Currently: January

Currently living/working: January has been a mix of work, winter dormancy & play. I actually clocked 35 hours at the library (let me be clear—for the whole month, which prob seems like a joke according to traditional workers). Justin has had lots of things come up for his tourism job in the last week keeping him very busy, such as a completely frozen building that could have been avoided which he now has to deal with. The month has felt very full! 

Current mood: This winter is testing me, which I think is the sentiment for many people. According to our mayor, we’ve had the most consecutive days below zero since 1918. It’s more than a polar vortex, and many of us are cranky ice goblins. I think we’ve normalized life below 0, but when it’s gets lower than -20, that’s when we double up on the Alaska’s uniform of long johns, but can’t do much about the prickly feeling on any exposed skin, the burning nostrils, the cold-induced cough that slips out, the tearing eyes, the square tires, the dead batteries, the heat source failures, the problems that we could never have imagined. And sure, we’ve had these surges of warmth randomly happen, but then we get ice, which is not a norm for us and causes other issues. 

Currently excited for: But alas! In Feb, we will gain 7 min of daylight per day, bringing the grand total to more than 8 hours/day! 

Currently regretting: You can never let your guard down in Alaska. Since last winter was like an old dog—trying with all its might to get up and then collapsing—we didn’t think we’d need our snowblower this winter. As such, we didn’t start it up this summer to service it, and we let it get buried behind our shed, so it sits useless as the snow piles up. Alaska said hahahahahaha.

Currently thankful for: I think my personal mental health saving grace this winter has been having a job that forces me to leave the house. But also fun things! Like Ted the cat, outdoor winter recreation (when reasonable), game night, book club, craft circles … everyone wants to be a hermit, but it is not really the healthy choice! 

Current guilty pleasure: My guilty pleasure was that after 3 years of talking about it, I finally bought myself a new pair of XC skis! They are so darn expensive, and I tried to buy used, but ultimately, I proved to myself that I ski enough to justify replacing my 15-year-old skis with brand-new ones. Now that I’ve already skied 10 times in January alone, I have 0 regrets. 

Justin’s guilty pleasure this month was going to Vegas with his Healy cronies & seeing the Zac Brown Band at the Sphere, making it his 5th concert there! 

Current confession: It takes a certain breed of people to live in Interior Alaska. Look how nerdy my text conversations are; we have our own Alaska Lexicon talking about our microclimates within Healy and the weather’s drastic changes.

Currently proud of: Indoor plants bring me joy, especially in the winter. However, I only have 3 windows that get any semblance of natural light, with no direct sunshine from Nov 20-Jan. 20. I have experimented with so many clippings from folks over the years, only to have a mile-long funeral procession of said plants. But I have not given up. I think I finally have 3 sole survivors!!! I have a pothos variety which has lived the longest. I have a succulent that is on its 4th winter. And the aloe plant that is on its 2nd winter. Simple joys. 

Currently not excited for: Good thing we are working through our winter because everything feels extraordinarily expensive. What in the capitalism? What in the socialism??? Our tiny cabin electric bill was the highest it’s been in our 7 years here ($242) thanks to the extended cold snap, our health insurance premium is through the roof, and we bought a bunch of supplies for our investment in yurt #2 this month. 

Currently amazed by: Justin found his lost knife!!!!!!

Currently worried about: The sufferfest and sobering experience of watching someone die is a lot. 

Currently reading: So many books this month!!!

There are mixed reviews about Melissa Arnot Reid’s Enough: Climbing Toward A True Self on Mount Everest, however I appreciated Melissa’s writing & raw honesty, and even after all the reveals, I still hold Melissa in high regard. For those who don’t know of Melissa, she is popular in the mountaineering world. She summited Everest 6 times, including once without oxygen! Melissa was always an inspiration as a badass adventurer to me, and I was elated to meet her at Outdoor Retailer in 2016 (she is the other blond in the picture). Obviously, I never realized how much she struggled to get to where she is. And not just the literal physical struggle of climbing, but the fact that she broke barriers to become a guide in a very male-dominated world. She does not hold back on telling the truth about RMI (Rainier Mountaineering), which Justin & I have used as a guiding service several times. The other piece I wouldn’t know is that she was very damaged by her childhood. So when I met her & took this picture in 2016, I merely was in awe of her, without knowing she had only started her healing path. It is a reminder that you don’t know what people are carrying. Her memoir is sad, really. My only gripe is that she used footnotes to sort of justify her opinion or decision. I almost feel like her self esteem is still so low and she agonizes over the judgement from beyond. I hope she has a good therapist because clearly her healing isn’t done!

The January read for my local book club read was The Survival of the Bark Canoe by John McPhee. Unpopular opinion: I haven’t liked John McPhee’s style of writing as everyone else does, so I wasn’t excited to pick up another one of his books. However, this was a short read, and actually incredibly relatable because it was all about the North Woods of Maine! Once upon a time, Justin & I managed a bed & breakfast in Maine. It was—BY FAR—our WORST caretaking experience. Yet, it was still an incredibly beautiful place to live. So the book’s accounts of padding the West Branch of the Penobscot River and passing exactly where we lived was nostalgic in a way! 

Justin & I have been listening to Nowhere for Very Long on our drives to/fro Fairbanks for the past 2 months. Brianna Madia made a name for herself as an early van life influencer, and has kept it going for many years with a few more books after this first one. Justin actually met her on a press trip a few years ago (he was unimpressed as she just basically didn’t engage with the rest of the group). When I was searching for audiobooks, I figured we’d enjoy this first book of hers, which is about the very early stages of her nomadic life and rise to an influencer. Here’s my take: she can certainly craft words for impressive storytelling. She garners sympathy from us as readers for any of the speed bumps on the literal and figurative road. However, I felt like I could read between the lines to realize she still comes from a place of privilege to justify how she got to where she is today. I recognize this is very judgmental, but I also think she succeeded at influencer status because she is hot & had a distinct van that attracted attention. More importantly, I feel she is grossly negligent in some of her decisions (without giving any spoilers). 

Grabbed the hardcover The House Across the Lake that was left behind by seasonal workers from one of the community swaps. Lots of people seem to like Riley Sager books, but I can’t say I loved it. My take is he does a great job with atmospheric setting and presenting flawed characters who are redeemable, plus a twist I didn’t see coming. Still, I’m probably one and done with Riley Sager.

Another hardcover freebie I grabbed was Lynn Schooler’s Walking Home: A Journey in the Alaskan Wilderness. I found Lynn’s storytelling disjointed. Some bits of his human-powered traverse across Southeast Alaska were beautifully descriptive & drew me in to keep turning the pages. But the historical backstories and coastal ecology mixed in with his personal stories did not flow as one narrative. Also, he left out too much for me as a reader—he continually referenced his failing marriage, but we never found out what his wife even did for a job that created this rift or more about the inner workings of their relationship. He does have another book about his friendship with Michio Hoshino, a famous photographer killed in Alaska that I’ve wanted to read, but actually, I think I won’t based on not enjoying this one. 

Justin is determined to start reading again, and wants to read 12 books this year. I’m not trying to be mean, and trying to support him, but I’ve heard this before. He just has not been able to finish a book in years (hello hidden ADHD?). But alas! He’s finished reading a book! It’s called Second Set Chances by Rachel Wesley. He thought it would be more about going to Phish concerts, but he said it was more about a deteriorating marriage and rekindling love with a long-lost college crush at a Phish concert. But he finished it!!! 

Currently watching on Netflix/Peacock: Tons of  streaming as we continue to muddle through winter. We switched it up this month to watch some movies. When we were up in Fairbanks, we enjoyed a bit of Hulu through my uncle’s account and watched Amber Alert and Last Known Location. Two other good ones from Netflix were The Rip and The Girl Who Got Away. One series we watched this month was  All Her Fault on Peacock, and it was one of those that keeps you guessing until the end. Great acting too. We also watched and liked the short series His & Hers on Netflix. Oh, and I blew through whole season of Chicago Med and Chicago Fire while Justin was gone in Vegas.