newsminer.com

Even when it's pushing 90 degrees outside, Alaska's natural features remind us that we're only a short drive south of the Arctic Circle.

We decided to put up a Slip-N-Slide to cool off when the mercury reached unusually high elevations in the thermometer earlier this month. The fun didn't last long. It may have been in the upper 80s with the sun blazing overhead, but it wasn't enough to counteract the bone-chilling water being pumped from our well.

I looked up the temperature of groundwater in the Fairbanks area. Not surprisingly, many of the aquifers are sandwiched between layers of permafrost. The water comes out of the ground at a refreshing 35 degrees or so. It's cold enough to turn a 5-year-old's lips blue while playing in the sun.