The Palmer Perennial Pause

It happened this past week. It’s that weird timeframe between Christmas and New Years. Some call it Feral Week. Some call it Dead Week. Some call it Twixmas. I call it the strange week of in-between. Nobody seems to know what they are doing or why or where and everybody seems okay with the pause. I mean… "does anybody really know what day it is and does anybody really care?" All the days converge into one really long floating day full of flat time. There is an aimlessness associated with this odd bubble of calendar space. And it is just fine because we are all kind of exhausted from the Christmas holiday bully crashing through and taking up all the oxygen in the room. So in Palmer we breathe deep, let go of the season’s pageantry and chaos and deliberately go for restorative rest or sluggishness, in some cases. It is a legit time to be a bit lazy…admire the full moon, the beauty of snow, the clearness of our magnificent mountains. Next week it will be a pronounced Palmer pivot into creating resolutions, agendas, intentions, tackling lists, chores, making and prioritizing plans and counting accomplishments. But this week we get to downshift and coast easily through the blurry week of in-between! Enjoy it Palmer!

Abundance of Snow In Palmer Community — No exaggeration of the amount of snow is necessary this year. Just look out the window—that is—if you can even see out the window. Parked and abandoned cars became snow piles which then became drifted monsters. Small animals nearly drowned. The 5’ snow stick is buried. Flights were canceled. Roads were closed. Trees were bent and roofs sagged. Livestock became domestic pets. Biggest shopping days were empty. Tunnels were dug to allow animals to go down a path into their dog houses. Workers did double shifts. Igloos were naturally erected because large blocks of cement like snow were pushed around. Lots of energy and time was spent digging out vehicles and sadly, after the big reveal, sometimes it was the wrong vehicle! Short dogs reveled in their tallness as they walked atop drifts. Major shovel envy was apparent and the winner of all snow shovels is a coal shovel. Snow blowers are the hero of the month. Both flamethrowers, leaf-blowers and chainsaws have been added to snow removal tool list. Vehicles drive around Palmer with 3 feet of snow piled on the roof (like a little lighthouse.) All the warm snow clothes were worn and adding a snorkel would have been a good addition. Local entrepreneurs considered how to “ship snow” in a similar iced box for shipping fish. Some of the most popular folks in town have snow plows on the front of their trucks. The Palmer area is a snow kingdom now and it seems as if there is great appreciation and enjoyment.

Appreciation of our Warm Homes — All of this snow and deep cold brings a high appreciation of our warm and safe homes. How fortunate are we to have secure and heated shelter? It seems like nonsense to think it could be otherwise, but in reality, there are cold homes and not by choice. If we know of anyone living in the cold, reach out as soon as possible. Between law enforcement, faith communities, local charities and state social and health programs there are ways to ensure people get the heat so they need to NOT BE COLD. Let’s look out for people and animal needs in this very cold winter.

Bye bye 2023—The next Palmer Alaska Buzz will be in 2024 so enjoy the rest of the old year and see you in the new one!

Barbara Hunt is both Palmer writer and artist. She works hard to keep the robust pulse of Palmer, Alaska. She shares the good stuff in the weekly Palmer Alaska Buzz Column in the Mat Su Valley Frontiersman and daily on the Palmer Alaska Buzz Facebook Group. Contact Barbara Hunt at bhunt@mtaonline.net or text 907-315-3222.