-48C!!! But... the aurora shows are worth it!

Yes, you read that right. MINUS 48C.... whoa! Now that's cold. And it sorta hurts. You know it's cold when you go out and exhale, the steam from your breath blocks your view, it's so thick!! I guess this is not so bad though - some "oldtimers" tell me of days when there was MONTHS of -60C (??!!) and "it didn't stop us from going out..." yeah, right. Just like my parents who had to (god forbid) WALK to school, uphill both ways!!

No, seriously, even though we have this cold, the temperatures up here (like many places) have generally been warming over the years. Heck, it was +10C here at xmas. That was unheard of 20 yrs ago.

The good side is (there's always a good side right?) - is that the Northern Lights shows are unbelievable!!! (the Japanese tourists will be ecstatic!! They come exclusively to see the northern lights). For some reason, the crisp clear sky always seems to heighten the aurora activity. We've had a few dazzling shows and they are always fun to watch. Sometimes they get swirling and move so fast that the patterns change very quickly. It's mezmerizing.

So... needless to say, once again the dogs and I are only getting out in short bursts. And by "getting out" - I mean getting out of the cabin!! Like, to run to the backyard, run to the outhouse (trees and tires serve as their personal outhouses. In fact, the world is their outhouse!), run to the woodpile (which is nice and chopped, thanks for asking...), etc.