It is cold here today! And it has been about 30 below F since Saturday! And it is not going to warm up anytime soon. So what do you do at -40F? Stay inside where it is 70 above! And start the car every few hours! We do have a lunch to go to at two, we won't turn the car off as there is no place to plug in to keep the engine warm. And the interior gets so cold too. There is another potluck to go to tonight at 8 p.m. and then some dogs to check on, and then fireworks at midnight. About cold, really cold.
From 0 to -20 F is not bad. Very liveable weather. The car needs to warm up about 10 minutes, coats and gloves and hats are needed when going about town.
-20 to -40F is okay. Snowpants and coveralls are the normal dress.
The car needs about 20 minutes to function, but it doesn't act warm until about 10 minutes of driving. The interior doesn't get warm, even with the heat on high. If the defrost is lowered or changed to heat the interior, the windshield immediately frosts. The other windows are all frosted all the time. Moving about town is limited.
-40 to -60F is just about awful. The car is so cold, it doesn't warm up. If you have to drive somewhere, the car has square tires that take a mile or so to round out. If you get the car started, you must plug it in where ever you go or leave it running. Snow pants, coveralls, face masks, gloves, long underwear, sweaters and layers are all required attire. Town travel is just not worth it and road travel is just what is really necessary. Any travel requires blankets, and all emergency gear in the car.
-60F and colder. What is so necessary to do in this weather? Most people stay home. School is cancelled at 55 below. Work is optional; so many cars won't start, it is expected people won't come in. Travel is emergency only. You won't get warm in the car, so full winter attire, blankets and hand warmers are necessary.
We went to Fairbanks yesterday for a dentist appointment and groceries, driving about town the signs said -38F. So many cars are left running, the air quality is awful. Added to wood smoke, you just about can't breathe. Everything is kept at ground level, the pollution doesn't lift due to the cold. Wow, it was really cold. We left the car running while visiting with some friends in McDonalds for an hour, we had the groceries in the car and didn't want them to freeze. Winter is hard on the gas budget, so thank God that we are now paying $2.45 a gallon, not the $4.63 we were paying.
The sun is finally peeking above the trees, it is 11:30 a.m. and it will be dark by 4. I mean DARK. There is no warmth to the sun, just brightness, and not much of that. I just took this photo out the front window. The sun won't get any higher.
Bill was asked to be the Narrator for the Nativity Program and Ethan was a shepard and Aerin was an angel.
This last week, we attended our first potlatch and then the second the same week. A potlatch is a big party in honor of a native who died. The first potlatch was for Richard, a 37 year old; and the second was for Freddy, another youth who died in a snow machine accident. When someone dies, the family starts cooking at the native hall. Usually food is cooked for up to five days, all meals, for anyone who wants to come. After the funeral service, always held at 2 p.m., the main potlatch starts at 6 p.m. Chairs are set up around the outer perimeter of the room, and then another row is set up facing those chairs about six feet apart. Then another row is set up back to back of the second row and sometimes a fourth row of chairs is added. Large rolls of freezer paper are unrolled at your feet and this becomes your table. There is a foot wide space between the freezer paper tables and this is where the servers scooch down the row, serving as they go. It is tradition to bring your own dishes, and lots of plastic bags, and a soup container. The family gives away moose meat (a traditional hunt is allowed any time someone dies), and oodles of food. Moose soup is the big thing, and they make it in vats over an open fire. When the food is all given out and some of it eaten, everyone helps to clear the chairs. Then the singing and dancing begins.
There is one dance called the Athabascan Twist, and all the guys go find a partner and do the twist. 
There is a game that is played with candy as the prize. The family unrolls bolts of fabric to make a huge rope. There are about 10 bolts. Everyone holds the rope and gets in a big circle, moving clockwise around the room, as big as the circle can be.
Then when the music stops, everyone runs together to make one long rope, and tug of war begins! Pull, pull, pull! After one side wins, the game is started over again.
When the last tug of war is done, bags of candy are opened and the candy is thrown everywhere. Everyone is on the floor scrambling for bits of sweetness. 
