Some people seem surprised when a big southwest wind on a 20-foot plus tide turns the Spit Road into a big wall of surf splashing on the road. Here’s a life hack, Betseroids. If Kachemak Bay has so many whitecaps it looks like one ginormous washing machine, a high tide will bring all that energy up to the Spit. What do you get when those waves hit the rocks? Kablam! The plow people will be scraping rocks, driftwood and car parts off the road, that’s what.

Nature sure loves to throw energy at the world — or suck it out. Every time the Betster looks at the windsock flying horizontal on the loon sculpture by Beluga Slough, yours truly thinks, Wow, if only we could harness that power. Oh right: we can. OK, if only we could bottle it up. The Silicon Valley geniuses are working on it.

Or what about when the temperature drops from 25 degrees to zero in a day? That would be entropy in action, all those little atoms going from zoom-zoom-zoom to couch potatoes binge watching Breaking Bad. In the absence of a steady diet of sunshine, nature wants to chill. We know how it goes in January. Too much darkness catches up with you and then things just slow down.

But did you notice how the sky looks a little bit brighter in the morning? Say your commute happens about 8:30 a.m. In about a month, the sun will be poking its head over Poot Peak and you’ll be wondering what you did with your sunglasses. Minute by minute, citizens. Minute by minute.

In Washington, D.C., tomorrow the civil transition of power happens. President Obama becomes a private citizen and Mr. Trump assumes office. Some will rejoice and some will despair. Words will be written about this. Wise people will pontificate and idiots will attempt to sound intelligent. Some of us won’t know the difference.

Here at Latitude 59 degrees and some change, we’ll continue on with the big worries: shoveling the walk, trying not to slip on ice, keeping the fire stoked, gathering coal, baking bread and trying to get the car started in the morning. Bonne chance, as they say in France, and plug in the engine block heater. We finally have winter, which means fun things to do, like these Best Bets:

BEST IT’S A MYSTERY BET: Who knows what makes a teenager’s brain tick? It might seem like rocket science, but people who study these things now have some ideas. Learn how to understand adolescents at “Adult Night: Caring, Connecting and Communicating with Teens” at 5:30 p.m. today at Flex High School. Kachemak Bay Family Planning Clinic’s REC Room sponsors the event.

BEST TELLY BET: This winter you actually can ski, so you won’t have to enjoy winter sports vicariously by watching the annual Telluride Mountainfilm Festival. The fest features short films on the environment, travel and cultures beyond our imagining. Two sets of films show at 7 p.m. today and Saturday. Proceeds benefit Community Recreation programs. Come early at 5:30 p.m. today for the ski and winter gear swap.

BEST GATHER TOGETHER BET: Artist in residence Mandy Bernard starts putting up her way-cool installation at Bunnell Street Arts Center this week. She could use a hand from noon-4 p.m. Saturday at Bunnell, one of the public events she offers during her visit at the gallery.

BEST CARVE IT BET: Yahoo! The Kachemak Ski Club’s Rope Tow has opened, so you don’t have to drive north to find good downhill slopes. Hours are 11 a.m.- 4p.m. Sunday at Mile 3.5 Ohlson Mountain Road.

BEST CLICK IT BET: New to an Alaska winter? Want to learn how to go forever on cross-country skis? The Kachemak Nordic Ski Club offers beginner lessons from 10 a.m.-noon Sunday at the Lookout Mountain Trails, Ohlson Mountain. An intermediate clinic is 1-3 p.m. with a fee of $25 for each clinic.

BEST GET READY BET: Read the Kachemak Gardener’s column this week and then attend the Homer Garden Club’s meeting at 2 p.m. Sunday to get more ideas. Garden designer and writer Brenda Adams presents “Truly Compelling Combinations.”