Dear the East Coast;

Hello from Alaska. You know - that big state up to the north, all the way out west? Yeah, we kind of have a little problem, and we hear you just might have a solution for us.

See, we don't have winter anymore. Here in Southcentral Alaska, it's 42 degrees today, it's trying to rain, and there isn't any snow on the ground. We watched the news this weekend and it seems like maybe winter got lost on its way to Alaska this year and came your way. If you wouldn't mind, could you send it back on its way, because, dare I say it, we kind of miss it.

Last year we had a similar thing happen to us here in Southcentral, and winter never did find its way to us. Heck, we even had to move Iditarod - the world famous 1,100-mile dog sled race - about 250 miles north to Fairbanks. We love Iditarod and we'd like to keep it here in Willow. It's not looking good again this year, however. A lot of our traditional "winter" activities have been affected by unseasonably warm temperatures and a lack of snow, and it kind of disappoints us, to be honest.

We were watching as the 30-inch snowfall essentially shut down an entire region and we feel bad, because you aren't equipped to deal with that much snow at once. And make no mistake, that's a lot of snow! We'd gladly take it off your hands if we could. Up here, we embrace the snow and we're a bit more ready for when we get it.

Our snowblowers are sitting in our garages unused, snow shovels haven't been touched and our cross-country skis haven't been dusted off in a long time. If you guys would oblige and send some winter our way, we'd appreciate it!

Cheers,

Alaska