Alaska Hosts the PNWD

You may have noticed I haven’t posted anything here in a while.  For the last six weeks or so life was just too overwhelming and busy.  As a sanity-saving measure I did not make time to write.  I didn’t even make much time for the introspection necessary to write something interesting.  Getting through one task after another without falling apart was the big goal – anything else was gravy.  I don’t think I will write about all of it, because most of it is banal and boring to anyone not living it.  You lucky readers will get just the highlights.

One of the things taking up my attention lately was the Pacific Northwest District Assembly, held in Anchorage last weekend.  Alaska has never had the honor to host anything UU-specific like this.  Knowing that we may not get to host it again, we pulled out all the stops.  Since this was the 50^th anniversary of the PNWD, the theme was a birthday celebration. The event went really well, but it was a lot of work.  If any of you came up for this event, thanks for coming and I hope you had a great time.

Talking to people, the PNWD was eye-opening for many Alaskan UUs.  Due to the logistics and costs involved, most of us don’t get to interact with other UU churches very often.  This isolation can lead to people being fairly uninterested in the UUA and the larger movement.  I hope that the interest piqued in many Alaskans about expanding our vision beyond our own churches continues and grows.

I have never been much of a joiner.  While it might be very nice to believe that I have such a charismatic personality that people are just dying to get to know me, the truth is it is very easy to attend and even join a church, and stay a stranger to most.  “Oh yes, I’ve met so-and-so” is not the same thing as a personal relationship. There is no doubt that I over-extended myself this spring, but I am finding that the best way to get to know  people is to get involved and do some work.  This is probably not a news flash to you, but it is progress for me.  I appreciate getting to know some our local members better.  Now I just need to figure out how to schedule increased involvement with times when my personal life is not blowing up.  Here’s to finding a balance between staying an outsider, and biting off more than you can chew!

It's Finally Spring!

Anchorage woke up this weekend. It is officially spring here now and everywhere I went people were walking, jogging, biking, and generally frolicking in the sunshine. I enjoyed the warm weather even more watching everyone else enjoy it. I don't think southerners can really understand the frenzy that comes over northerners when they finally get a chance to get outside without snow gear. The worst part of being a blog junkie is reading about people’s warm weather while I am still swearing at the snow. Now that spring has finally crept this far north I’m just giddy. Now begins the season where my children sigh at me a lot for forcing them outside. Again.

Big Red Crazy State

In light of yesterday's primary election you may all be forgiven for thinking the whole state of Alaska is crazy. I won't even argue.

Just please don't mention HER, OK? Thanks.

Not Just Ted Stevens

Tough day today. Several co-workers and friends knew the pilot who died along with Sen. Ted Stevens last night. Terry Smith was very well-regarded and will be missed. He just attended a memorial service a few weeks ago for his son-in-law, who also died in an aviation accident. I can't even image what it must be like for that family right now. Things are pretty somber around here.

A close friend of mine works with Smith's other daughter and used to work with him. I had to call her to tell her when I found out that he definitely was one of the fatalities. People had been on pins and needles all day; we knew there were four survivors, but not their identities.

I felt pretty down after I called her and heard about the reactions of his former associates on her side of the airport. A few minutes later Eva Cassidy's version of "How Can I Keep From Singing" came on my iPod. It helped. It's still a tough day, but it helped.

Welcoming the Darkness

It's gotten really dark around here. I went to the grocery store on my wild and crazy Saturday night and when I came out, it had gotten all the way dark. The nights have been getting dimmer lately, but I haven't been out at night much lately so this took me by surprise, like it does every year.

I know this probably reads at strange to most of you, but here in Alaska we go the whole summer without ever seeing true pitch darkness. I am such a sun worshiper that the return of the dark usually makes me sad and I dread the winter. Maybe it's because we had such a truly amazing summer this year that I can't begrudge it's ending. This fall we have actually been experiencing a real autumn and I could get used to that. Instead of feeling like I can't let it go, this summer left me sated and the evening dark was strangely cozy and comforting.

This time of year is the best for stargazing up here because it's dark enough to actually see the stars, but not yet too cold to go out and stare up at them. I know that by February, I will be barking at the moon from craving a little natural light. My new(ish) office has no windows which makes it even worse. Right now in this moment I'm liking it. I'm comfortable with season's change and that's a good place to be.

Sorry for the extended weather report, but there is something about this that feels different for me this year. Maybe I'm getting better at accepting things as they are and not what I want them to be. Boy, this post it pretty rambly so I'll just cut it off.

Eagle Encounter and Great Alaska Weekend

It is my firm opinion that no one loves summer like Alaskans do. I love it even more than most. Weekends like this are what makes it worthwhile to live with winter seven months of the year. Just beautiful.

We had a great 4th of July weekend here in south-central Alaska. The extended fam, my best girlfriend, and I went to the Girdwood Forrest Fair on Saturday. Girdwood is a bedroom community based around a ski resort and also the infamous home of Ted Stevens's re-modeled house. They have a music festival there every year that features lots of booths selling only hand made goods, sort of like a small state fair run by hippies. We brought a pic nic and spent the day in the sunshine in the mountains. I think I'll plan the logistics differently next time, but it was a good time. I was the driver so no bier garden for me, but maybe next year.

Yesterday, the girls and I went to the local swimming hole lake and got up close and personal with an eagle. Anchorage residents can be pretty blase about encounters with wildlife; we frequently have moose in our yard in the winter and bears are becoming more of a problem in some parts of town. (I'm not kidding, a bear recently ate a co-worker's cat. She lives sort of out in the woods though.) This was amazing even by Anchorage standards. We often see bald eagles flying around our house. They like to hunt for fish in the local lakes, but I have never been this close to one before. The eagle had its eye on some delicious looking goslings, when some seaguls chased it into a tree. They usualyl stay up pretty high so you don't see them down in the cottonwoods, but there it was trying to get one of those fuzzy little floating snacks. We finally went up near to the tree when we realized the seaguls weren't going to let it go anywhere, they are quite insistant, and we were only about 35 feet from the eagle. It was amazing and I will probably never get that close to an eagle outside a zoo ever again.

I made a big batch of Alaska-style bouillabaisse last night with salmon, halibut, cod, clams, and crab stock, all caught wild by someone I know. Real Alaskans consider me too much of a city girl to count, but I felt authentic last night. We finished up the evening on my deck with my husband and a good friend and a mojito watching the squirrels in the trees. The hot temperatures made the evening shade feel just perfect. I often dread the hassle and expectations of holidays, but this was the perfect ending to a great 4th of July weekend.