Wind gusts 35 to 45 mph

The wind here in Wasilla, Alaska (and the Mat-Su valley in general) continue to amaze me. I don't know if Sarah Palin talks about it in her Alaska TLC special, but to reiterate what I've written before, all summer long there was very, very little wind, and when it rained, the rain almost always came straight down. I had the same experience living in Talkeetna in the summer of 2007, almost no wind at all. But since some time in September the wind has just been pounding the valley, and as I sip on my coffee at 8:37 a.m. and look at the dimly-lit trees outside, I can see them all swaying back and forth. Really, the amazing thing is that they're all still standing.

Update: 9:35 a.m., and I just came back from a walk to the mailbox (a 5-10 minute round trip), and holy crap, it's cold. My new winter jacket is holding up fine, but everything else got cold very fast. This is the first time I can remember thinking about wanting one of those winter hats with a face mask since I was a child growing up in the Chicago suburbs. Brrr...