The Price of Milk

A while back a good friend of mine, who I miss a lot and wish I was living closer to, encouraged me to write posts regularly and write about our life up here in Alaska. She said that I should write about anything, even if it was just writing about the price of milk. Well, today I got a chance to spend some time on my computer and I decided that I should write a blog post when all of my ideas that I had had yesterday for a blog post suddenly slipped away and I was left with nothing but a big blank text box. I searched and searched my thoughts couldn't find anything to write about. Then, like a ray from the sun - breaking, bursting, streaming with the speed of light down to me and I found myself with an idea - the price of milk! I am happy to report that due to the power of commerce and reduced shipping rates a gallon of whole milk here in Juneau, Alaska is only a mere $3.39. One peculiar thing that W and I discovered upon shopping for milk just after moving here was that stores don't really charge a different price for different types of milk; so non-fat, 1%, 2%, and whole milk are all just about the same price. Juneau itself does not seem to have any sort of diary farm. From what I've heard from the locals, the Mendenhall Valley area of Juneau was filled in just so that they could have a diary farm in Juneau. Now, of course, it has been replaced by modern suburbia and all of the population of Juneau depends on Washington and Oregon for their dairy. Well, I hope you have enjoyed this A, I miss you very much and hope you are doing well, thanks for the idea!  :-)

Father's Day

We spent the evening on Father's day eating dinner and playing games over at W's half fourth cousin's house. It was a happy accident how we all met, but we've enjoyed the result. W's cousin is married and has two adorable children. W and I both spent some time holding her youngest son who is six months old. He is the cutest little boy with huge blue eyes and really blond hair, and he has this little curl of hair at the front of his forehead that just makes him look too cute to be real. It was fun being with family on Father's day this year. It was wonderful seeing W playing with his half fourth cousin once removed. I'm grateful for the fathers that I have in my life, my own father and my father-in-law, and very grateful for the man in my life that I hope will someday get the chance to be a father. Happy be-lated Father's day!

Home

And so the countdown begins!

Disillusionment

When W and I first moved here we weren't quite ready for what we got, forest and swampy marshland. Nearly everything here is forest, swampy marshland, pavement, or the occasional river or lake shore that actually seems normal to someone of my experience. We were both really excited to find that Juneau has a Safeway. When I was growing up in California my family lived right next to a Safeway and being able to shop there while living here has helped me feel more at home. One thing that we discovered about Safeway is that there is a field, a plain grassy field, near it. I have repeatedly joked to W that this is the only field in Juneau. The other day as we were going to Safeway to shop we walked along a path on this field and the feeling overtook me to walk into the field and enjoy it better. As I did this I told W that once we move back we'll be able to enjoy more real fields like the one we were in. Then to my sudden horror (maybe horror is too strong a word, but think shock and dismay if you find horror to be a bit too much) my feet were soaked in a marshy swamp. W realized this at about the same time and we both exclaimed, "This isn't a field!" We looked farther into the 'field' to discover even more marsh. So, for the past ten months I have been walking past this marsh thinking of how nice it is to see a real - if not a bit rocky - field in Juneau and it has all been a lie! I'm sure that some people would love this sort of place full of marshes, swamps, forests, and pavement - I have had my fill. I miss fields, deciduous trees, higher elevations, real rain, thunder and lightning storms, dry ground to walk on, and - most importantly - my friends and family! Learning that my wonderful field (that reminded me of home) was actually just another marsh makes it that much easier to leave and not regret.