We’re now a little less than a month away from the spring equinox, when the sun passes the meridian on the way north. That’s technically the start of spring, but as my Mom used to point out, spring comes north at the rate of a man walking, and it takes a while for that guy to get from the equator to Alaska. We’ll have snow on the ground until late May, but in about a month, the first thawing will start.
One thing I’ve learned in the years I’ve spent here is that, by and large, by March even the toughest old sourdoughs are ready for spring to come.
Now, some Mat-Su kids are learning firefighting skills, and I can’t see anything but good coming from this.
A half-dozen teenagers noisily crawled on their hands and knees through a dark, empty building. Large steel tools clanged off the walls and floors, alarm bells beeped and blared continuously, and mask-muffled hollers resonated from every corner of the building.
These teens weren’t getting into trouble, but rather learning how they would get someone out of it. The chaotic sights and sounds of the training tower were part of a carefully orchestrated exercise helping students enrolled in Wasilla High School’s fire science class learn search and rescue techniques.
The class is unique among career and technical education courses in Alaska. Instructor Gabe Bailey said no other high school in the state prepares students for careers as structural firefighters. It has already produced a handful of graduates who work at local fire departments.
You’ve got to admire firefighters. When we bought our house, though, we were careful to make sure we were in the fire service area; that’s not necessarily a given in Alaska. Some people, the truly remote, off-grid folks, may well be on their own in the event of a blaze.
Alaska Man score: 5 safely extinguished fires.
Read More: Alaska Man Monday: Cops Alaska, Pickles, and Cities Make Us Sick
The Winter Olympics are now going on, and here’s another Alaska connection – the unofficial mascot of Alaska’s Olympics contingent is a critter related to one we have around our homestead; the Olympics critters are two Least Weasels, or ermine, at the Anchorage zoo.
Meet Milli and Noob Noob — two ermines at the Alaska Zoo who are serving as Alaska’s unofficial mascots for this Olympics.
The Alaska Zoo has a history of Olympic champions, with polar bears competing in diving at the Summer Olympics. But this year’s mascot is considerably smaller than a polar bear.
Despite their tiny size, ermines have incisors that can kill. These small carnivores are native to Alaska.
Annie Snow, a zookeeper at The Alaska Zoo said the two ermines couldn’t be more different in personality.
“When they’re out, they love to run around, explore. They have a ton of little hidey holes in here because they love to tunnel and burrow,” Snow said.
“Milli’s definitely the more outgoing, rambunctious. She’s very spicy. She’ll, like, definitely vocalize a lot and let me know her feelings.”
We have one hereabouts, that we mostly see in the winter. We see his (yes, I’m presuming his gender) tracks more often than we see him, but when we do see him in winter, it’s usually by spotting his black eyes and black tail-tip bouncing along atop the snow.
Our guy has a name, too. He’s Herman the Ermine.
Alaska Man score: 5 ermine tails.
Read More: Alaska Man Monday – Bars and Bears
Now, some interesting video from Texas:
And, this week, something new: This week’s Alaska Man Shorts! (No, not my trousers; short videos. Sheesh.)
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