It's 27 degrees below zero right now.  That's according to the mercury.  The wind is blowing hard.  I believe the wind chill brings it down to 45 below, or maybe even 50 below.  The cold, of all things, is actually quite tolerable.  I'll even go so far as to say that it is good.  The wind, on the other hand, is what cuts.  I remember Chicago being extraordinarily cold one winter, and it felt as cold as it feels right now, because of the wind of course.  When we walk from place to place, it is quicker than driving someplace in an unwarmed-up vehicle, sitting still and shivering.  Walking, of course, is moving, and in moving there is warmth.  Of course, we don't want to walk far, and thankfully we don't have to.  The farthest that we need to walk is really to the Post Office, which takes no more than 25 minutes.  Church takes 15, because we have Eliana who likes to walk extraoooordinarily slowly.

I was talking with the folks down at the hardware store yesterday.  They were saying that it is indeed cold, and that it has gotten colder earlier this year than any year in their memory.  It isn't supposed to be this cold for another 30-45 days.  Nobody is worried, though.  "Just use common sense and bundle up," is the thought.  Frostbite is the issue, of course.  As such, they close the schools around this temperature.  Of course, it is Christmas break right now.

The snow is certainly different here, than in the Lower 48.  It is so dry and so cold, that the snow has the look, feel and response of sand.  There are snow dunes.  The wind is quite strong here, too.  As we are on the tundra, there are not very many trees, and the ones that are here are simply too small to be a wind-break.  I imagine this might be a bit like being in the desert, except a cold one. 

Christmas was wonderful here.  There was snow on the ground and in the air.  We trudged through snow drifts up to our waist.  There were more people walking than there were cars on the road, due to the snowfall from Christmas Eve.  We went to the Moravian Church for the candlelight service, which was very sweet.  Roughly half of that congregation, perhaps more, are Native Alaskans.  They have a separate service which is done entirely in Yupik, and even still the English service is very well attended.  It is good to be with new friends, but we very much missed our old friends.  Skype is good for the free long-distance calls, yet it is certainly distant.

In fact, that is the only real complaint about being here: we miss our old friends and families.  We are certainly making new friends, and doing so is actually occuring quicker than previously.  The community is a really tight community, as well as welcoming and willing. 

On the day of Christmas Eve, our belongings arrived.  Being connected with our belongings at long last, was one of the best presents that we could have wished for.  We have only recently identified what didn't get on the truck, though.  We are missing a toaster, but that is en route, at this point.  Amazon is wonderful, especially when free shipping is involved.  We are pleased to see how many different items include free shipping.  The down-side, of course, is that we have to be patient.  We have always been patient people, I think, and now we are learning an even greater level.  That is good -- I like being transformed not just through the renewing of our minds, but also by using our ciricumstances purposefully to connect with Christ.