I wish. The local Banana Belt is a chain grocery store. It amazes me that we are able to get bananas up here in Alaska. They come from a longways away. They continue to always be available, organic and non-organic. I do not take the store’s having them on hand for granted. Someday, though, the infra-structure will break down and, yes, we will have no bananas. This infra-structure can actually be likened to a spider’s web. Strong, but also very fragile.

Banana belt, I see this as a cartoon, someone wearing a belt made of bananas.

The phrase came to mind today, as we passed a bank time and temperature clock. It was 2:14 p.m. and the temperature was (supposedly) 62 degrees. “Banana belt,” I said to Pete who didn’t say anything, which must have meant that he agreed with me. It’s been cold here, and now it’s warm. Actually, not too hot, and not too cold, just right, just like the porridge.

And the sun shone brightly until early this evening when it became overcast. Towards the day’s end, I tend to fret about the horses – my latest concern is that it might rain a cold rain, and because their shelter is full of water, they might have to continue to stand in the rain. Not good. Last year we dug a trench when the shelter filled with water. This year, we are going to leave as is.

Alys and Raudi on the bare road

The banana belt weather – I wonder, of course, if this is a harbinger of things to come. We all want it to rain some, but not too much. If it rains too much, we won’t be inclined to go outside and play. If it rains too little, the dead spruce (killed by spruce beetles) will act as tinder. Poof. Then we’ll have fires. We might have to evacuate because Tinni’s lungs won’t be able to handle the smoke. As it is, he and Raudi have been coughing some, from eating old hay in the hitching post area.

It is odd, we human beings can only handle living in a fairly limited temperature zone. In this respect, animals are one up on us.

Banana belt – I got books from the recycling center and took in some at the Meeting House from a private donation – so I was inside the majority of the time. However, when I got home, I wasted no time in getting out and going for two rides, one on Hrimmi and one on Raudi. It was warm; however, the wind moving across the still remaining snow made it seem colder. I had never taken notice of this before.

The snow is gone in town, but it remains here. It always amazes me, how at Breakup, the snow does eventually disappear. The berms are still fairly high, but the road is now ice free and here and there, there are patches of ground showing.

I’m keeping a close eye on trail conditions. Alas, so are the four wheelers. P-tooey.

Next: 109. 4/20/21: Going to the Dogs