PEOPLE, IT'S ONLY AUGUST!

i guess i have to face the truth as alaskans know it... summer is really over (and there's no talk of the beautiful two-week-long fall season... apparently, we go straight into winter). here's some of the evidence i've encountered just in the last couple of weeks.

• the other day i was talking to the maintenance guy here at the apartments and he said something about really having to hurry with some new window installations "before the snow gets here."

• about a week or so ago, ammon and abraham were up at night much later than usual. abraham asked, "why is it dark?" what a question! i realized that because my kids go to bed by about 9 p.m., they haven't seen true darkness in a really, really long time. abraham has recently been complaining about being scared at night. his "enlightening" question made me realize that his young mind may not even remember what darkness is, yet here it comes!
  

• one of my friends recently moved into a new house and the heaters are not working. she's stressing about this because it won't be long before the really cold weather comes.
  

• jacob was at a church meeting just this morning where the bishop made some assignments for snow removal.
  

• while my mother-in-law was here visiting, we had a week straight of beautiful sunny weather. it was incredible. as soon as she left though, the rain came and stayed for another week. i heard several comments (at the grocery store, my neighbor, etc.) about how that was the end of summer and we all need to be bracing up for winter.
  

all of these comments initially made me laugh... but then i almost broke into tears in the very next breath. i attended a women's retreat a few nights ago and lots of tips were given for avoiding the winter depression. ai, ai, aieeeeeeeee!!! it's only august, people! must we really start talking about this so early?

stay tuned for my reactions to another alaskan winter.