General notes from the last couple of days

I think that I heard a boreal owl last night. (Check out how teeny the one in the picture is! It's sitting on somebody's hand! SO CUTE!) It was a very distinctive ululating noise, definitely a bird noise as opposed to a mammal, and it *had* to be an owl because there aren't any other kinds of birds up here that are active at night, at least not in the winter. The boreal owl is the only one of the owls in my bird book that is described as making a noise like that. The book says that they are "rare and elusive". Obviously not THAT rare and elusive, though.

FINALLY it seems to be warming up. Temp was hovering around 20 degrees on Sunday. I forgot to check this morning (kinda in a rush to get out of the house; see next paragraph), but it didn't feel nearly as cold as it has been. We also got some light fluffy snow this weekend. It's starting to feel like spring a little bit ... well, spring Alaska style, I should say.

And the septic may be starting to thaw out ... ( Cut for possible TMI )