Today my mustache got crispy for the first time this season. Those of you without this noble facial feature will be sadly unaware of this Sign of the Season. (So sorry to all you girls, young boys, and ladies, with the notable exceptions of well loved, moth ball-scented elderly great aunts who always have stale candy from last Easter for when the nieces and nephews come to visit.)

Anyway, one of the sure signs of the Holiday Season in Yakutat is the magical formation of icy material in the mustache. Where the moisture for this seasonal fixture comes from is one of life’s sweet little mysteries. Some people think that it’s fairy dust, but it’s not.

But the coming winter has its advantages. It’s now too late to clean up the yard. In fact it’s nearly impossible anyway, since the frozen mud has cemented any loose articles into itself in a sort of temporary fossilization process. Further, soon the heavy snow will come, with its pure white blanket of cleanliness that will make us all feel OK about not walking the dogs quite so far. Sadlythough, when the spring melt comes, it is all too apparent why you really should have walked the dogs farther away. But winter laziness leads to greener lawns late in the summer.

So as life goes on in the Last Frontier, I wish everyone a Merry Christmas, now let’s listen to the festive crunching sounds as couples kiss under the mistletoe!