Well it must be spring because a “spring is here” note keeps popping up on calendars and news stories. Anyway, the arrival of spring isn’t quite as clear cut here in Alaska as it is in, say, places that aren’t so up-north. There are no flowers popping out of the dirt yet and, unless you’re growing your own vegetable starts (I am not), you’re both completely overwhelmed by summer gardening plans and far from even starting your garden. (OK, there were three blades of green grass in my yard but Finch promptly chowed down on them.) There is one definite Anchorage sign that the lead-up to summer has begun: swimming pool-sized potholes are popping up (or down, I guess) all over the roads. Pretty sure I could charge a membership fee for the one at the end of my street. You’ll have to bring your own towels.
In other AK news, the Iditarod is over and done for the year. Congrats to this year’s Red Lantern winner, Apayauq Reitan. While other folks may be all about celebrating the person who comes in first, I think the Red Lantern winner (the musher who finishes last) deserves more attention. After all, she was out there longer than everybody else. And if it’s not really spring here in Anchorage, it sure as shit isn’t even close to spring in Nome, where the race finishes up. So a giant congratulations to Reitan and her super sweet team for finishing that long run on up.
(One last thing: bravo to Reitan for her takedown of crappy small-minded cruel people with this very funny tweet.)
Oh, right, one other sign of spring in AK: There’s a spotlight on my face. OK, not a spotlight. It’s the sun, staring at me through my window, blinding me if I turn my head a bit too much to the left. Beyond the crazy workplace glare, March and September are my favorite months for light here. I enjoy summer but, as I told you in an earlier newsletter, all that light gets me a bit nutty with to-dos. I like a nice light-dark balance.
But with that light comes the realization that summer is almost over! Seriously, people in AK take their short summers very seriously and the planning is going full-tilt right now. My big plans for the rest of spring and summer: get back out in the world more. The AK world, that is. I’ve kept my pandemic shut-in ways going and it’s time, safely, to step out and explore again. There are things to learn and see and do and tell you about.
Also, While I could just write about light and weather and other people’s headlines forever and ever but that would probably wear on you after a bit. It’s wearing on me. So!, back to a lot more in-person reporting for me. I seriously love reporting. It’s the best part of my job.
Alaskans! Write to me at jenna@jennaschnuer.com with tips on story ideas or interesting people or odd things or events or … pretty much anything to do with Alaska. This state contains multitudes and I’m here for it and for you and, of course, for people who live *Outside but want to keep learning about Alaska because, seriously, who wouldn’t?
*Outside: anywhere that isn’t Alaska
5 AK things (or people) you should know about
As you probably heard, Alaska Congressman Don Young died on March 18. Young was, let’s say, a complex character. Even, a challenging character. Though it was clear that he loved Alaska, he had an odd way of interacting with many of the people who live here. He was, at times, downright horrible. Alaska Public Media’s Liz Ruskin has been covering the Alaska politics for quite some time (though nowhere near as long as Young’s 49 years in Congress). Here’s her piece explaining Don Young’s interesting ways: “The man, the myth, the malapropisms.”
What does Young’s death mean for Alaska on the national political scene? And who will fill his seat? Here’s the Anchorage Daily News with some of the insanity, er, possible scenarios.
The Copper River Delta Shorebird Festival runs May 5-8 in Cordova, AK. While you should definitely try to attend in person at some point, this year’s festival continues on with one of the few truly good things to come out of the covid era: more online events. Check it out here and get in on the bird nerd joy. And if you’re a knitter (cause knitters are awesome*), join in the fun, no matter where you live, by sending a knitted bird to the festival. This bird nerd/craft crossover potentially-global art event brought to you by The Net Loft in Cordova. The details. *I am a knitter.
A trip out to McNeil River to sit around and watch bears for hours and hours and hours has been high on my list for years. (I have watched many bears. I will never tire of watching bears.) So if you enter this raffle and win it, feel free to take me with you. OK, you can take whoever you want to take. But, um, if that person can’t go, I’m here for you.
Alaska has a tea farm now.
One fine Alaska dog
And that’ll do it for today. Thanks for staying on my subscriber list when I go quiet. If you’re a paying subscriber, I’m converting you to lifelong free subscriber. Now that I’m back at it, I’ll get some new people to pay for this shindiggity. Oh, for now, I’m going to publish an issue every other week. There may be some shorties in between but I do want to bring you something more substantive so…for now…every other week. OK? OK.
See you soon,
Jenna
p.s. Come on get appy
That was a terrible play on words—and an offense to that most marvelous of Partridge Family tunes. But…you can now read Here in Alaska in the new Substack app for iPhone.
With the app, you’ll have a dedicated Inbox for all your Substack subscriptions. New posts will never get lost in your email filters, or stuck in spam. Longer posts will never cut-off by your email app. Comments and rich media will all work seamlessly. Overall, it’s a big upgrade to the reading experience.
The Substack app is currently available for iOS. If you don’t have an Apple device, you can join the Android waitlist here.