| May 26, 2006 Alaskan in Exile by Neil Zawicki
Alert: wistful recollections of Alaska to follow.
The sun’s been out down here lately, and on Monday evening I sat on a sidewalk patio and enjoyed a gin and tonic while waiting for a good friend. The sun was just dipping below the rooftops and the air was perfectly warm, and then a salty -looking older guy asked if he could sit down. “Of course, have a seat.” He began talking to the people at the next table as I looked out at the dusky, leafy street. And then I heard him mention that he’d lived in Anchorage for 15 years. I had a knee-jerk reaction. “What part of Anchorage?” I asked him immediately. “C Street and Fireweed, man,” he said with a big neighborly grin. “Right behind the Cheechako.” Mentally, I found my self transported to that intersection, a mundane cross street on the fringe of midtown, and that log cabin-style bar with the massive satellite antenna on top. “I never went to the Cheechako,” I said, “but I know exactly where you’re talking about.” Then we swapped stories about bears and moose and tourists and the mountains, and right away I was laughing. “I didn’t burn no bridges when I left,” he told me, for whatever reason, “…but sometimes I have dreams about the mountains there, you know?” “Yup.” He told me about the time his girlfriend lost her shoes in the mud after bumping into a big blonde Grizzly while picking berries along Chester Creek. No kidding. Good things happen when people go to Alaska. One of them happened last weekend. Two of my closest friends, Nova Stubbs and Aaron Selbig, were married. Consider how many people get married each year and how many people talk about it and how many people try to. Most are not like Nova and Aaron. They’ve known each other for more than eleven years and have spent most of that time as best friends. They pack the gear to be married, and I mean in a wonderful cranky old chuck-all sourdough solidarity unbreakable genuine simple honest sort of way. And they met because they both decided one day to go to Alaska. I wasn’t able to make it to their wedding due to my special operations at The Bunker and I regret that reality. But I am so very, very happy for both Aaron and Nova, and wish them so much happiness as they begin the rest of their lives together. For anyone hoping to have read a caustic progressive screed this week, I apologize, but Aaron and Nova got married, for God’s sake. Dig? Aaron and Nova. It gives me hope. Neil Zawicki, exiled Alaskan, is Editor at Large for Insurgent49, a former reporter for the Alaska Star, and winner of the Alaska Press Club's 'Best Columnist' award. He is now living out the rest of his days in an undisclosed location in Oregon. He can be contacted at - hondo23@gmail.com |
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May 12, 2006 May 5, 2006 April 28, 2006 April 21, 2006 April 14, 2006 April 7, 2006 March 31, 2006 March 24, 2006 March 17, 2005 March 3, 2006 February 24, 2006 February 17, 2006 February 10, 2006 February 3, 2006 January 27, 2006 January 20, 2006 January 13, 2006 January 6, 2006 December 30, 2005 December 23, 2005 December 16, 2005 December 10, 2005 December 2, 2005 November 25, 2005 November 18, 2005 November 11, 2005 November 4, 2005 October 28, 2005 October 21, 2005 October 14, 2005 October 7, 2005 September 30, 2005 September 23, 2005 September 16, 2005 September 9, 2005 September 2, 2005 August 26, 2005 August 19, 2005 August 12, 2005 August 5, 2005 July 29, 2005 July 22, 2005 July 15, 2005 July 8, 2005 July 1, 2005 June 24, 2005 June 17, 2005 June 10, 2005 June 3, 2005 May 27, 2005 May 20, 2005 May 13, 2005 May 6, 2005 April 29, 2005 April 21, 2005 April 14, 2005 April 7, 2005 April 1, 2005 - also by this
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Insurgent Media. All Rights
Reserved. in-sur-gent (in sur'jent), n. 1. a member of a group which revolts against the policies of its leadership. |
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