Ah, but with extreme cold comes ice, good hard ice, skating ice, hockey ice, ice so solid and clear you feel like flying. This could be one of those years when ice lasts all winter, with no snow and no mid-winter thaw. Don't count on it, though, not in Kachemak Bay, where the only certainty about weather is that there is no certainty.

So seize the day and strap on those ice skates. Take a long whirl across Beluga Lake or on any of the little ponds up in the hills, and when your cheeks are rosy and you're ready to warm up, try out some of these Best Bets:

BEST TALK ABOUT IT BET: Shallow gas. Mineral rights. Subsistence. "Berries?" That's the subject of It will take a philosopher to pull those topics together, which is fortunate, since Dr. Deland Anderson has a doctorate in philosophy and is facilitating the discussion at the Community Conversation from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Friday at the museum.

BEST GET A JUMP ON XMAS BET: Halloween is over, and you know what that means? Christmas! Sure, you thought the day after Thanksgiving started the holidays. Hah! In Alaska, with our families often far away, we have to start shopping a bit earlier to get things in the mail. Get started Saturday with the big annual Nonprofit Christmas Bazaar from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. at the Homer Middle School. This year's theme is "Christmas by the Sea."

BEST BEYOND HOLLYWOOD BET: Week after week, the Kachemak Bay Campus Foreign Film Series reminds us there's more to movies than the usual Tinsel Town stuff. This week, the series shows "Kadosh," an Israeli film the critic Joshua Tanzer called an "unforgettably emotional film a devastating look into the plight of wronged women in Orthodox Judaism." The film shows at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. at the west college campus on Pioneer Avenue. Free, but a donation is requested.

BEST GEAR UP BET: Need a new pair of skates? Thinking about trading up to those killer Telemark skis? Swap or sell your old winter gear from 2-4 p.m. Saturday at the Homer Community School Ski Swap in the high school commons.

BEST SHUFFLE OFF TO MCNEIL BET: Chilled by all that ice skating? Warm up indoors with a square and contra dance starting at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at McNeil Canyon Elementary School. Elinor Preston from the big city of Portland, Ore. calls dances to music by the Spit City Slickers. Leave your winter boots at the door and put on those clean, soft-soled dancin' shoes. Admission is $6. Kids are free.