Last week, a few thousand otherwise sane citizens of Bismarck, N.D., laid down in the snow and made snow angels. Apparently, this is what NoDakians do for fun out there on the frozen northern plains. Never mind “why?” — the Betster wants to know how the heck you make an impression in the kind of snow we Alaskans call “Yukon cement.”

Somewhere in the dial-the-weather system we Alaskans use to request favored weather, the letters got garbled, and s-n-o-w became c-o-l-d. How did that happen? With all this fabulous sunshine, kazsham!, down blows a bitter north wind and two steps forward, three steps back, it might as well be December. Is this like a Fairbanks conspiracy to make the rest of Alaska suffer?

If so, the Betster cries “Uncle.” Enough! Another six weeks of good snow we can handle, but please, please, not with single-digit temperatures and winds blowing 25. Send down coats, fleece hats and fluffy dogs — especially fluffy dogs. As those poor climbers on Mount Hood found out, you can endure a long cold night if your buddy Velvet — a heroic German shepherd-Labrador retriever the climbers had with them — curls up with you.

So cheer up, bundle up against the cold and fight winter with some of these Best Bets:

BEST LITTLE WILD BET: In Anchor Point, the wild life isn’t a short half-hour drive away — it’s right in their back yard. So who needs a big city to have a whopping good winter carnival? Anchor Point carries on the small-town tradition of crazy winter fun with its annual Snow Rondi celebration. See the schedule, page 9, for all the details.

BEST BOOM-BOOM BET: For vulcanologists — no, that’s not Mr. Spock’s fan club — it’s been a great year what with Augustine, Fourpeaked and Cleveland volcanoes rumbling away. Learn about ’em at 7 p.m. today at the Pratt Museum, when Alaska Volcano Observatory geologist Jennifer Adleman talks about what scientists have learned.

BEST UH-HUH BET: Ladies, if you’ve ever had the joy of bringing a bundle of life into the world, you’ll probably find yourself saying to yourself, “You got that right,” at the performance of “Yo’ Mama!” A Bella Luna event, Heather Arnet’s play about new mothers in a Yoga class is 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday at Bunnell Street Gallery.

BEST BOOTS ON THE GROUND BET: From the mainstream media to freelance blogs, nobody has a better perspective on Iraq than the troops who have been there. Two Homer Iraq War veterans speak about their experience from 12:30-2 p.m. Sunday at the Kachemak Community Center for the Unitarian Universalists Fellowship’s meeting.

BEST WARM UP BET: If you can’t go to Cuba to warm up, bring a little Cuba to Homer with Eddie Wood’s “Cookin’ with Salsa” dance workshop. Senor Eddie has been teaching salsa at Homer High the past few weeks, and offers a Community School class 7-8:45 p.m. Friday in the high school Greeen Room. The fee is $35.