This Blog Made the Newspaper
A few days ago, Rod Boyce from the Fairbanks Daily News-miner emailed me, and asked me if I objected to this blog being featured in the newspaper. Of course I didn’t object; in fact I was quite honored to have been asked!
Today, in Section C - the “Our Town Plus” section - there is a photo of me and Sedona (the one that Steve took of us up on Murphy Dome) with an excerpt from my blog. The link to my blog is also included. Since this morning, I’ve been periodically checking the stat reports to see if there’s been an increase in traffic - and there has been.
So, if you came here by way of the News-miner, I’d like to welcome you. I hope you enjoy my writing and photographs, and will continue to stop by. My husband and I are soon approaching our sixth anniversary living in Alaska. While 6 years is only a drop in the bucket when compared to a large majority of the population, I believe that the love we have for Alaska is just as strong.
I have been privileged to meet many wonderful people since our arrival. I have never lived in a more friendly and welcoming community, and this is one of the reasons we decided to make our home here when my husband’s military service was complete.
New readers:
My writing here is about the day to day life of living in Interior Alaska. I don’t profess to be profound in my writing, and I rarely write about anything controversial or political. There are plenty of writers out there who do a good job of that already. Instead, my focus is on my family (to include my furkids), our travels, local activities and events, and the beauty that surrounds us.
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Now for my blog entry!
I am happy to announce that we have grass! Granted, there are spots that need to be reseeded, and some spots where the grass isn’t growing as well as we’d like, but for all intents and purposes - we have grass!
Another thing we have is several clumps of sunflower seedlings. This is my fault, and I had forgotten that I had planted them. The area where I buried them was originally in the wood line, but when we brought in the new topsoil, we widened the yard to incorporate some of the surrounding area. Imagine our surprise when these tiny plants popped through the soil!
I think I’m going to have to move them. Either that, or thin the clump sufficiently and let one continue to grow. I’ll have to talk to Steve about that, since this new lawn is his domain.
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I wrote about the camper floor and how it split and cracked over the winter. I took a few photos of it, as I want to photograph the progress on the new floor. Yesterday, I tore out all the old vinyl, and now I just need to clean and prep the floor for the new peel and stick tile. I chose a parquet floor pattern in the same shade of wood grain as the cabinetry. We decided a darker color was going to be more efficient since we track so much dirt into the camper when we’re traveling. Here are photos of the damage. I’ll post some photos when I finish the floor replacement:
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On Thursday, we had a huge fire start in a wooded area only a couple of miles from our house. The fire encompassed 65 acres before it was contained. The smoke was absolutely horrible, and I had to close the house up because it was affecting my asthma. I still smell the odor from time to time, as the wind shifts. I am so thankful that our fire fighters were able to contain the blaze before anyone lost their home. Fortunately, as an answer to many prayers, rain came on Friday. A true godsend.
It’s been warm here, and we reached highs in the 80s last week. Not too many homes have air conditioning (to include us) so we had to close up the blinds and curtains and keep the sun from coming into the house and heating it up. On one hand I wanted to revel in the sunshine. On the other, I wanted to be able to sleep comfortably at night. Pulling the drapes helped a lot. I think it was warmer here than it was in many places in the Lower 48. Today, we’re back to more *normal* temps - 60s.
I’m taking Middle Eastern dance lessons again, with Souzana from Tundra Caravan. It’s a short session - only 6 weeks - but it fits my schedule and won’t interfere with any of our camping trips. I’m excited because my friend Lisa is taking the class, as is my friend Abby. My friend Carmen will also be taking it (she has been dancing for several years now), and I think two more friends are considering it as well. We’re going to have a blast!
I applied for Denali Park road lottery passes (pdf file) yesterday on line. I’m so glad that we can do it that way now (using a credit card), rather than mailing in our application. If you’re local, don’t forget that the application period is June, rather than July. Steve has to work on Road Lottery weekend, so if we win a pass(es), I might just find myself going solo. We’ll see.
Until next time…
Congratulations!! I bought the paper just to cut your section out.
I am so happy that you love Alaska and made it your home. Now we have more of a reason to keep on coming back.
YAY on the grass! And wow that is a cluster of sunflower seedlings.
And now I understand why you are ripping the floor out in the camper. I must have missed the entry when you mentioned it cracking. Good luck in putting the new flooring in.
Can’t wait for dance lessons. I will see you all there!
Have a great night!
[Reply]
susanstevenson Reply:
June 7th, 2009 at 10:48 am
Thanks, Abby. I’m sorry you’ll be leaving here this year, but I know you’ll make the best of wherever the army sends you. Of course you can always come back and visit anytime.
I’ll be happy when the camper floor is installed. We’ll be taking it out for the first time in mid July, so I can procrastinate a little longer.
See you Wednesday. We’re going to have a good time.
[Reply]
Comment by Abby C. — June 6, 2009 @ 7:49 pm
Does this mean I “know” a famous person now? LOL I’ve read that paper online, but I haven’t checked today…now I gotta go look…
And I do the same here all summer–close up the blinds, etc. and we DO have A/C. But we have almost no shade and big windows (I’m so jealous of the all the trees in your yard!! That’s one of the things I miss about the PNW) And when it gets so hot, and doesn’t cool off at night, even the A/C doesn’t keep the house cool enough. I also run the ceiling fans AND another fan in the bedroom, living room, and computer room to keep it livable in here.
[Reply]
susanstevenson Reply:
June 7th, 2009 at 10:47 am
Hi Tracy. I don’t consider myself famous *grin*, but I am pretty tickled that my blog was featured! Unfortunately, there’s no online link to the story, which is why I had to take a picture of the paper for this blog entry. The only way to see it is to buy the paper.
I am not a happy person if I can’t get a good sleep. If it gets too hot upstairs, I come down and sleep on the sofa, where it’s cooler. We’ve joked that if it got to be 80s or 90s in here, we’d go sleep in the camper where there’s AC!
We have a pretty good system with window fans where we can suck the warm air out, while drawing the cooler evening air in, but when it’s not cool at night, there’s no sense in that.
Have a wonderful day!
[Reply]
Comment by Tracy — June 7, 2009 @ 10:15 am
I found that out when I went to look. They do have a downloadable one of the printed paper, but I think it’s a few days behind or something? Haven’t tried that yet to see if it worked.
Idon’t like it hot at night either…that’s what I REALLY don’t like here. Hot days I can sorta manage, but when the “low” is like 85-89 (which it can be when summer is in full swing) it just never cools off enough and the A/C runs nonstop and it’s still warm in here. But this year has been slightly milder so far so I have hope that this summer won’t be a real scorcher. As anywhere, some seasons are just worse than others.
[Reply]
Comment by Tracy — June 7, 2009 @ 3:39 pm
Katie handed me the paper and said, “Look Mom! You may not be famous but your friend is!” *smiling*
[Reply]
susanstevenson Reply:
June 7th, 2009 at 6:00 pm
*grin* Famous? Nah… I just like blogging about life here in Fairbanks. It’s my readers who should get all the recognition, for bringing this blog to the attention of the newspaper. Thank YOU!
[Reply]
Comment by Karen — June 7, 2009 @ 5:31 pm
Congrats! I’m so proud of you! Now many new people can read your blog and fall in love with the life that you and dad share. I’m very happy for you.
Ow and I love your baby grass! LOL
[Reply]
susanstevenson Reply:
June 9th, 2009 at 3:13 pm
Thank you Kayla!
Your dad is enjoying the baby grass. Wait till it’s tall enough for him to mow. I wonder if he’ll still like it! *grin*
[Reply]
Comment by ~~*Kayla Melton*~~ — June 8, 2009 @ 2:59 am
Susan We just want to say with a Really Big Congratulation on having the News-Miner contacting you to put your Blog in the paper They sure know when they have a winner Everyone is so Proud of you
Love you John and Shirley
[Reply]
susanstevenson Reply:
June 9th, 2009 at 3:14 pm
Thank you John and Shirley!
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Comment by John & Shirley Strauser — June 9, 2009 @ 12:32 pm
Yeah for green grass! What a difference already!
Congrats on the feature in the newspaper! When I first found your blog I read for hours catching up. From the time you left Florida (I think it was Fl :).. all the way across the US to AK! I followed your journey as Steve was away serving our country and how you coped being alone in Alaska during that time, his homecoming etc.. I’m sure you will have many new readers now enjoying those same journal entries. Your writing is wonderful and the photography - incredible is an understatement.
Once again, thanks for giving us a glimpse into a vast unchartered land for so many of us outside of our most northern state!
PS, I also love that you are a John Denver fan
I can always count on my Rocky Mtn. High when I come here!
[Reply]
Comment by Another Susan — June 9, 2009 @ 9:12 pm