February 10 In the wee hours of February 10, a plane landed in Fairbanks. (with me on it after a long nine hours of flight time) I am back in my happy place, my emotional and spiritual home. In four days the World Ice Championship competitions will begin and Ice Alaska Ice Park at the Tanana Valley Fairgrounds will be officially open. Today I spent reminiscing with old friends and meeting new ones, all of us whose passion is giving Fairbanks and the world the best the art of ice carving has to offer. Today I was able to see firsthand what the boot camp has been busy doing for the past month. The park is full of ice blocks ready for expertise hands to turn them into something magical. The crowning jewels of the park are the four amazing slides. Kids and adults alike will love them. As in the past, there are games to play: checkers, cornhole, shuffleboard, hole in one and ping pong. In addition, this year there will be a chess board and four-foot chess pieces for all you chess aficionados. The multi block competition begins the fourteenth with eight international carvers and many American carvers participating. There are six teams of four artists carving nine blocks for six days. Only a few more days until the woods once again will be filled with the happy sounds of birds and chain saws. And so from Fairbanks: I love being back and writing daily about one of my favorite events in one of my favorite places.