Seattle Trip (I)

I snuck down to Seattle in early May to meet up with Hilary.  I was the only mutual weekend we had free for 4+ months.  Seriously, we are overscheduled people.  Then I screwed it up by trying to renew my Nexus card and discovering I couldn’t do the in-person interview in Seattle, but had to go to Blaine (I say this once more…map!).  But we took it as an opportunity to play along the beautiful coast of Washington.  We walked the Semiahmoo Spit, checked out Birch Bay State Park, drove down Chuckanut Drive, and visited Bow and Edison where foodie heaven is underway.  We had freshly made cheese, wine on the patio at Sloughfood, picked up noms at Breadfarm, and had blueberry ice cream at the Lopez Island Creamery.  We then went and took a hike/got lost in Washington Park, in Anacortes.  We watched a pod of dolphins cavort at Fidalgo Head until a Steller sea lion came and broke things up.

Thoughts for Michelle

Since returning to Alaska, I’ve kicked off a Ladies Swap Party event that occurs every quarter.  I started this because, upon unpacking my boxes from storage, I had a lot of clothing that didn’t fit or didn’t suit me.  The parties have since exploded, and now include clothing, shoes, accessories, makeup, books, and housewares.  We all make investments in stuff, and it’s often kept long past desirability or utility because it’s too good (or we spent too much on it) to just throw out.  Swapping with girlfriends makes you hope you goods are going to a loving home.  Lots of the participants are co-workers and we all share a thrill when someone comes in looking fabulous in our cast-offs.  By now, about 1/6 of my wardrobe is made up of these freebies.  And if something doesn’t suit, you can throw it back in the bag for the next party.  Without the monetary investment, it’s easier to discard what doesn’t work.

These parties lead to a kind of intimacy of course – you’re wearing someone else’s clothes, and you stripped down in front of everyone to try them on.  One of the new friends I’ve made asked me some questions about my goals and philosophy. 

I started talking about books I’d read.  The once that first came to mind isn’t even philosophy.  It is about how to keep a clean house.  And the author is brutally honest in writing that if you want a clean house you should have no kids, no dogs, and no houseplants.  Not that everyone needs to eschew those things.  But it’s about figuring out what your commitments are.  Does your stuff own you, or do you own your stuff?  If you plan to travel, would you be hampered by having those things?  What about jewelry – would you wear the item walking down a street in Europe? South America?  Would you feel safe?  Would it be worth your safety to wear it?  What are you advertising by wearing it?

So I made up a list of things I’ve read and found insightful.  I don’t agree with all of them, of course.  Some aren’t even good writing.  But they helped me to frame what I want and how I hope to achieve it.

Web and Blogs:

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/seeking-simplicity-how-to-start-living-a-more-minimal-lifestyle-210936

https://unclutterer.com/2007/07/23/extreme-minimalism-monday-bucket-o-food/

http://www.gocurrycracker.com/

                  http://www.gocurrycracker.com/recommendations/blogroll/

http://www.slate.com/articles/life/culturebox/2013/03/graham_hill_essay_in_the_new_york_times_is_minimalism_really_sustainable.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/boomers-unwanted-inheritance/2015/03/27/0e75ff6e-45c4-11e4-b437-1a7368204804_story.html

http://www.becomingminimalist.com/

http://bemorewithless.com/

                  http://bemorewithless.com/25-reasons-you-might-be-a-minimalist/

http://asklizweston.com/

http://www.vox.com/2015/5/1/8518455/extreme-early-retirement

Books:

The Not So Big House (and sequels) by Sarah Susanka

150 best minimalist house ideas by Àlex Sánchez Vidiella

Early retirement extreme: a philosophical and practical guide to financial independence by Jacob Lund Fisker

How to retire happy, wild, and free: retirement wisdom that you won't get from your financial advisor by Ernie J. Zelinski

The big tiny: a built-it-myself memoir by Dee Williams

The Cob Builders Handbook: You Can Hand-Sculpt Your Own Home by Becky Bee

The Hand-Sculpted House: A Practical and Philosophical Guide to Building a Cob Cottage by Ianto Evans

The Joy of Less

A Minimalist Living Guide: How to Declutter, Organize, and Simplify your Life

Living with less: how to downsize to 100 personal possessions by Mary Lambert

Apps:

Personal Capital

Clear

Grocery Store Rant

I don’t think I can even begin to explain my dislike of grocery stores and how it impacts the rest of my life, but I’ll give it a whirl.  I’ve often joked I’m a bad cook.  I’m not really.  I’ve taken classes, done a fair bit of cooking, and I do okay.  I’m not good at certain things – like timing several dishes to be done at the same time, but I think that’s something that comes with more practice.  What really keeps me from cooking more often is ingredients – that is, the acquisition of them.  The grocery store experience is horrible.  I can’t think of a retail experience I dislike more.  Stores are laid out to make you go farther to get what’s on your list.  They play awful music.  Pricier items are at eye height.  Comparison shopping is made harder by variations in measurements.  There is a long history of psychological research into making colors, sounds, packaging more attractive to have you purchase more expensive items.  All of this does nothing to make actual food healthier.

I resent that something I need – food – has become so insanely complicated.

http://online.notredamecollege.edu/psychology/the-psychology-behind-a-grocery-store%E2%80%99s-layout/

http://www.foodprocessing.com/articles/2007/034/

http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/shopping-storing/more-shopping-storing/grocery-store-layout

In my current lifestyle there is a grocery store within walking distance.  It is small, boutique-y, and very expensive.  It carries things I like, and I can get exercise going to and from there.  But the cost means I don’t often.  The next option is driving distance away.  It’s not bad, and for items like milk and so on, pretty easy to navigate.  But all grocery store parking lots are nightmares in Alaska’s winters.  Dark, people driving too fast, and carts being bumped over ice.  Most of my foodstuffs come from Costco – excluding milk.  I just cannot use the sizes they sell before they go bad, and I have a bizarre fear of old milk.  Costco carries a lot of good options, but with a few exceptions it’s packaged.  That’s true for most food in Alaska tho.  I know I need to do a better job of finding fresher foods, but with the time constraints of modern life, how do I prioritize that?  A big plus is that I get a lot of fresh seafood.  And caribou.  And blueberries.  Because some things are easy to come by up here.  It’s all a balancing act.

Catching Up - 2015

So it has been (strongly) suggested that I continue blogging about my new life in Anchorage.  And I really, really mean to do so, but time keeps whooshing past.  Funny how by staying in one place I have less time than when I was traveling the world.  Of course, in part it is that I have more people to spend time with, and a job, and stuff to take care of.  And part of it is that I now live 2 blocks from my mom, 5 blocks from my brother, sister-in-law and nephews, and 9 blocks from my dad and bonus mom.  I assume that they know what’s going on in my life.  Since they were a big element of my blog audience, and that was intended to keep them up to date, my sense of urgency fell away.  But my non-bio family, friends, travel-mates, etc deserve updates too!  Somehow I thought it would be in a Christmas card/letter, but here it is June.  June 2015.  So here goes:

As you saw from previous posts, I purchased and remodeled a condo.  I think it went well.  The furnishing process has been very slow, because I’m finicky, and Anchorage’s selection is poor, and I’ve made mistakes, and I’m on a budget.  And perhaps, most significantly, because I moved in a roommate.

By roommate I mean POSSLQ (Person of Opposite Sex Sharing Living Quarters).  Because I just cannot say boyfriend.   I’m in my 40s now and that’s just too too.

There's nothing that I wouldn't do

If you would be my POSSLQ

You live with me and I with you,

And you will be my POSSLQ.

I'll be your friend and so much more;

That's what a POSSLQ is for.

                                    Charles Osgood

Luckily, I found someone who is almost as stuff averse as I!  So the space fits the two of us nicely.  Albeit a tad messily as we are still sorting out things like camping gear and the like.  My big give (all relationships have compromises) is allowing a television in the house.  I suspect his give is putting up with my constant flow of books.  With the limited space they are all library books.  So they are hardcovers and a bit bulky.  But they come and go quickly.  The first thing Brian moved in, before clothing even, were his spices.  I took that as a good sign.  My cooking skills are still iffy, and the experience of an Anchorage grocery store just makes things worse.  Here’s hoping the farmer’s markets make things better.  Last summer we made kolrabi fries and that worked out. 

On the job front I have been terribly busy.  Luckily it hasn’t all been in a desk chair, but perhaps more than I’d hoped.  Bizarrely, I have become a sort of manager—Sub-Practice Lead—so I even have an employee to see to and projects to manager.  Still all in cultural resources so there have been some cool things to do. 

The best of these was a field trip to Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve, which we accessed by helicopter.  And then, due to the size of the crew and the limits in the airplane, I was demobbed by flying in the helicopter back down to Wasilla (just outside of Anchorage).  I’m including a map so you can see how far that is.  We paralleled the Alyeska Pipeline and Dalton Highway for the northern portion of the trip, landed in Fairbanks for more fuel, then continued south past Denali.  We stopped in Talkeetna for lunch, by touching down on the completely legal landing strip in downtown.  I felt like a rock star.  We also picked up growlers from the Denali Brewing Company. 

https://www.travelalaska.com/Destinations/Regions.aspx

Other work travel included trips to the villages of Sleetmute and Noatak, down to Homer for a roads survey, and up to Fairbanks for a project I can’t tell you about.  Non-work travel included hitting Homer and Little Tutka (really people, you’re just going to have to look at a map for all this), riding the train to Seward and then taking the tourist boat out to the glaciers (Whales! Seals! Sea lions! Margaritas made of glacier ice!), and camping out and hitting the end of the season party in historic Hope. 

Out of state I flew to Seattle several times (more Ikea), visited Portland where B. and I took in the Book of Mormon musical (hilarious!!) and saw OK GO!, and visited Philadelphia.  All trips included visiting as many Outside friends and family as possible, which is still far too few.

In Anchorage I’ve made it to several musical events including The Duhks, Rhiannon Giddens, Lucia di Lammermoor (yes! We have opera here!), several symphonies, and SalmonStock.  The last being a 3-day folk and fish event in Ninilchik (really people – MAP).  We’ve been attending Arctic Entries, which is sort of the Alaskan version of This American Life.  http://arcticentries.com/  I’m looking forward to Rufus Wainwright’s performance at the end of the summer and a return to Ninilchik.

That’s about a year’s worth of whirlwind.  I’ll be posting more, and in more detail, as I’m able.

At long last!

I can't believe it's been a year!  And we just got the panels done.  But the solution to the bolts through the wall works - foam, fabric and glue.