About writing...

Some of my friends I know are concerned for my well-being due to living here in Alaska and experiencing my first winter here. The perception is that it's dark 24 hours a day, that no one goes out, that it's a frozen wasteland filled with transient people with guns, that everyone is an alcoholic and that there is nothing to do except build fires and hope the polar bears and moose don't getcha!

Well, the moose part is true.

And the transient people part is partially true.

And the gun part is also partially true.

However, the rest of the overwhelming perceptions of Alaska are just not true. There are people I know who have been born and raised here. And there are a lot of native Alaskans who are Inuit, Inupiat, Aleut, Wolf Clan...There are people from every culture imaginable and subsequently, the food is TO DIE FOR! Awesome Thai food, Mexican, Spanish, French, Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Mongolian...There are significant Hawaiian, Russian and Samoan populations and people from different countries in Africa - notably The Sudan and South Africa.

It's an interesting place for sure. And it's NOT DARK ALL THE TIME! We have gorgeous, bright sunlight right now from about 9am to 4:30pm. It will reduce a bit as we head toward the equinox in December. The sun, as my friend Carol Ann noticed in my pictures, is at a different angle up here at this time of year. It's not so high up in the sky, but it's intense and shines against the mountains and ocean in the loveliest way.

The coolest parts of living in Alaska are the mountains and volcanoes and their juxtaposition with the Pacific ocean for sure. They are spectacular and different every day. The critters here are fascinating, as well. Strange and amazing from the whales to the birds to the bears to the moose.

My husband had surgery on Thursday morning (he's doing much better today - yesterday was not so hot) and I came home to prep the house for his arrival and let the dogs out. Well, I noticed some movement in the front yard and jumped about a mile when I looked out our picture window to see a BIG BIG BIG momma moose just a few feet from the window!! She had apparently decided the pumpkins by my front door and the mountain ash and mountain laurel in the front yard were too tasty to pass up!

Pre-surgery at the hospital.

Munching on the small mountain ash in the front yard!

Moving over to the mountain laurel!

Now munching on the pumpkins by Kelly's truck!

Eating shoots in the neighbor's garden. Look how TALL she is!

View of the Chugach from the hospital cafeteria.
It was a lovely morning. I watched the moon set and then the sun rise.

Here's the moon setting - it was a big, full moon called the Beaver Moon or the Full Frost Moon.
It was low and orange like the Harvest moon we see in Massachusetts in October.

So, in the pictures you can clearly see the sun. It rises in the morning just over the Chugach Mountains and then makes its way Westward to set in the early evening. It's not a vast tundra here  - Anchorage has 350,000 people! We've got skyscrapers, roads, schools, churches, two giant Universities, a vibrant food, arts and music scene. Loads of creative, nice people, world-class athletes, adventurers and artists of all varieties. Many of my friends are poets, writers, musicians and service people - restauranteurs, servers, engineers, landscapers. 

There IS frozen tundra but that's in the interior of Alaska and up north. We are about as far south as you can get and still be in Alaska. We're located right there by the Yukon Territory and across the way, not so far, is Russia. There's currently a typhoon barreling its way toward the Bering Sea, and that's a 1000 miles to our North. We'll get some rain and wind, called a Chinook, but we won't see the 45 foot seas that are predicted in its wake.

My friends in Massachusetts are concerned that I sit in the house, with the wind-driven snow piling up outside my door. That I never leave the house and I just sit here with my books and notebooks and journals and sit in front of my computer all day. Well, that's not the case!

I'm out and about every day! I have two dogs, a husband, a 19-year old friend living here (who is very much like my adopted daughter). I do laundry almost every day. I cook loads of goodies, meet friends out for lunch. When Mr. Big and Tall isn't recovering from surgery, we often head out for a drink and appetizers in the evenings or do yard work together. We go for hikes and kayak paddles and go birdwatching and whale watching on the coast. We go out with friends to watch football games on the weekends, we have friends over for dinner at least 2 or 3 times a month. Loads of people do the "pop-in" - so there are lots of impromptu get-togethers with people. My neighbors are very neighborly and everyone exchanges food and conversation. EVERYONE gardens here and has at least one dog. My neighbor next door? She has seven sled dogs! 

Truth be told, I'm more active and go more places and do more things now than I ever did. My go-to in Massachusetts was my beloved boat. And when I got divorced I no longer had boaty to play with, so I resorted to lots of long walks to fill that void. 

So, I appreciate everyone's concern for my well-being. I'm actually really happy here! My trip to Massachusetts was a bittersweet one - bitter in that I miss my friends and Salem and all that is so familiar. It was sweet, as well, in that being there and seeing all those things that are a little too familiar like my ex's real estate signs everywhere and reminders of my life with him and my poor doggies that passed away - it's sweet to be away from those reminders. 

Coming back to Alaska with my husband, my new little doggies, my new friends, my new environment, my new lease on life - it  is completely sweet with no bitter at all. No regrets. Forge ahead. New frontier, new challenges, renewal of spirit.

Thanks for reading!

Here's a wonderful essay about the art of writing. I found it fascinating.

Hasta la vista.