AC: CLEMENTINES / MANDERINES AND RUBBER BOOTS

The boxes I mailed to myself from Washington arrived two weeks later, filled with several large Costco bags of almonds, raisins and figs, hemp hearts, three boxes of my favorite spice tea, several tubes of toothpaste and packages of dental floss, all things that would cost three times as much to purchase at the AC store here in Barrow. Unpacking them one evening, I felt more than rich in food stuffs, but also rich knowing that my children, Lisa and Peter support my being here.  Lisa had made a trip to Costco before my visit and with calculating how long it would take to go through what she had purchased, I made another trip with Peter while in Bellingham.  As you can see from the picture of the almost empty boxes of clementines / manderines, they’re popular, but expensive at our grocery store, AC here.  Fortunately, I had stocked up on naval oranges at close to a dollar a pound while in Fairbanks. 

The roads are being plowed often and some of the major ones are showing loose dirt and gravel.  “What is that gray/brown substance on the ground?”  I’m asking myself.  It’s not white and is so foreign to what I’ve seen here since arriving last October.  There are mountains of snow that are being formed and then picked up by bucket loaders and driven to the beach or further from town where they are dropped in places where their melting doesn’t impact by contributing to the already potentially deep deposits of mud on the streets here.  AC has stocked up on mud boots in sizes for all.  I understand that it would be rough getting around without a pair.  Am grateful for the knee high Bogs I purchased while in Fairbanks.  They’re rated for -40ᵒ F but breathable, so perfect for winter, the warmer spring weather and the summer mud to come.