We are experiencing short days, about 7-1/2 hours daylight, but enjoying increasing light at a rate of 5 minutes a day, and the human organism notices this, if only unconsciously. So there is a chipperness in the air.
Considering the very cold temperatures being experienced throughout the American 'Lower 48' we had chilly but unremarkable weather two weeks ago, to about zero deg F (-12 deg C) which is not news for Alaska. But then we had a warm up to exactly a couple of degrees above freezing, and now we have dangerous conditions of rain mixed with snow falling on ice. So the danger is that we will be falling, too.