A Wintry Mix Search

Snowflakes are so delicate and have a singular beauty all their own. However, in mass amounts from the Thanksgiving holiday on through winter, much ado is made of this seasonal occurrence. According to Ripley's Believe It or Not Encyclopedia, it is estimated that 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 snowflakes have fallen to the Earth since the Earth was formed. A posting from Regina, Canada, where the average annual snowfall is 46 inches, additional historical snow facts are posted on their message board. Here are a few:

• The term for a dislike or "fear" of snow is chinophobia
• Silver Lake, Colorado, U.S.A. has a record for the most snowfall in 24 hours which is...76 inches!
• Wish I had seen the largest reported snowflake to fall in North America...15 inches.
• A six-pointed star-shaped snow crystal is called a dendrite, and there are 200 separate crystals in each snowflake.

Remember the Farmers' Almanac? The 2008-09 version told me that each year more than 100 snow-producing storms affect the continental United States (on average 105 storms). Winter Wonderland Ezine Articles - courtesy of Deanna Mascle (selected facts) taught me that on average, one inch of rain is equivalent to 10 inches of snow. McGrath, Alaska was tops for having the coldest record temperature of -75 Fahrenheit. A wind called "Williwaw," could account for this fact. The Williwaw is a sudden, strong, cold wind off-shore from mountains in Alaska and Canada. Acclamated to winter yet? If so, The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race '09 is holding a contest at their official web-site for a trip for two to Anchorage, Alaska on Alaska Airlines to witness the race start-up (during early March, 2009). Festivities abound surrounding this 1,150 mile event, billed as "The Last Great Race on Earth! Contest ends 12/31/08. Go to www.iditarod.com/race/contestform.html

Sapporo, Capital City of Hokkaido, is the northern-most island of Japan. Sapporo will host the 60th Sapporo Snow Festival from February 5 through 11, 2009. Selected pulls from the Sapporo web-site told me that this winter festival brings in about two million annual visitors. Once there, guests find Odori Park, the grounds at Community Dome Tsudome, and the main street in Susukino, lined with hundreds of snow statues and ice sculptures, both large and small. The first Sapporo Snow Festival was held in Odori Park in 1950. Since then, Sapporo has become a snow festival of international caliber.

Closer to home in the U.S.A. and again, during the month of February, from the 6th to the 15th, 2009, you could attend the Saranac Lake, New York Winter Carnival. Saranac Lake is an Adirondack Mountain Village Carnival and the oldest festival in the eastern U.S. Begun as a two-day event, it now covers days, with each Carnival revolving around a theme for their decorations, Gala Parade and the Carnival button, exclusive design. Too numerous to mention them all, suffice to say that visitors are drawn to Saranac Lake and Carnival for the broad selection of sporting events...how about volleyball played in knee-deep snow, logging competitions and more traditional snowshoe and nordic ski races, alpine ski races, et. al. Additionally, there are theater performances, a Main Street Festival, dances, concerts, firework displays and the world renowed Ice Palace. Legend has it that the Ice Palace was created to house the Winter Carnival Mascot, Sara the Snowy Owl.

Be awed by Eagle Days in Clarksville, MO from January 25 through January 29, 2009 ( 9 to 5 p.m.). Sponsored by The World Bird Sanctuary of St. Louis and the Missouri Dept. of Conservation. Eagle programs are presented every hour at the Apple Shed. You can see these raptors in action along the Mississippi River Valley, where our national symbol thrives. There are bonfires to warm guests. E-mail heritagecenter@missvalley.com for more details. It's a wrap with this A&E quotation from the Green Way, compiled by Michael P. Garofalo of the Valley Spirit Center in Red Bluff, California. Antisthenes was a Greek philosopher and pupil of Socrates. He once said, "in a faraway land the cold is so intense that words freeze as soon as they are uttered, and after some time then thaw and become audible, so that words spoken in winter go unheard until the next summer." Truly, something to look forward to!

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