrr…it’s definitely feeling like winter. 

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