As each winter goes on seemingly endlessly here, I think more and more often of perhaps someday leaving Alaska because it’s just too hard. Then days like today happen where the sky is endless and blue, the breeze is gentle, it’s not too hot or too cold and almost all the snow is gone from my yard. And I wonder how I could have ever thought of leaving. Then I see the moose poop all over my now exposed lawn and know I can never leave a place where moose come to my yard for the pause that refreshes. Continue reading →
The difference between youth and old age
When you’re young and get a twinge somewhere, you barely think about it. When you’re old and you get a twinge, you immediately wonder if this is the big one. Continue reading →
The miseries of flying
The last time I traveled by plane was just a day after the incident on a United Airlines flight where a customer was dragged off the plane with a bloodied face, missing teeth and a concussion. As I deplaned from my Alaska Airlines flight in Anchorage, I turned to the attendants and pilots waiting at the front of the plane to say goodbye and thanked them for not beating up their customers. This was met by a moment of confused (stunned?) silence. As I continued out the door, I heard a delayed whoop of laughter.
I fly Alaska Airlines almost Continue reading →
This must be why I love Alaska
Woke up this morning, after weeks of sunshine, to clouds and rain. And it made me smile. True Alaskans, apparently, can only take so much sunshine and then their mood starts to sour. We need clouds and precipitation more often than most. Continue reading →
Why is anyone surprised
Why is anyone surprised about the incidents recently captured on video showing altercations between flight staff and passengers. The industry has made flying one of the worse experiences in life. Plane seats have shrunk to Lilliputian size while people have grown larger and larger. You have less leg room than you did in your mother’s womb. You are always on a full flight with no space to stretch or be comfortable. Restrooms are so small you can barely turn around in them. You are herded around like cattle. Everyone’s nerves are ready to snap by the time the plane takes Continue reading →
How you know you’ve possibly gone a little overboard with your dogs
I left the grocery store today with a bag that contained the ingredients for my meals for the next few days and treats for my dogs. The treats for the dogs cost more than all the other groceries combined. That should probably tell me something I don’t want to know. Continue reading →
It must be spring
I sneeze at least ten times every morning before I even make it to the coffee maker to turn it on. Why is it that my body seems to hate everything green and pretty? I lived almost thirty years in Barrow without a bad allergy season. Then I moved to Anchorage and all those memories of childhood visits to Dr. Dittenfass for allergy shots came rushing back. You’d think I’d outgrow it but no. I am apparently destined to be allergic to all natural things for the rest of my life. Continue reading →
Fantastical thinking… budget category
I’ve always wondered how Republicans can call themselves the party of fiscal conservatism when faced with the stark reality that the federal debt goes up under Republican presidents and down under Democratic presidents. Doesn’t make much sense, does it?
And now here we are faced with the same dilemma in Alaska. The Republican majority in the Senate crafts a budget that does not balance the budget; that calls for unspecified cuts in state government that they are too chicken to actually name; that depends on what can only be called voodoo economic reasoning; that relies on pots of money that Continue reading →
Alaskan signs of summer
My snow tires are off and my flannel sheets have been put away and replaced with cool cotton ones.
Let summer begin in Alaska! Continue reading →
Love the sun
Hate the mud. Breakup in Alaska is just butt ugly and there is nothing you can do about it except to keep your windows closed when driving so the splash only covers your car and not you. Continue reading →