Breaking Free From the Fashion Police

It isn't hard to observe that most Alaskan women have absolutely no regard for fashion or fancy preening and pruning. At first it may strike some as odd or even a bit too rustic--but from the women's perspective it is a joyful liberation from the fashion police.
Once a woman has moved to Alaska, it only takes a few years to give up on fashion and easily swim in the waters of comfort instead. It becomes the dirty little secret of ladies whose family & friends still reside in the "lower 48". These new Alaskan women snicker how those on the "outside" obsess and wonder how someone can "let themselves go". But alas--they don't know how liberating it feels to drink from the fountain of freedom from expectations.
It's not like giving up on fashion and heavy make-up means Alaskan women look bad. There certainly are quite a few that should look in the mirror more often. But in my opinion, the worst cases simply need to get into shape or find a laundromat.
It is certainly a much bigger crime that so many "urban" women spend so much money & time on clothes, shoes and make-overs. It is the most ridiculous and frivolous waste of time imaginable. And in the long run-an incredible stressor.
Just ask any "Alaska girl" about the relief of breaking free...

Work versus Effort?

The individual works hardest for himself. That is the fundamental theory behind capitalism. I have to agree, that by observing failed political systems, the individual cog is a substantial element for success.
The problem is the equality of pay versus effort. Now this one really bugs me. There is no way that pay equals effort, not in this country and especially not globally. For example--I would say a slaughter house employee, farmer or a burger flipper puts forth way more effort than say an accountant or quality control tester. Some would argue that you are paying for "brain-power". I don't buy it. Once you learn your job, most white color workers will complain their work is mind numbing.
Of course income reflects higher education. But the dirty little secret of higher education is that effort maybe plays about 25% of a role. The rest is luck & brains. We are not born with the same brains folks, nor are we all born to parents wealthy enough or smart enough themselves to push us through higher education.
I don't really have an answer at this point in time, just sharing a frustration.....Because quite a few folks in this country feel a sense of entitlement because they "worked for it", and I'm saying--get a reality check.

That's Why You Are So Busy

A few blogs back I had puzzled over the two types of people I meet--the "Chronically bored" and the " Overscheduled/Overworked". I have decided that the overscheduled category may not be as common as I previously thought, especially as the latest figures regarding Television viewership put Americans at 4.5 hours per day!!
I trust those figures to be accurate, and that can only mean one thing--Americans are busy, busy, busy: rushing to get home to their big screen TV's!!! Too busy to shop small markets, cook home cooked meals, plant a garden or put down that cellphone. Because heaven for bid, they might just miss the next episode of Deal or No Deal...

School Spirit in Alaska

One of the most frustrating things about the Alaskan status quo is the disregard for education. Simply put, quite a few good paying jobs here require little if any education. Most Alaskans can afford pretty nice lifestyles by picking up a trade, craft or working in the oil fields. Into this mix throw a healthy dose of illiterate rednecks and you have the perfect formula to mock the educated or any establishment fostering education.
This attitude rears its ugly head every election season. Alaskan voters hate to see their property taxes rise--especially if the money goes to something silly like the school system. Needless to say, many kids attend classes in temporary trailers, programs are cut and I even heard talk of eliminating kindergarten!
Of course when parents don't care about schools, neither do the kids. You could point to something ordinary like drop out rates, but here the problem includes a propensity for vandalism.

I have never lived in a place where children habitually set fire to their schools and school playgrounds. The playgrounds are an especially weird crime--who hates playgrounds? But needless to say, every summer playgrounds and schools all across Alaska are set ablaze. The school system encourages campers to camp in school parking lots to eliminate the carnage, but needless to say--it still happens.

Bugs, Bugs, and More Bugs

Let me be the first to admit the stereotype about Alaska being full of mosquitoes is pretty much true. Not everywhere mind you- the average tourist will barely meet a mosquito in any big Alaskan town. They are pretty rare along the beaches as well--especially if it is windy.
But, if you happen to be in the woods on a cloudy day in June---watch out!!
The tundra and interior also have the same mosquito swarms that follow you or any hapless animal around. Poking, proding and buzzing until they each have made an attempt to sting you in the ear, lip or get through those jeans!
It is actually pretty incredible, especially because I have seen every bug repellent imaginable used against these "swarms" and nothing can stomp out their motivation. Here at my homestead, I too get to experience mosquito swarms in June. We actually have a "mosquito magnet" and a bat house--to attract bug eating bats. Well the mosquito magnet just can't keep up. A list of other things I have tried to spray on my porch or body or dogs includes: vanilla, eucalyptus, citronella (I swear they love the stuff), every "natural" repellent sold in the store, listerine and catnip. Nothing really works. Even regular Deet repellents are a joke to the mad swarms, but I heard the military uses 100% deet.
All one can really do, is wrap themselves in bug netting and wait for August. But I guess all these mosquitoes do help feed our salmon though.....

Cabin Code

The Old Timers in Alaska will tell you there's an old "cabin code" out here. The code was a simple rule- that you never lock your cabin in case a wondering or lost soul needed to seek shelter there.
Unfortunately those days are coming to a close. I hear folks complain that cabins are now being vandalized instead. And it isn't hard to believe, considering how many wilderness areas I have hiked to, only to be met by relics of the previous weekends party: broken glass, shot gun shells and huge ruts where 4x4 action had taken place.
I'm trying to sort out in my own brain the reasons behind this kind of vandalism. Of course there is an adrenaline rush with the shooting, the drinking, the 4x4 riding. But the perplexing question is: why are there no thoughts of how one's behavior affects others?
Has our "right to party" really become the right to destroy others property? Or destroy the environment?
I can't help but feel that a society that encourages individual achievement above community fosters this type of thinking.

Can't Shake the Lawn Monkey off my Back

One of my most outspoken gripes against suburbia has always been the homogeneous, green lawns in front of all the homes. The street of my childhood was the worst offender. The keeping up with the Jones' lawn game was played at such a high level that it morphed into a mind-numbing traffic jam of landscapers and yard workers.
The strange, green glow emitted from these perfect lawns symbolized all that I found wrong with suburbia: intolerance of differences, boredom and egos based on financial status. I fantasized of burning obscenities in our front lawn grass just to scandalize the neighborhood.

Now, so many years later I sit on my acreage in Alaska, looking at my pseudo-lawn. At first I was so proud of how easily I could accept this field of dandelions, chick-weed, crab grass, dog burn spots and baby cottonwoods. I thought I was above the Suburban status quo!

Then the unspeakable happened--I began watering the dog burn spots. Next, I pulled the chickweed patches and planted arctic grass. Last summer I began obsessively mowing off the thousands of yellow dandelion heads that kept popping up throughout June. Oh I loved seeing the neat & tidy look of the freshly cut lawn.
What has been happening to me?? Why can't I shake the need to have a tidy green lawn?
I refuse to go down the path of weed and feed, but isn't the neatness I crave almost as bad?

After some thought, I surmised that somehow it is deeply embedded in me that an untidy lawn symbolizes laziness. It is something within me, that I won't easily shake. It's certainly not for the sake of conformity, especially when my current neighbors idea of lawn care is moving a rusty car from one end to the other. I suppose it is an interesting example of how your childhood environment can't easily be untaught. So I will continue to be a slave to the green beast.