Dear Kids,
As I mentioned, we chose to housesit so we could live among the natives and see what it was like to be a Fairbanksan. Well, today we did just that. I got up and went to work like every other day. Well…not exactly.
I was up at 4:30 in the morning local time, and was working by 5 a.m. The nice thing though is that 4:30 a.m. outside here looked like 7:30 a.m.back home (yea, the moniker “Land of the Midnight Sun” is 100% true). I was a bit surprised how cold it was. I mean, I figured it would be cool, but it was downright brisk.
About 3ish hours into work, I took a break and took you to camp, so you, too, could live like the natives. As you can imagine, SBK wasn’t excited about going to camp and fought and refused to cooperate. When we arrived and tried to drop you off, SBK just stood there and wouldn’t interact or do anything productive. Finally she gave in and said we could leave. Ima and I did just that, and hoped for the best.
Since I started at 5 a.m., I was done by 1 p.m….And Ima started working in the afternoon. I hung around the house for a bit, then I headed back down the mountain and into town to pick the three of you up. I was worried about SBK, but I shocked when I arrived. When I walked over to the field where you were gathered, I saw SBK engaged and chatting and having a great time. It turned out she had an opportunity to talk about spiders and snakes, and true to the blurb on the camp’s website, there were some STEM activities, so SBK was happy about that. It was a good day for you, SBK. Unfortunately, SBE did not fare so well. He was upset when I picked him up, but you never really told me what happened (and I assume that as you read this you have no recollection whatsoever…so, it will always be a mystery). Still, you said you had a good time, and you were content to return the next day. You did decline to go swimming, and I think that may have been the issue. At this point, you aren’t a very good swimmer, and I think you may have been a bit afraid of the water.
As part of our obligation for staying at the house for free, we had to do some yard work, and Ima and I mowed the lawn. This would not have been quite so bad the be lawn mower been a) electric or gas…but no, it was a reel mower, and the lawn wasn’t huge, but big enough, and b) sharp. The blades were so dull you could ride to Boston and back on them. But we got the job done, so that was that.
All that hard yard work and trying to out Alaskan the Alaskans caused us to have hearty appetites, so you kids had pasta (imagine), Ima sautéed some onions and zucchini for us, and I baked a piece of salmon the lady who owns the house bought for me (it was apparently fresh Alaskan salmon). I baked it in the oven with some herbs the lady had picked from the bark of the trees or something like that. It was pretty amazing. I’ve included a picture, because, you know, I know you’re dying to remember what my salmon looked like!
With all that great food in our bellies and a full day of breathing in the fresh Alaskan air, oh, and the hard work mowing with a dull mower, we were ready for bed…but the sun was still up (oh, and there were no window shades…not that we aren’t used to that of course since we don’t have any in our house…but it never gets dark there), so we decided to take a walk around the neighborhood and get our bearings.
All in all, I think it was a good day, and I can’t wait for more exciting adventures in the Last Frontier!
Love,
Aba
