How I See It, Volume 2, number 1, January 2000 How I See It Well, we survived the New Year and we’re all still here. At least most of us are mostly here, more or less. But the New Year did bring a couple of big changes for me. Ordinarily I am not wild about sweets. Maybe a cookie now and again or the odd ice cream cone, but I can take it or leave it. But this winter, something has happened to my psyche and my "eat sweets" button has turned on. Or maybe it has something to do with the New Year. Apparently Alaskans eat more ice cream per capita than any other state, and this year I am helping to keep Alaska right up there in first place. Ice cream is my fat, my seal oil. It not only gives warmth and insulation to the body, but is providing a sense of well-being that helps me function in the cold. It has become one of my survival tools. The New Year brought another "first" for me. While sitting with friends, eating a bowl of ice cream and watching the New Year roll around on PBS, for the first time that I can ever remember in all my twenty-six winters here, I was glad I was here, not there, not anywhere there. Much as I was delighted by the sunshine and the color, I was overwhelmed by the crowds and masses of people. I can never remember being grateful at forty below, but I was that night. I’m still not wild about winter, and next year I might look for a relatively isolated desert scene, but those mobs of people sure helped to balance my perspective. And then something really cosmic happened, too. While toasting the New Year with a glass of wine, we looked out at the sky. The aurora was awesome. Green and purple ribbons danced, a New Year’s gala performance. It was a truly magical event.
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