July 31, 2014
It’s hard to think about winter right now, when we are
finally getting some nice sunny, warm weather here at the cabin. If I am to tell my stories in chronological
order, that is my next task…but let me digress a little…
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| [Our cabin, from the airstrip.] |
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| [Our back deck - You can't tell, but the inlet is just beyond those trees - and that's our Alvin.] |
Cam, a friend and neighboring cabin owner, called yesterday
to let us know he’s coming out this weekend.
He wants to see if we need anything so he can stop on the way and pick
it up for us, but he also wants to know how the berries are doing because his wife,
Denise, loves to come out to pick berries.
Otherwise, she is content to stay home (in Anchorage) and do other
things. I went out to check on the
berries, so I could let him know. The
cranberries are there, but it will be a while before they are ready to
pick. The swamp at the north end of our
airstrip is still so wet that I can’t even get close to the blueberry patches
yet. I can only hope that it dries out
in the next month, and that the berries are there this year. We’ve had so little sunshine this year, I’m afraid
it may affect the blue- berries...
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| [Early cranberries.] |
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| [My Ready Tuffs in the bog..] |
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| [The swamp is just too wet to check on berries.] |
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| [Just 15' off north end of airstrip.] |
Anyway, the dogs and I got our little walk in, and I just
decided to enjoy the rest of the day. I
took a few other pictures that I will share with you later... I gave Cam our
shopping list and let him know that Denise may not want to come this weekend…
Anyway, back to my first winter in Alaska….
First, I have to tell you that when I interviewed for that
job, I found out that Alaskans speak a very different language than
Californians… My prospective boss was
telling me how great it would be to work for him (which was true for the most
part), and advised me that the hours were flexible, etc. This was just what I was looking for…especially
after working in family law in litigation in California and being totally
stressed all the time. I felt that doing
estate planning would be non-stressful, in comparison, and after having my own
practice for the last couple of years, I was used to flexible hours and was
happy to hear that I would be able to continue working that way. However, once I started working – on the very
first day I had to decide whether I wanted to work 8 to 5, or 9 to 6! That’s what he meant by flexible. I was going backwards, and had to get used to
the idea of working 40+ hours a week again.
I had not had to do that for almost 15 years! Even as a paralegal, I usually only worked 35
to 37.5 hours a week. Boy was I spoiled!
This job is what set me on my new career path in estate
planning, though, and I am forever grateful to Dave Shaftel for all the
experience and knowledge I gained while working for him.
I think I mentioned in my last post that I had rolled my
Bronco. Totaled it out, in fact! I still remember hanging upside down by my
seatbelt, with all my stuff (it was during the move) sprawled out all around me… So, I was without a car again, only this time
I had no money to get another one! I
bought this old blue Chrysler – front wheel drive, which is supposed to be
better in snow and ice, for $300. Had a good heater…life was good. In the meantime, we had also moved into an
apartment that was owned by the true landlord from hell. We actually wound up moving out after the
first couple of months, and found a house that was perfect for us. It had actually been converted into 2 units,
so Gina and I could have our own spaces…
Now the days are getting much shorter, and it was cold – oh,
so cold…. But I was still wearing my
little “skirt suits”… remember them? I had
worn skirt suits and high heels for so long that I didn’t think a thing of
it! Besides, my car had a good heater,
the house was heated, and the office was heated… I was doing fine. Then the cold snap came… I was at work, and the temperature was
heading down below zero… By the time I
got off work and went down to the parking lot, it was 25 to 30 below and my car
would not start! And it was not getting
any warmer! (Didn’t get any warmer for 3
weeks, as a matter of fact.) I had lots
of people try to help me jump start it, including the tow truck person that I
called, but no one could get it started.
That’s when I had to take the bus for the first time in years. I had to walk down to the central bus station
(a few blocks away) to catch the bus. It was really cold,
and my legs were absolutely freezing! I
managed to figure out what bus to take and got on, headed to my warm home. There was ice on the inside of the bus windows!
Since we had just moved into this house, I was not that familiar with
the neighborhood. Besides, it was
already dark… By the time I realized
that we had just passed my house and pulled the cord to alert the bus driver,
we were already a block or more down the street before he stopped. I got out and headed toward the house and it
was so cold that I actually thought I would freeze to death before I got
there. I actually had images of my
frozen body out in the snow….found the next day when the sun came up…. I contemplated going up to knock on someone’s
door to explain my dire situation, but decided to tough it out and got the rest
of the way to my house. The next day I
went to the Thrift Store and bought a warmer coat and every pair of warm looking pants I
could find. I did not even care that
they may be too short for me – as long as they would keep my legs warm and get
me through this winter! It was quite a
rude awakening. My car still did not
start – it just sat in the parking lot for the whole 3 weeks of that cold snap,
which I was told was the worse one they had in over 10 years. That’s when I found out why people have
plug-ins for their cars – to keep the engine warm so it will start on just such
occasions. At least I had some warm
pants for that darn walk to and from the bus…
That first winter was when I also found out that if you
pick a Christmas tree and tie it to the top of your car to bring it home, it
will freeze and then all the sap will drip all over the floor once you get it inside
and set up…
…and that the mailman will not deliver your mail unless you
have shoveled enough snow away from the mailbox that he can drive up to it and
drop the mail in the box…without having to get out of his vehicle. And the city snow plows will make your job of keeping it clear even more difficult when they plow your street. We had a running battle with the mailman over
this and took it personally, until we found out that was just the way things
were here… Neither rain, nor sleet, nor snow...just did not apply.
…and that in Anchorage it was not dark 24 hours a day in the winter – the
sun actually did come up for about 5 hours a day (give or take a little)…. Alaska is so big - that is only true in the northern part of the State.
…that people in Alaska did not live in igloos (although some may live without indoor plumbing...), but lived in nice houses
and/or apartments, and there were actually high-rise buildings in Anchorage
that people worked in…although I did know that already, since I had visited
here before.
…that moose and bear were not just limited to the ourskirts
of town – they actually lived in town with
the rest of us…
…that just because you have 4-wheel drive doesn’t mean you
can drive as fast as you want to on snow and ice (the bus driver told me this during
a vent)…
...that you always need to make sure you have lots of warm clothes, and maybe even some food, packed in your car in order to survive in case you break down somewhere...
…that rear wheel drive vehicles are useless in Alaska in the winter…
…that there are things called studded tires that are
supposed to help you get a grip on icy roads… (I’m sure that a lot of you in
the northern states knew this already but I had not lived in the
north since I was a kid…prior to being old enough to drive...so I had never heard of such a thing.)
…that oil heating, baseboard heating, and split entry houses
are common in Alaska, and that you do not want to live without a garage to park your car in the
winter…
…that the hoarfrost sticking to chain link fences is
absolutely gorgeous and sparkly when it’s really cold…in fact, it makes
everything gorgeous and sparkly…
…that there are “two seasons in Alaska – winter and
construction”…
…that “the odds are good – but the goods are odd” (a very well known saying regarding Alaska men)…
Slowly, but surely, I began acquire some furniture to make
the house more like home, more warm clothing to stay as comfortable as possible in
such extreme weather, and I began to adjust to this brand new world. I had the upcoming summer to think about and
anticipate… and even though I was lonely and missing my friends, I did have my
daughter and grandson close to me and I was hoping that lots of friends and family
would come visit me in this wondrously beautiful place.
Next time I will tell you about my next summer in Alaska, and how I met my husband, which is always a fun story to tell...
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