The Last Ten Months

I swore I’d keep some entertaining little Alaskan blog to keep everyone in the loop when I moved north. Well, that was ten months ago, I haven’t, and I don't desire to recall here every humorous or otherwise eventful thing that has happened in that time. I will, however, attempt to give you a synopsis of some key events by the month. Read it and weep.

July: Determined I was the better wildlife spotter while making the drive from Montana to Alaska with Dad. Also, that some folks assume two people traveling together must be married, because the resemblance we share couldn’t possibly be because he’s my father.

The free-range horse I saw long before Dad did. 

August: Toured Kenai Fjords Nat’l Park as a last hoorah with Dad. Picked up my fellow Missoulian, Shannon, and headed to Denali. Went flight-seeing, Stampede Trail walking, friend making, berry picking, river rafting, school-bus-in-the-park “camping”… even did a little amateur thumbing. Played many (many) rounds of cribbage, and taught some deprived souls how to play, too. Were lucky enough to hear about the Kantishna Music Festival, 93 miles into Denali National Park, so we claimed our spot in the temporary tent city, drank copious amounts of whiskey (for my tolerance level), and danced to live music until dawn. In the middle of Denali, in case you missed that part. 

The dancing likely looked something like this. 

On the second morning (which was sort of synonymous with the second night) we had to trek it seven miles (I managed to sweat my way into sobriety in time to fully loathe the last two) to get to a bus that would then drive us the five (freezing) hours out of the park. We didn’t have any food for those last 24 hours, or more than maybe 8 oz. of water each, or really anything that would have suggested responsible preparation for such an event… I don’t know how we forgot to plan for an entire day. We did think to bring the cribbage board though, so at least we had the entertainment part covered.

September:  Reestablished my childhood friendship with Nina, and started a few new ones as well. Learned a bit about my great-grandfather. (Like that he loved to garden, and that he had to wear prosthetic legs after an incident with a train. And that because of that accident, as compensation, he had a job all throughout the Depression that allowed him and my great-grandmother to keep the family fed and to feed others as they passed through, which is really quite a silver lining story when you think about it.) Discovered that Anchorage isn’t all that big, that the great outdoors are just minutes away, and that moose are everywhere, even in town, so one should watch where they are biking.

October: Spent the entire month listening to the Talking Heads. And making friends with the neighbor boys.  And laughing at my roommate’s crassness. And learning muscle insertions, which I promptly forgot. Seems like I must have done something productive in October, but it escapes me…

November: Spent all four days of break watching 30Rock and similar nonsense with Lanea and the boys, from the comforts of our mattress alcove. In our defense, darkness had descended at that point in the year, and winter sports are spendy. Also, we happen to be lazy. The four of us assembled a respectable Thanksgiving meal during that time, too, though. It was all cute and college-family-away-from-family like.

December: Played a lot of charades. Hours upon hours of charades. Flew home to Montana, to family, friends and my animals. Decided that my dancing doesn’t count as dancing until I learn to swing the cowboy way. Took my dogs for many-a-walk, and wondered how it happened that I didn’t discover the great walking spot back behind my parents’ sooner. Took one such walk on Christmas day, in a T-shirt.

Drastically improve Apples to Apples by tossing out the instructions and using the cards as charade prompts instead. If people don't believe you, a little cheap whiskey may be all you need to convince them.

January: Said goodbye to everything Montana way too soon. Contemplated, for the millionth time, how I could choose to live so far from Drake and Lita. And Raven and Riley, with their happy little tails. Went from no snow and (freakishly) balmy Montana weather, to the full blown winter of Alaska. Once again figured I should probably take up a winter sport... and started reading the Song of Ice and Fire series instead.

February: More winter.

March: Drug all three of my roommates, plus Nina, on our first whole-group outing, to see Lucero. Sang, danced and jumped my heart out front and center. Learned just how funny Nina is when she actually drinks, and just how eager she is to help others with their… sleeping arrangements. Then spent 45 minutes of the drive home telling Mandy about the girl-crush we have on her. Was that awkward for her? Probably. Followed Friday night Lucero up with a little Saturday night Lucero. Sang, danced, and jumped my heart out front and center all over again. It’s probably a good thing they were only there for one weekend, or Ben Nichols might have had to take out a restraining order on me. No thanks to Nina's eagerness.

April: Ventured to the local drag show for some solid entertainment. Later that month, had a mullet for approximately five minutes.  There was actually no relation between the two events, believe it or not. Although I did just mention our girl-crush on Mandy, and now you’re probably wondering about my sexual orientation…. But oh well, I’ve gotten used to it.

My mullet brings all the boys to the yard.

May: Reconfirmed that Homer is better than Anchorage, no contest. Incidentally, Homer is home for the next three months. And as it is the beginning of May now, I have nothing further to write here and you have just officially received my whole ten-month rundown in one short-ish blog entry. Congrats.