SheSue Experience

I was born in Fairbanks, Alaska. Ask me what I remember, nothing. I moved when I was a year old. My brothers and sisters tell me some stories from 40+ years ago. They talk of riding their sleds to school or the time someone dared my brother to lick a metal doorknob (his tongue froze to it). My dad talked about skiing on skis so long that they would get stuck when going up a steep hill. My mother remembers all the moose, just ambling right alongside and sometimes down the middle of the highway. She also remembers how bad the roads were.

But that was a long time ago. What’s it like today? Surely it’s changed. I talked to Nichole Sauer, a longtime resident of Fairbanks and pretty new transplant to Vancouver, Washington. So has it changed much? Not really. It’s grown some.

First things first, people do not live in igloos and they do not ride around in dog sleds. People do live in log cabins, some very rustic, but not in town. There are cities just like in the lower states. Fairbanks has a population of around 82,000; Anchorage 261,000 and the capital Juneau around 31,000. People live in normal houses and drive cars and trucks. There are some remote towns that are only accessible by plane, but in southern Alaska, towns are just like in the lower states.

People in Alaska like to go shopping just like you and I. My mother used to talk about ‘Sears chic’ because Sears was the only big chain store at the time. Sears is still around, but they also have Fred Meyers, Safeway and Gottschalks plus the first Wal-Mart recently. They even have malls. Very small strip malls, but they do have malls. The prices may be a little higher then you’re used to. In fact, according to Nichole, prices are about double what she pays in Washington.

Tourism is the biggest industry in Alaska, especially in the summer. But they also do big business in fishing, crabbing and the pipeline. With fishing and crabbing, people can make enough in several months to last them for the remainder of the year. You can make $30-40,000 per month. Crabbing, though lucrative, can be very dangerous since it’s done in the fall. The ice forms on the boats which you have to keep knocking off. If you don’t, the boat sinks. In the winter you will find lots of Asian tourists. Their culture considers is good luck to conceive a child under the aurora borealis.

Speaking of the aurora borealis, Nichole claims that she really misses these light shows. They occur all year, but you can only see them in winter. They come in all colors, but you mostly see blue and green. It is said that they whistle when they move.

There are still moose that wander aimlessly, often right down the middle of town. In Anchorage there have been problems with bears wondering into town. You’ll also see lots of elk, musk ox, wolves, eagles and a plethora of other wildlife further out of town. Some say the wolves are as big as bears. You don’t have to travel far from town to be in the wilderness. Let’s not forget the insect world. Not to be messed with, the mosquitoes are said to be as big as golf balls during August. And the hornets you do not mess around with. On the plus side, they have no poisonous spiders or snakes.

Let’s talk about the snow. No, it doesn’t snow all year long. In fact it only snows from October through December, then it gets too cold. But it snows enough that it stick around until May. The snow actually provides insulation. People get concerned when it doesn’t snow much as they pile the snow up against their house for the insulation. In the winter it can get as cold as 80 below zero. At this point, school is optional. They have blankets for their cars and have heaters for their car engines that you plug in at night. They have an interesting law that says you have to pick up hitch hikers when it gets colder than 20 below. And yes, it does get hot. During the fire season, it can reach 100 degrees.

Does it really stay dark all day during the winter? Pretty much. For about 6-8 weeks from mid December through mid February, there are only 2 hours of real sunlight. During the summer from about mid June through the end of July there are only 2 hours of night. The picture to the left is taken at 4 in the morning. This does cause a lot of Vitamin D related illnesses. SAD (seasonal affective disorder) is highly prevalent. Alaska also has the highest rate of suicide as well as high incidences of rape, drinking, and drug use. On the other hand, Alaska also has the nations highest ice cream consumption, go figure.

The Iditarod dog sled race is a huge event each year as well as the ice festival. During the ice festival, there are ice sculpture contests, slides and rides made of ice. The sculptures are made by teams around the world. Some pretty amazing stuff.

Some day I really am going to get back up to Alaska. I don’t think I have any desire to live there, but I could spend a month or two. How about you?