Even in relatively remote places, life can sometimes feel hectic. A couple evenings ago I felt the need to get out of the house and just be elsewhere. Our household number has grown past capacity, and though everyone is plenty friendly, the house felt crowded that afternoon. Since the murres are busy laying eggs, I’d wanted to visit my common murres and thick-billed murres on High Bluffs. However, as often…
Since this post is something that’s been on my mind for awhile, the content here isn’t particularly light. As another warning, this is copied more or less straight from my journal and took about 4 hours of sitting to write, so the train of thought may do more wandering and be less composed than usual. Or not. Su 3 May 2015 Resurrect Art Coffee House, Seward, AK My timing…
A few weeks ago I had a classic Steph day: my Wednesday afternoon and evening went from plan-less… to changing plans as I made them… to pleasantly impacting. In a fitting way – as you’ll see later – I was going to run to Beaver Sports to get running shoe advice before running back to the apartment. However, I decided that wasn’t very smart since my shins hadn’t been running…
In about an hour from now (around 01:00), I will have landed to visit UAF for a long weekend exactly 8 years ago. My, how the time flies. A few weeks ago I realized that – for the first time ever – I had completely forgotten that March 20th marked the anniversary of my puppy Pixie’s passing. If anyone missed my sob story about how she directly connects with my…
For people who have homes, reminders of memories are typically visible all around. Photographs, trinkets, books, music, and artwork decorate the walls and shelves that surround lives. There’s the photo of the family in front of the U.S. Capitol from one of our 3 free trips to D.C. for the National Spelling Bee. There’s the book about the the creation of the national parks. There’s the Taco Bell hot sauce…
There I was, peacefully watching the scenery of the Cascades region of Oregon pass by, when the announcements started. First I heard, “Will available attendants immediately report to the downstairs of train car #13.” A few minutes later: “If there’s a doctor on board, please make yourself known to train attendants.” “We’re looking for anyone with emergency medical training.” Huh, I wonder what’s happening, I wondered to myself. After a…
While I won’t say I’ve found my calling in life, I’ll say I recognize what makes me happy. It’s true that many friends of mine can list off the favorites that seem to define me, such as purple, puppies, polar bears, plaid, New Zealand, Alaska, and Michigan State. However, the kind of life that I enjoy doesn’t necessarily revolve around those. Here’s one moment in Hawaii that just gives me…
Today I swam in Hawaii for the first time in my almost 2 weeks of being here. Some of you may find that hard to understand, but saltwater just doesn’t have a huge draw for me. I’m a Michigander and will take freshwater over saltwater any day. However, snorkeling is pretty popular here on the Big Island, and I’ve known I’ve been missing out on the underwater world so far….
Apparently Fairbanks read my last blog post about town, and it wasn’t too happy with my thoughts. For the last week – especially the last few days – this town has really brought its ‘A’ game. Let me rewind for a minute. Last Wednesday I left Anchorage for Wasilla on the Valley Mover bus, which – fyi – is a fantastic deal at a mere $7 for more than 40…
A couple years ago I saw a meme-like image similar to the one above. The text with it said: Fairbanks – Living here doesn’t change you. It just makes you unfit to live anywhere else. When I saw that the first time, I laughed and agreed. How many other places are there where you can call up the Tesoro gas station to get a report on the temperature sign kitty-corner…