While I was growing up in Salem, WV, my 6th grade class was given an assignment to write an essay that we would have to stand on the stage in our auditorium and read out loud to the entire school. The subject was “My Most Admired and Respected Individual”

My typical low-grade glossophobia aside, I had a tough decision to make – Daniel Boone, Davy Crockett, Jim Bridger, or some other of their class of exploring frontiersman that helped form this great nation.

I ended up doing my speech on Davy Crockett, simply because our library’s meager offerings had the most available writings about Crockett. I walked out singing the theme song from the Disney tv show while wearing a coonskin cap on my head.

The details of how it went over have long since faded from memory, but I learned the value of using written material to research a subject, and I ended up starting myself down a path of learning about many of the great men of the type that I mentioned above, as well as building a rather respectable collection of the lives, times, and most importantly the skills these men used to not only survive, but to thrive as the carved out paths that far lesser men now travel.

I have carried many of these skills into adulthood, most of them fading from memory, or as a minimum, growing very rusty in their non-use. My drive to move back to West Virginia in my late 30’s and early 40’s were partly an attempt of relocating myself to a place where I could enjoy things like trapping, hunting (NOT in the heat!), hiking and camping in hills, blacksmithing, chopping firewood, and coopering (yeah, I said that), as well as simply enjoying different seasons (snowbird, hurricane, and lovebug are NOT REAL seasons!).

And this drive is still with me….along with the realization that I am 50 years old.

• That’s old enough to have to REALLY start thinking about retirement.
• It’s old enough to exert yourself physically in some simple task, only to almost end up in traction as you try to recover from forgetting you are no longer 17.
• It is old enough to have grandkids. I have 2!
• and it’s old enough to have the wisdom to, well, think you are wise!

It made me realize being “comfortable” isn’t exciting, and that if I wanted excitement in my life, I’d better hurry if I wanted to be able to actively participate. Mid-life crisis? Maybe. But I’ve wanted to live in Alaska, or someplace just like it, for decades.

Elizabeth, “Liz”, has a friend, “Momma K”, that she has known since they were both 3 years old. Momma K and her husband Turtle (I don’t make ’em up, I just report ’em!) moved out to Wasilla, AK to house sit long-term for Turtle’s brother. They moved from Fl to AK, living in the brother’s house until the decided to buy land nearby and build their own place. Almost 20 years later, they still monitor the house, and use it for the very infrequent friends and family that come to visit them.

Liz and I spent two weeks staying in the spare house and visiting Momma K and Turtle in Aug/Sept 2019. From the moment I put my feet on the ground in Alaska, I knew I’d be wanting to come back. This was Liz’s second trip out to visit, the prior trip was in 2004. Being church-mouse poor at the time, I stayed behind with our two daughters, missing out on all the fun.

Why do I ramble on about these things?

Two reasons:

1. Liz’d BEST friend lives there, and is well established. They miss each other dearly.
2. There is an empty house available for us, if only until we find jobs and a place of our own (more on both of those in a future post)

Having a safety net AND a place to land that doesn’t crowd our gracious hosts are both very significant details in our favor, should we ever want to visit for an extended period…like a summer, or say, the rest of our lives.

I wanted to go to Alaska because I grew up in the woods. Alaska is an incredible outdoor playground. I was sold.

Liz wanted to go because she misses her friend. And Liz also likes outdoor activities, but many of the things she and I like to do outside are less than enjoyable in the Florida heat.

We both want to enjoy our lives together, while we simplify them as much as we can. Alaska provides a location for us to enjoy many of the things we have avoided due to Florida’s heat, humidity, or simply lack of seasons. Or hills and mountains.

Ultimately, we agree that life is too short to simply live. We want adventure, and we feel Alaska will give us that.

We sure hope we are right about that!

Peace,
db