Yea, we still exist,
It's been a while but life is returning to abnormal here. My last
installment was Thursday November 11th so I'm way overdue. I did mention we were
going to Anchorage in my last email though and it has taken this long after
returning to recover sufficiently enough to write.
We flew out on Saturday the 13th around noon and landed in Anchorage in fog
that was so thick on arrival we did not see the runway until almost touchdown.
The fog got worse after we arrived and lasted through Sunday with the visibility
so bad you could only see probably about 20 yards. Back in Kotzebue that
Saturday night they had the first blizzard of the season. What I'm trying to
say is it was a good thing we left noon Saturday or we might not have gotten
into Anchorage until Monday. The landing on the return trip to Kotzebue the
Sunday night after Thanksgiving was also an experience with it being pitch black
and blowing snow. The gradual rocky descent in the wind, not being able to see
anything out the windows but the wings of the plane, the pilots constantly
increasing and decreasing thrust and constantly fighting the pitch and roll of
the plane........ We saw the runway lights as the plane literally it seemed
slammed onto the short runway (the only runway and sandwiched between the tundra
and the sea) while immediately reversing trust on the engines and hitting the
brakes. Sure, I'd stand in line for a job as a flight attendant in Alaska. The
flight that goes to Kotzebue also goes to Nome on a circuitous route each trip
alternating which direction they go in so it goes to Nome first on one trip,
then Kotz first on the next. Mind you, the folks aboard were notified before
leaving Anchorage that the weather in "Nome" was below acceptable landing
parameters and on arrival in Kotz it was announced it was still below minimal
but "they would see". The conditions for landing in Kotz as described above were
"OK" of course. I am constantly telling you, "Things are different here". I
wasn't worried though, after all, the pilots here are supposed to be among the
best in the world and when you look at what they fly in (the weather and
geography, not the plane), I believe it. Patty did have a rough time on the
landing though, something about a severe pain in her right hand and it being
soaking wet. It must have been coincidence but that was the hand I was holding.
Here in Kotz as I write we are down to having daybreak somewhere in the
neighborhood of 11am the morning with "light" coming between 11:30 and noon. It
has pretty much been overcast since we came back so I can't say "sunrise".
Darkness returns between 3:30 and 4pm. Daylight will continue to shorten until
the winter solstice on December 21st when the day from sunrise to sunset is a
little over an hour long. The temps had moderated just before we left for
Anchorage and had stayed pretty much above zero but below freezing until just
after our return. When we returned to Kotz that night the temp was in the teens
but the wind and heavy snowfall made it a bit uncomfortable waiting for our ride
outside the airport. It stayed above zero until late last week when the temps
decided to return to normal for this time of year and fell to the teens below
zero. I have finally broken out my insulated coveralls for the ride to and from
work (always in darkness now). It has been snowing quite a bit and we have a
lot more snow out there now than we did all last winter making snowmachine
transportation on the streets more feasible. Folks have returned to dragging
their kids, groceries, and anything else they need on sleds. One man went by
the apartment Sunday with a dog on a tether in front of his machine while
pulling a racing dog sled with a young male aboard behind him. I had to laugh
when not 10 minutes later the same machine went by going the other direction
with not only the original operator aboard but the young male and the dog
squeezed on board with both enjoying the ride while the riderless sled followed
forlornly behind.
Lets see, the trip to Anchorage or life in Kotz?
Ok, in order I suppose. As I mentioned, we arrived in Anchorage on Saturday
evening and were picked up by Christy and Mike. On arrival at the house Patty
immediately began planning our work schedule and it started the next day.
Christy and Mike had done some painting in the house and they had begun staining
the table we had bought in New Orleans at an unfinished furniture store over
three years ago. This table we had planned to use in the dining room at the
house down there but we got involved with the planned move and it just sat in
its original box awaiting its fate. Now this table is big and it's made out of
something called Para wood which is actually rubber tree wood and is harder and
heavier than oak. It was actually the first thing we packed into the trailer
before driving to Alaska. We dragged it into the trailer then out again to
storage on arrival to Anchorage last year. After we bought the house, Christy
had movers take the stuff from storage and move it into the house. These guys,
who move furniture for a living complained about the weight of the box. So, the
first goal was to finish staining and coating the table. The second was to
finish painting the front room contrasting shades of sage and eggshell. In
between that of course multiple projects arose such as replacing a fan and light
fixture (on a 12-14 foot ceiling of course), and other home repair projects. In
between that was shopping for household supplies and groceries for
Kotz, a Christmas tree, studded tires for the truck (It's fun when the first
time you try to stop, the truck just refuses to on the slick surfaces-Alaska
stress test. The weather in Anchorage while we were there went above freezing
during the day and down to the teens at night with intermittent snow, sleet, and
rain making all surfaces slick as....... Ice of course.) and anything else we
just felt we could not live without. The days kind of alternated between
furiously trying to get the house perfect for Thanksgiving which included
decorating for Christmas and shopping for groceries and supplies for not only
Kotz but Thanksgiving too. The day before Thanksgiving all the painting and
staining was done and we had unpacked and hung the Christmas decorations we had
packed over two years ago and hauled up the Alcan Highway too. Each brought its
own flood of memories as it was unwrapped and hung in its new home. I have to
say that for the first time in our lives we have a hearth to hang stockings on
and when we were finished with the old decorations and the new ones we just
bought, the hearth was just beautiful. Patty lovingly unpacked her china that
had also made the long road trip up the Alcan-including the 360 degree spin out
with truck and 25 foot trailer on black ice with all ending up in a snow bank
just 20 miles from the Alaska border. Not a piece was damaged and she set a
beautiful table. Christy had some prints we had bought the last trip down to
Anchorage matted and framed and once they were hung, everything was complete.
For us it was like a dream house. We had always dreamed of something like this
but never dreamed it would come to pass. The pieces of the puzzle that ended up
with us in that time at that place are multitude and while each of us worked
hard to get where we were and are, we did not do it alone. Many had a hand in
this; most still living, some not. I will not go into detail or mention names
but thanks to you all and while I am not a bible thumper-thank you god. I only
pray that I can give back what we have been blessed with.
Cathy, Gary, and Ester, Gary's mother and his sister Marian flew in
Thanksgiving eve. Thanksgiving day we sat down to smoked turkey stuffed with
Italian sausage, merliton dressing with shrimp and bacon (thanks to Tony and
Deborah my brother and sis in law who mailed them to us), a huge Wop salad,
mashed potatoes (darned northerners), an orange and sweet potato casserole,
mincemeat pie, homemade pumpkin pie (real pumpkin-not canned) and bread pudding.
Needless to say it was a good feed and a good feeling to be together again as a
family (with a few extras).
The next day the other four Kotzebue refugees were at the stores for 5am.
Not Patty and I though. We spent the day packing all the stuff we had already
bought and hauling it to Alaska air cargo to ship back to the Arctic. We had
filled the chest freezer at the house and had to make room for Cathy and Gary to
fill it back up with their stuff. We shipped over 600 pounds back here with
most of it being groceries (and one ice auger for spring fishing). We returned
on Sunday with two ice chests and a backpack filled with fresh fruits,
vegetables, and breads. Cathy and crew returned on Wednesday with Cathy and Gary
shipping over 800 lbs back. It sounds like a lot and believe me it is. It
costs 30 cents a pound to ship groceries back and Alaska Air will keep the
frozen stuff frozen and the cold stuff cold on both ends. Consider we pay 1.99 a
pound for a whole chicken and they average 4 1/2 pounds. That's around $9.00 for
one. At Costco its $8.00 for two which amounts to about .88 cents a pound with
.30 added for shipping. This amounts to 1.18 lb vs. 1.99 lb-a substantial
savings. Needless to say we have big freezers here but right now if you need
space-just put it outside for a bit. Anyway since Gary has time off from work
during the week he used our snowmachine which has a hitch and our 10 foot
handmade sled to pick up the shipments. With all the snow in town the machine
and sled was the best way to get it home. Poor Gary had to pick up our 600 lbs
and carry it up the stairs, his and Cathy's 800lbs and carry it up their stairs,
and his mothers shipment which I do not know the size of and haul it up her
stairs. Our frozen stuff he just put in our storage shed as the temps were near
zero. Boy am I glad he picked up those loads. That's one job I was really
dreading.
Well, I did not get to mention the shoveling of snow at the house followed
by the application of salt to keep us from sliding down the outside stairs or
driveway. I did not get to mention that the house is at the end of a cul-de-sac
and when they plow the streets they pile the snow in the middle of the circle
where kids dig tunnels in it and make snow forts. I did not mention the trucks
on the side of the road vending sand bags people buy and put in their truck beds
or trunks for traction. I didn't mention the sheer raw beauty of the
snow-covered mountains surrounding Anchorage or the winter landscape with the
Christmas decorations making for a picture book Christmas appearance. I didn't
mention the day we took off from all the work and shopping to drive up to
Hatcher Pass, a ski and snowmachine area about a 45 minute drive north from the
house that's as beautiful as any ski resort in the lower 48 or the fact that
Christy tried snowboarding for the first time and busted her a.. -not for
the first time. But I suppose I did mention enough for now. I suppose the next
letter will be about life in Kotz and winter in the Arctic as boring as that is.
If you read this last sentence I suppose you're in for the long haul and a
glutton for punishment. So don't despair, I'll write again soon.
You folks take care,
Carlo
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Last updated:
08/29/05