Well, it’s bedtime here in Alaska, and the temperature is well below zero.  It’s the kind of night you don’t want to forget to  hit that preheat setting on the electric blanket.

There was much to talk about today, and as I suspected, the birth announcement of Bristol and Levi’s baby brought out a rash of trolls who managed to get everyone a bit stirred up.  So in the interest of settling us back in to our regular routine, I have done three things.

1)  I have added a new page to the blog (see tab above) called Comment Guidelines.  This is to serve as either an introduction or a reminder (depending on your situation) to the comment guidelines that have been posted, and buried in the FAQ page.  Please take a moment to read them over.  It won’t take long, and I think it will be helpful.

2) I have (using the aforementioned guidelines) gone through the baby posts, with a gentle broom, and done some sweeping.    I’ve also closed comments on both baby threads.

3) I have not seen our Mudflats mascot Brian the Moose in some time.  If I were Brian, I’d be hunkered down somewhere waiting for this cold snap to pass.  So, since I’ve been going through a little Brian withdrawal, I sifted through some pictures from last year, and found this one I hope you like.  Dueling Brians!  These two bulls hung out together for quite a while.  The younger of the two kept tagging after the larger one like a pesky little brother.  But the older one seemed tolerant for the most part and they galloped around in circles,  play battled with their antlers, and generally had a pretty good time.

Do stop over and visit in the Night Kitchen Open Thread, where there is no such thing as off-topic, and tangents, epiphanies, and streams of consciousness are always welcomed.