The end of 2025 in Palmer

Off-Topic—This is the last week of 2025. Typically, the end of the year column goes over a nice chronology of all the cool things that happened locally this year. That is not happening today. Instead we’re going to talk about the darn wind again because this is either the 4th or the 5th wind storm we have experienced in just as many weeks.

Not Puffs of Palmer Air—Remember we are not discussing romantic little puffs of wind. We are talking full throttle gusts that knock you over. We are talking flurry, blast, outbreak, gale, explosion, shriek, and blow roar. The winds that we have lived through are not for the timid. These are unrestrained and powerful dervishes which howl and switch and trip and slash and pummel. These are the winds that pound the house, chatter the glass, worry the furnace, build the drifts and fell the trees.

No Scientific Tools—I don’t own an anemometer or a wind gauge. And I know our wind speeds are considered nontornadic. However, when an all-weather porch deck goes skimming down the middle of the street, I would say the winds are substantial. Several columns ago I discussed the variety of Palmer wind borne objects, both what took off and what landed. It was interesting and somewhat comical. It is no longer comical.

There Is Something Wrong—I am convinced something is afoot, with our Palmer localized wind storms. I am not a conspiracy theorist at all, but this ridiculous pattern of Saturday Wind Storms is beyond accidental. There are four things that make me concerned. They are: frequency, velocity, duration and the repetitiveness. Someone unleashed the Terrible Wind Dragon and it is time to sacrifice a virgin or small animal to make it stop.

Weird Week-This last week of the year is ALWAYS stupid. It is unstructured, unstable, and unpredictable. Time truly does not exist nor do the labels of the days mean anything at all. There is always great confusion where time seems to be rolling in one flat circle. Because this week straddles the two big holidays, with weekends in-between, tracking time is a huge failure. It is as if the year has run out of gas early. Chores are not done; garbage isn’t picked up; babies are not changed; bills are not paid. And it isn’t our fault! Time is chaos now and you can walk around and make pretend lists but there is no motivation and no plan to actually finish anything. This is the week of Palmer leftovers, weak tea, unbaked bread, burnt cookies. It’s kinda like a gap week because there are no expectations.

Unpredictable Winds of Unknown this Week—Just as we navigate the treacherous and powerful winds of nature in Palmer physically, we are also navigating the unpredictable winds of the unknown this week. My advice is don’t start anything new, don’t commit to anything, don’t make promises or plans. Just assume that you will kinda float around your house and drift, becalmed and listless because of non-initiative. Something will catch your eye and engage you in a meaningless way. Pretty soon we will be out of the windless zone of calendar doldrums and into a highly organized new year. We survived the holidays. And we will turn the calendar page for a second wind—metaphorically I hope. Happy old year 2025 and Happy new year 2026!

Barbara Hunt is both Palmer writer and artist. She works hard to keep the robust pulse of Palmer, Alaska. She shares the good stuff on the weekly Palmer Alaska Buzz in the Mat Su Valley Frontiersman and daily on the Palmer Alaska Buzz Facebook Group. Contact at bhunt@mtaonline.net.