Whhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, wwhhhhhhhhhh, hhhhh, wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwhhhh, whhhhhhhhhhhhh, hhhoooooo. The sound of the wind butting up against trees, buildings, cars, is now background noise, something that I am once in a while tuning into. It’s a form of white noise. The shrieking sound of the wind turbine is more jolting. I don’t like this and neither do the animals.

The wind speed dropped for about an hour yesterday, so I figured it was a done deal. This is because this is what has happened in the past. Now it seems to be a constant.

Oddly enough, since the wind sprang up, the sun has been shining brightly. The wind and the sun combined have resulted in my having cabin fever. I want to be outside, but the wind does not permit. I am irritable, grumpy, restless, at loose ends. It is all I can do to get inside stuff done because I know that when the weather turns, I will make being outside a priority.

I didn’t used to think that there was such a thing as cabin fever; I thought it was just Alaskan lore. But it really does exist. I want to go someplace, be anywhere but here in our cabin, which is (right now) cold and drafty. At least Pete is home. Alone, this place seemed austere.

We are getting work done, though on my part it is coming in fits and starts. I got home yesterday, after conversing with Larry, who is in charge of the Alaska State Fair Maintenance department and then began writing up my interview. I worked for a few hours on this, in a concentrated and focused fashion. I took a break and then resumed working on this. This morning I got up and resumed work. It was a tough rhetorical challenge because at times, the maintenance and recycling crews have butted heads. Add to this, Larry seemed to me at times to be an intolerant individual who does not suffer fools gladly.

I finally figured out what to do, which was to point out that there is a focus of priorities on the part of the overworked maintenance department. The crew just has too much to do, and garbage collection is just a small part of what their job entails. So they can’t always make recycling efforts a priority.

I also am feeling like I’m neglecting my animals. The goats have not been out of their pens and the horses have not gotten any exercise in several days. Wwwwwwhhhhhhhhhhh wwwhhhhhhhwhhhhhh wwwwwwwhhhhhh. Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiind pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease stop.

Next: 34. 2/3/18: A Conversation with Rumba and Flag about winter