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   On this page you can enjoy a family journal created by Nancy Chambers.  Nancy is the wife of station KNLS Chief Engineer, Kevin Chambers. In this virtual journal, Nancy shares with you a series of "typical" days out of a  year in the lives of the Chambers family.  Kevin and Nancy have two sons, Joshua and Jason.  They live just east of station KNLS along the Sterling Highway.  Their beautiful log home, built with their own hands,  looks out across the Cook Inlet.  This journal is illustrated with pictures from the Chamber's family photo album.  And now, enjoy the Chambers Family Alaska Journal!

January 1

     Last night we had a great New Year's Eve. We celebrated with what is called a progressive dinner. We traveled to the homes of various friends to share each successive course of the meal. It started at the home of our good friends, the Bailey's, where we had soup, and then those that wanted to put on ice skates to skate on their frozen beaver pond. They had it lit up with spotlights. Then we all went to the home of our friends, the Raglands', for salad and sledding on their hill. Many of our friends traveled from house to house on snowmobiles through the woods. Eventually everyone gathered at a local church building for the main meal and dessert. As midnight approached, we prayed and praised the Lord until the New Year. (Photo: The Chamber's home under a winter snow.)

January 22

     Today the sun came up at 10 am, and set at 3:30 pm. During these short northern winter days, it seems the sun takes forever to come up, and then it doesn't rise above the treetops. One of the best ways to combat "cabin fever" when the darkness can cause depression, is to get outside. So I'll slip on my Nordic skis and step off the back porch for some exercise. At least we can say we were up before daybreak. One interesting thing about the sun in the north: during winter months it rises and sets in the south. Summer months are the opposite: it rises and sets in the north.

February 1

     Today the boys did not have school, so we went to our friends' house and went skiing with them. When we got back to their house, clam chowder was waiting. We played card games while we waited for the wood stove in the sauna to heat up. He also heated their homemade hot tub, and we sat in the hot water while the snow covered our heads.

March 1

     Today we spent the day watching basketball games at the High School. We watched our son play, and our younger son played trumpet in the pep band. 

March 23

     What a fun weekend. We put on our skis, and set off for some winter camping. We put up our tents on top of the snow, and after a snowball fight, made a fire to roast hot dogs. The fire kept melting the snow under it and sinking lower and lower. Eventually we were sitting quite a way above it on top of the snow.

March 30

     I realized yesterday that it's time to start the seeds. Since our growing season is so short, we need to start the seeds in trays inside the house. They will be big enough to transplant outdoors by the end of May, when it is finally warm enough and they won't freeze. I'll start vegetables as well as flowers, although it never does get warm enough for tomatoes or cucumbers, they stay indoors all summer. I'd love to plant corn but our growing season just isn't long enough. (Photo note: Nancy's greenhouse as seen in the summer months.)

April 25

     Well, breakup is here. The ice on the river is starting to "break up" and the snow is beginning to melt. We don't call it spring, it's the season of mud. Everything is wet and sloppy. The dirt roads are soft, and cars may get stuck. When we first moved here I didn't understand why everyone took their shoes off when they entered a house. But after the first spring, it became a habit for me, too. It's the only way to keep the floors clean.

May 15

     Just when it seems it will always be winter, suddenly I realize that the fiddlehead ferns are growing, and I hear the varied thrushes in the trees this morning. It means winter is over. Also the sound of our sons counting the days until school is over for the summer reminds me.

We trust you are enjoying your visit with the Chambers family.  Would you like to continue Nancy Chamber's virtual Alaska journal.

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