Snow Day!
Dear warm reader,
Our two daughters take the kick sled out for a spin earlier today.
It’s official, whatever the calendar says. Winter has arrived. We have snow on the ground, the temperature has stayed between 5 and 25 degrees Fahrenheit, and the winter wind has been howling.
The good news? This means sledding season has begun. We have one of the best sledding hills in the land, if I may say so myself. And we have a pile of sleds, for when friends, relatives, and neighbors come over for the fun.
My favorite, though, is our Norwegian kick sled. They are terribly expensive to purchase new here in Alaska. But we were fortunate enough to get a gently used one from a friend. For those who have never had the pleasure of riding one, it’s a blast!
They are designed a bit like a dog sled, with runners, a chair seat where one person can ride, and a place on the back of the runners for another person to stand and steer. You can ride it on flat ground by kicking with one foot. But we prefer to fly down our hill on ours.
Sam shares some choice words with the plow truck's unreliable tires. My documentation of the event for my blog probably wasn't much help.
The bad news? The same hill that is so fantastic for sledding is also our driveway. When the snow gets deep or the ice gets slick, it isn’t nearly as much fun to drive up as it is to sled down.
And here enters our poor, rusty old 1978 Chevy plow truck. If you wanted to, you could run it like a Flinstones’ car, by sticking your feet out the rusty hole through the floor. Its tires go flat between snow storms, and Sam has to spend more time inflating the tires and trying to get the truck to start than he does actually plowing.
So the snow is here, and we’re both celebrating and grumbling.
Cheers!
Eowyn
P.S. I have some news from London I’ve been waiting to share — BBC Radio 4, one of the UK’s biggest national radio stations, has selected my debut novel The Snow Child for their Book at Bedtime slot. It will be adapted for radio and broadcast in 10 episodes in April. Other episodes have included some of my very favorite novels: Things Fall Apart, A Christmas Carol, On Canaan’s Side, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, and many more. Can’t wait to hear that lovely British accent!
15 Comments
Oh, good for you! Or maybe I should say, jolly good?
Ha! Thanks Suzie. I meant to sign off the letter with a “Cheerio!” but I forgot.
The Ivey family are diehard sledders.
Coming home from a meeting, with the half moon partially lighting the heavens,
there were headlamp glows from their driveway.
You folks looked like stars.
Not being properly equipped, I beeped as I drove by.
Sled on!
That’s so funny — we just now came in from sledding. We saw you go by on the road. Sorry you weren’t in your sledding gear. We’ll have you all over soon. We really need one more good snow to be perfect. But it is fast right now.
*whines* I want to sled too! Can’t wait for the snow to start in Chicago.
Love, love, love the London news. But more importantly: when is the sledding party?
Wow I will look forward to listening to it on the radio 4 as I mentioned before on twitter I was lucky enough to have already read the book as I was asked to review it for ‘we love this book’ a uk publication
Thanks Sarah! I just finished an essay about the novel for We Love This Book. I’ll look forward to seeing your review.
Sledding! What fun. We have a dog sled, and as you know, a bunch of really big dogs. I remember standing on the back of our sled with Boaz hooked up to it with Lydia and her friend Bethany sitting in the sled. He took off without warning and pulled us over the snow in the lot next door. The only thing that stopped us was the bushes he pulled us into! What a blast we had!
I just LOVED your book. I live in Melbourne Australia and it was divine to be transported to Alaska and really feel your culture. Thank you for such an huge achievement.
BTW:
Have just written a review for a publication here and posted this on my Yr 7 blog.
Here it is:
(Review by Fran Penfold)
Read this incredible book on the long weekend and I will offer one valuable piece of advice. Just buy it. Keep it forever. Re-read it and give yourself many chances to absorb this brilliant and romantic tale …. just lose yourself in superb writing and a magical story. Then save up and buy copies for your friends and family.
As readers we travel to Alaska and a countryside which takes on the depth and beauty of a most beloved and respected character. We become entwined in the love story between man and wife, enthralled with their attachment to an wiley orphan found thriving in the freezing forest, and impressed as all characters find their own way to master a sense of survival in the Alaskian wilderness in the
1920′s.
Written with vivid and exquisite prose, some parts read like a fairy tale and questions emerge. Has Mabel imagined Faina, if not then how does Faina survive outside in the frezzing winters on her own? Yet, as the story unfolds and the stove fires warm the homesteads, all is answered perfectly and Ivey’s stuning debut lingers in our hearts.
Hello Mrs. Penfold! Thank you so much for visiting my blog, and for your generous, lovely comments about my book. I am so thrilled that you enjoyed it! I’m looking forward to its release in Australia, and I hope I someday get a chance to travel your way. Very best wishes to you.
I think this snow should do it. Check your basement for a surprise.
Oh my gosh! These are the super fliers!! Where did you find them? Now we don’t all have to fight for that one fabulously fast sled. And I think you’re right — there’s a pile of snow, and it’s still coming down. Yippeee!
Actually you can call me Fran, if you want. Am still working out how to have more than one avatar on WordPress. Then I can have one avatar for my students blog and one for me.
I don’t think I can as far as I can see. Might need to contact them….
Hope you are enjoying all that fanrastic snow.
For more on ‘The Snow Child’ — because I know all of you are excited about Eowyn’s debut novel ‘The Snow Child’ as much as I am — I thought I’d share some EXCITING news about her and her novel!
I’m going to be INTERVIEWING Eowyn soon, so I’ve just created a post called “Upcoming: author interview with Eowyn Ivey (the Snow Child) and “Art of Writing” sessions”.
Please drop by for more on her, the interview and ‘The Snow Child’ (including where to pre-order your copy RIGHT NOW).
And if you want to learn more about the “Art of Writing”, I’m holding a series of special sessions very soon too, so I need your input for those.
Thanks 🙂