Good morning, out there! Like most Alaskans, I occasionally feel a trifle claustrophobic here in southcentral, knowing there's only one road in or out of town. We have to drive 7 hours to reach the state line and our nearest neighbor - the Yukon Territory. Unless you're willing to drive around the clock, it's a 3-day trip to Seattle, some 1400 miles away by road ... or 3 1/2 hours by air.
I do sometimes miss the ability to drive for an hour or two & be with family ... but that's part of living here. You accept a certain isolation. No, life here is not primitive. Anchorage hasn't been "frontier" for many years; but we are on the edge of the frontier. It's not always for the faint of heart.
None of this is a "woe is me" party - it's just part and parcel of living here, on a different piece of the planet from the Lower 48. There is a prevailing sentiment here that we're barely a part of the U.S., being so far away from everything "down there."
Enough of that. Our weather is warmish - some 23 degrees this morning, or about our regular daytime high already. We'll get into the upper 20s today, and perhaps hit 30 tomorrow, with a chance of more snow moving in. I'm hoping for an "Alaskan" snow, where the individual flakes are silver-dollar sized, and a quarter-inch thick. Those pile up in a hurry!
Our acting mayor (sitting in for Mark Begich, who is now in the U.S. Senate) is having to make some tough choices due to a $17 million budget shortfall. He and seven others have filed for the job, with an election coming up in April (I think).
My younger daughter (13) has decided she wants to accompany me to the pistol range tomorrow, and "shoot the pistol at least once." Good for her. Safety lesson tonight, and some target practice tomorrow.
I had given her Brigid's post on self-defense (here), and she's now serious about learning how to fire the gun, which she was previously a bit scared of. I told her that once she learns how it works, it will cease to be a "scary" object, and become just another tool - like a drill or a pair of pliers.
That's about it for now - y'all be good, and if you can't be good, be careful!
URGENT CALL TO REPENTANCE: All the ends of the world shall remember and turn to the Lord. And all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before Thee. For the Kingdom is the Lord’s and He rules among the nations. (Psalm 22:27-28)
2 comments:
Good on your daughter!
Your next step, of course, (once she finds out how much fun shooting can be) is to insist that she pay for at least some fo the ammo she'll go through. ;-)
It'll get her ready for when she has to pay for her own gas and insurance when she get's her driver's license in a few years.
We'll see how she does tomorrow, but that's a good point. Especially since kids in Alaska can drive at 14!
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