'It's all right'

Little darling, it’s been a long, cold lonely winter
Little darling, it feels like years since it’s been here
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun
And I say it’s all right

Little darling, the smiles returning to the faces
Little darling, it seems like years since it’s been here
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun
And I say it’s all right

Sun, sun, sun, here it comes...
--"Here Comes the Sun" (The Beatles)

For the past couple weeks, we've seen a rapid increase in daylight. We're rising from the depth of winter and turning the corner toward spring. The change is not just perceptible with the eyes, but with the whole body. It's like the tingling you feel on your face when you emerge from deep water. A few days ago, dawn was accompanied by the reappearance of the orb of the sun above the mountains. We get plenty of light in our little valley, but from around Thanksgiving till mid-January the sun itself stays tucked behind the ridgeline, so we can't see it directly from our windows.

We've been having wacky weather this month. For a couple of weeks it was unusually cold. The average temperatures for this time of year are in the 20s. Instead, it was -6 and as cold as -11 for several days this month. After rising back to the average and staying there for several days, temperatures are now in the 40s. The snow is melting during the day and freezing again at night, making our driveway an icy mess. We're restricting ourselves to the shallow side of the driveway at the moment. The steep portion is reserved for a challenging winter sport: car luge.

Despite the cold, we've been getting out with the kids regularly. But when it was subzero, we had to find indoor spaces where they could run. I took them out to the Mat-Su the sports complex for the first time. The folks there set up ride-on toys, tunnels, giant blocks, balls, a bouncy castle and many other kinds of outdoor toys. The kids can jump and run on synthetic grass, which I must say has improved over the years. It was soft. Just like the real stuff. And Laurel tried to eat the rubber dirt that is sprinkled throughout.

Staying warm with the help of Auntie Michele's apple hat, which conveniently matches the apple cheeks.

The Megster building her tunnel.

Laurel calls "Memmie" and runs after her. That's Meggie riding the trike on the shoulder. Such a renegade biker chick. She wheeled up to a strange boy and said, "Hey. Let's ride."

Alan and Meggie's latest snow creation. The warming temperatures have given her a bad hair day.

We had such fun with Grandma Joyce and PawPaw when they were here. I'm sorry that I'm only now starting to post pictures from their visit. Here are a few.

Having breakfast at the Noisy Goose in Palmer.

Eagles on a Sunday morning.

One of these days I'll get a better picture of them in flight. But this is the best I could do.