Monday, April 9th 2007
Hello again,
I must apologize for the long gap in updates, however, with winter dragging on, I had to wait for a change of season to be inspired to write. A lot has happened since February and for the most part all good things. In brief, we moved out of the Hillside Chalet into a nice but dated 2 bedroom home that is in a nice older neighborhood in “mid-town” Anchorage. Our neighbors, also our landlords, are very nice people who have fully remodeled the main bathroom for us and on occasion bring homemade coffee cake to us on Sunday mornings. I am still enjoying my work, and Chris is once again back in Boise for the week for his work. All things being generally mundane and normal, there are a few interesting tidbits I will share.
We were graced with the start of the Fur Rondy and Iditarod sled dog race in early March, and I like most dutiful Alaskans, braved the rather chilly Saturday morning air to cheer on the dogs and mushers out of the gate on the corner of 4th and D streets in down town Anchorage. Chris was nursing a rather stubborn hangover in bed and opted out of the winter festivities, so I went alone. We discovered the night before the race, how crazy down town becomes and how many tourists from all over the world descend on the town just to see the start of the Great Race. What was far more fascinating though, was watching the ridiculous fashion that came with the tourists. Some highly fashion conscious snow goers were wearing fluorescent hunting orange snow suits that covered all but their eye balls while others forgot that they were closer to the North Pole than the equator and dawned itsy bitsy mini skirts and high heels as if there were a warm tropical breezes instead of the 55 mph arctic winds that dropped the wind chill factor down into something like the minus 20’s or 30’s. For those few stupidly dressed girls, we winced at their sight in disbelief knowing that they must not have walked more than 10 steps to the front door of the bar.
Hello again,
I must apologize for the long gap in updates, however, with winter dragging on, I had to wait for a change of season to be inspired to write. A lot has happened since February and for the most part all good things. In brief, we moved out of the Hillside Chalet into a nice but dated 2 bedroom home that is in a nice older neighborhood in “mid-town” Anchorage. Our neighbors, also our landlords, are very nice people who have fully remodeled the main bathroom for us and on occasion bring homemade coffee cake to us on Sunday mornings. I am still enjoying my work, and Chris is once again back in Boise for the week for his work. All things being generally mundane and normal, there are a few interesting tidbits I will share.
We were graced with the start of the Fur Rondy and Iditarod sled dog race in early March, and I like most dutiful Alaskans, braved the rather chilly Saturday morning air to cheer on the dogs and mushers out of the gate on the corner of 4th and D streets in down town Anchorage. Chris was nursing a rather stubborn hangover in bed and opted out of the winter festivities, so I went alone. We discovered the night before the race, how crazy down town becomes and how many tourists from all over the world descend on the town just to see the start of the Great Race. What was far more fascinating though, was watching the ridiculous fashion that came with the tourists. Some highly fashion conscious snow goers were wearing fluorescent hunting orange snow suits that covered all but their eye balls while others forgot that they were closer to the North Pole than the equator and dawned itsy bitsy mini skirts and high heels as if there were a warm tropical breezes instead of the 55 mph arctic winds that dropped the wind chill factor down into something like the minus 20’s or 30’s. For those few stupidly dressed girls, we winced at their sight in disbelief knowing that they must not have walked more than 10 steps to the front door of the bar.
The city closes down all streets one block North and South of “D” street as well as the 15 or so blocks along D leading out toward the Chester Creek green belt where the mushers can catch the main trail on to Wasilla for the official “re-start” of the race the following Sunday morning. We had to park some 12 blocks away from our little bar and I had to have help from Chris to keep myself upright in the winds. We speculated that any exposed skin would surely be frost bitten within a few minutes if not covered properly. We chose to wear the usual: hat, gloves, scarf and coat with a normal shirt or sweater. For that night, and for the first time, while sitting at a small table at Darwin’s Theory- a local downtown bar- we felt like and were treated as locals. The crew sent up by Cabellas was celebrating their sponsorship of one of the mushers and bought us round of drinks for no reason at all. Everyone in that crowded little bar was having a very good time, and Chris and I were no exceptions. I, however, was in my usual roll of driver and responsible overseer of bar tabs, car keys, coats and wallets as well as the casual observer of all odd activity and fashion.
On the Sunday following the Anchorage start, I flew up to Wasilla with my flight instructor Heidi, and we tailed the racers up the Susitna river valley at the prescribed safe distance above and to the side of the dogs (about 75 feet above and 1500 feet on either side). It was a spectacularly sunny and clear day. The views of Denali and Mt. Foraker as the backdrop to the North and Sleeping Lady across the inlet made for a great day of dog chasing and sight seeing. On the way back, we crossed over the Cook Inlet’s Knik Arm and skirted the Chugach Mountains back in to Anchorage.
The start of the race and the month of March marked the 4th coldest on record, the longest stretch of below freezing temps and late onset of spring. When break up finally started toward the end of March, it came quickly with flooded streets that were waiting for the ice to melt over the storm drains. The standing water in the parking lot of my office was deep enough to warrant placing a trail of wooden pallets on the ground leading to back door of the office. My poor little car was once again rendered helpless, and I was forced to park on higher ground. The sloppy streets only lasted for a couple of days, and then as if on queue, all of the storm drain's ice blocks melted at once and all of the water was gone in less than an afternoon. That’s not to say that the snow is gone. We still have nearly 3 feet of snow in our front yard, but it is melting fast and I hope it will be mostly gone by the start of May.
Now for a little bit about shopping. Some of you may be aware of Chris’ great disdain for shopping and spending money in general. He is not “Cheap” in the truest sense of the word, but it is genuinely painful for Chris to spend money, even if it’s on things we need- like food. Chris’ mother Linda and I however, see things a little differently than Chris. We like to go to Costco- not to shop for shopping's sake, but to buy the things we use most in bulk, thus saving money in the long term. 14 rolls of toilet paper is cheaper to buy in bulk than 4 rolls at a time in the grocery store- besides, our grocery stores run out of food on occasion, especially in bad weather. So, with that in mind, when Chris’ mother Linda was here in January, we all went to Costco. On that trip, Linda and I were happily shopping with Chris in tow. We were picking out meats and frozen foods along with the proverbial 14 rolls of t.p. and we both made the mistake of checking on Chris. We asked him if he needed anything in particular while we were there. His solemn reply was simply- “a razor… so I can slit my wrists.” It was such a funny response that both Linda and started howling in laughter. I’m going to fast forward now- three months to the present.
I swear it was Chris’ idea- last week, he woke up early on Saturday morning and asked if I wanted to join him at Costco! I asked him if he was running low on razors, but he only rolled his eyes at me. So off we went to the land of Costco. And as if to remind us of how very small this world is I stumbled into someone from Boise. Joe Jenkins, his wife and some of their kids. Joe, for those of you who don’t know who he is, was a former co-worker of mine at Alphagraphics in Boise. He was our press operator and moved up to Alaska over a year ago to go work on the North Slope. I hadn’t spoken a word to him since he left and had assumed he moved back to Boise after his first winter on the slope. We weren’t great friends at Alphagraphics as both of us had kept to ourselves mainly, but Chris had lent him some mapping software a couple of years ago and one of his family members works with Chris at Amphire. At any rate, we worked well together. Oddly enough, he wasn’t living in Anchorage either, but rather 5 hours south of Anchorage in the small town of Soldotna on the Kenai Peninsula. He was in Anchorage for his monthly Costco shopping trip. Well, it was a nice reunion, we exchanged phone numbers and when Chris and I make our way down to Soldotna for Halibut fishing later this season, we’ll give him a call. It was a reminder that while Alaska is large, very large, that there are not many people here and it doesn’t take long to run into people you know.
More to come later this week…
Vered
(…and Zev too)
On the Sunday following the Anchorage start, I flew up to Wasilla with my flight instructor Heidi, and we tailed the racers up the Susitna river valley at the prescribed safe distance above and to the side of the dogs (about 75 feet above and 1500 feet on either side). It was a spectacularly sunny and clear day. The views of Denali and Mt. Foraker as the backdrop to the North and Sleeping Lady across the inlet made for a great day of dog chasing and sight seeing. On the way back, we crossed over the Cook Inlet’s Knik Arm and skirted the Chugach Mountains back in to Anchorage.
The start of the race and the month of March marked the 4th coldest on record, the longest stretch of below freezing temps and late onset of spring. When break up finally started toward the end of March, it came quickly with flooded streets that were waiting for the ice to melt over the storm drains. The standing water in the parking lot of my office was deep enough to warrant placing a trail of wooden pallets on the ground leading to back door of the office. My poor little car was once again rendered helpless, and I was forced to park on higher ground. The sloppy streets only lasted for a couple of days, and then as if on queue, all of the storm drain's ice blocks melted at once and all of the water was gone in less than an afternoon. That’s not to say that the snow is gone. We still have nearly 3 feet of snow in our front yard, but it is melting fast and I hope it will be mostly gone by the start of May.
Now for a little bit about shopping. Some of you may be aware of Chris’ great disdain for shopping and spending money in general. He is not “Cheap” in the truest sense of the word, but it is genuinely painful for Chris to spend money, even if it’s on things we need- like food. Chris’ mother Linda and I however, see things a little differently than Chris. We like to go to Costco- not to shop for shopping's sake, but to buy the things we use most in bulk, thus saving money in the long term. 14 rolls of toilet paper is cheaper to buy in bulk than 4 rolls at a time in the grocery store- besides, our grocery stores run out of food on occasion, especially in bad weather. So, with that in mind, when Chris’ mother Linda was here in January, we all went to Costco. On that trip, Linda and I were happily shopping with Chris in tow. We were picking out meats and frozen foods along with the proverbial 14 rolls of t.p. and we both made the mistake of checking on Chris. We asked him if he needed anything in particular while we were there. His solemn reply was simply- “a razor… so I can slit my wrists.” It was such a funny response that both Linda and started howling in laughter. I’m going to fast forward now- three months to the present.
I swear it was Chris’ idea- last week, he woke up early on Saturday morning and asked if I wanted to join him at Costco! I asked him if he was running low on razors, but he only rolled his eyes at me. So off we went to the land of Costco. And as if to remind us of how very small this world is I stumbled into someone from Boise. Joe Jenkins, his wife and some of their kids. Joe, for those of you who don’t know who he is, was a former co-worker of mine at Alphagraphics in Boise. He was our press operator and moved up to Alaska over a year ago to go work on the North Slope. I hadn’t spoken a word to him since he left and had assumed he moved back to Boise after his first winter on the slope. We weren’t great friends at Alphagraphics as both of us had kept to ourselves mainly, but Chris had lent him some mapping software a couple of years ago and one of his family members works with Chris at Amphire. At any rate, we worked well together. Oddly enough, he wasn’t living in Anchorage either, but rather 5 hours south of Anchorage in the small town of Soldotna on the Kenai Peninsula. He was in Anchorage for his monthly Costco shopping trip. Well, it was a nice reunion, we exchanged phone numbers and when Chris and I make our way down to Soldotna for Halibut fishing later this season, we’ll give him a call. It was a reminder that while Alaska is large, very large, that there are not many people here and it doesn’t take long to run into people you know.
More to come later this week…
Vered
(…and Zev too)
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