It doesn't snow in Alaska!

Before I explain the above statement, I have to preface the story with this: With my hand on the Good Book (no, Chris, not the Karma Sutra, the other Good Book) and with God as my witness, this is an absolutely true story. There have been no exaggerations or embellishments. And for those of us that know my cousin M, there is no doubt of the validity of this story.

It was dinner time at my aunt and uncle's house. My cousin A and her boyfriend Hunter (I tell you his real name only because it was funny that my grandmother could never remember it and kept calling him Fisher) were discussing where A should go to graduate school. They were batting around many different locations and were discussing the pros and cons of each.

Finally, A tells her family about a school that is in Alaska. Hunter says, "Well, if we move to Alaska, I definitely want to run the Iditarod." A's 15-year-old sister M cocks her head to the side perplexed and asks, "What's the iditarod?"

Hunter explains that it is a race run through the snow of Alaska using only a sled pulled by dogs. M gets this skeptical look on her face, as if to say you can't fool me, and states emphatically, "It doesn't snow in Alaska."

All conversation stops as everyone turns to look at M for the obviously needed explanation. In all earnestness, M says, as if everyone at the table is an idiot, "Well, duh, look at a map. Alaska is right next to Hawaii!"