Recently an acquaintance was killed by a motorcyclist. She was 79 years old and the cyclist was 19. The woman was walking on a designated footpath with a friend when she was hit by a cyclist going over 90 mph (according to Troopers). The friend with her was not hurt, but the dead woman was nearly destroyed by the impact. Charges are pending on the killer. The woman was a transplant to Alaska from Michigan. She had been persuaded by her daughter sell everything and move here so that the daughter could help care for her if she needed it after the passing of her husband of many years a couple years ago. The friend who was walking with her when she was killed remarked that it was kind of a blessing that she died. She was dreading winter so much that she had told her walking companion that she wished she would die so she didn't have to live through another winter here. She sincerely regretted leaving her friends and her life history at the urging of her daughter. She said she thought Michigan winters were bad, but they were nothing compared to Alaskan winters. I don't know what part of Michigan she was from, but I don't know why any elderly person would move here. It is not a place for old people unless you have been here for a while. The shock of the cold and dark are difficult even for the young. Old people should either stay where their life has been or move to Florida, Arizona or Texas, not here.
She just didn't realize that winters here are not like winters elsewhere in the Lower 48. I had a co-worker once who moved here from northern Ohio (along the lake). When we told her winter were different here, she responded with, "I lived in northern Ohio. I know what cold winters are like. Winters can't get worse than those in northern Ohio. Shortly into her first winter, she was decked out in a parka, balaclava, snow pants and heavy boots for the 100 yard walk from her apartment to her workplace. I don't think she stayed for a second winter. She discovered the difference and that winters CAN get worse than those in northern Ohio.
I was reading in the office when I heard an exclamation from the kitchen downstairs. It was a whiney "Oh no!!!" from my wife. Thinking something was seriously wrong, I dropped what I was doing and went to the kitchen. When I got there, I asked, "What's wrong??". I was told almost tearfully, "We don't have any bacon thawed!" She was making some wilted greens (komatsuna if you know what that is) and when she went to the meat drawer, there was no bacon! We have plenty of bacon stashed, as you can tell, it is a very important thing in our house, especially since my wife's dietary conversion. I convinced her I could cut frozen bacon with one of the big knives, so I went to the freezer, cut off a small chunk of frozen bacon that she could put into a pan, and put the fest of the slab of bacon in the fridge to thaw. Such is the drama
@Don Alaska - since Alaska is so brutal weather wise- how and why have you stayed? Do you both eat bacon everyday?
No, we don't eat bacon every day, but we do use it in summer to add to vegetables, and we have bacon and eggs at least once weekly. As to the weather, my wife won't leave as she has so many friends here and a large social network and I won't leave without her. We do try to schedule at least one or two trips outside Alaska during the winter to break the cold weather. We are used to the seasons here now too, so it is part of life for us. Alaska has claimed a few more lives in the past few days though accidents. Several probably were due to people exhausting themselves in the long days then driving. One was a Texas man in his early 60s in a rubber raft going over a waterfall in western Alaska. Why he was there, how he got there, and if he had companions I don't know. He was in a very remote area and help is not easily available there.
I was in my 40s when I moved here and dragged my family of wife and 4 kids. I probably wouldn't have done it except I had a contract that would provide moving expenses and housing with utilities for 2 years. The people who really get in trouble are those who move here late in life. They are the ones not prepared for things here and find it hard to adapt. Some of you may remember the tale of the couple from Texas who moved here "looking for a simpler lifestyle." They were enticed, I think, by the numerous TV shows about life in Alaska. That couple made all the wrong choices as they seemed to have made up their minds about what they were going to do and didn't accept advice from those of us who have been here a while. The husband ended up committing suicide and his wife moved to the Caribbean for a time, but she is now back and has partnered with a man who is a long-time if not life-long resident here, so he knows what he's doing. She said she was so impressed by what she referred to as "Alaska Women" that she was determined to return and become one of those women. I haven't seen her for a while, so I don't know how things are working out for her. I hope she is on the right track now.
Subsistence dipnetting for salmon started yesterday in this area. Our two oldest sons have already limited out--65 fish to one family and 55 fish to the other. Youngest son hasn't gone out yet due to other obligations; he went rod-and-reel fishing and only caught one but he was with his son. We are too old to do the fishing, but we developed the system and taught the boys to fish, so maybe they will pass a couple fish to us. We could have signed a proxy to have them fish for us, but we weren't paying close attention and it would place a burden on them anyway. The system is for Alaska residents only and allows each head-of-household to catch 25 fish plus ten fish for each family member. One son has three children, so add the spouse and get 65 fish; the other only has two kids, so 55 fish for him. When we did it when everyone was home we got 25 plus 70, so we could have gotten 95 but we opted out before we got that many. Cleaning and processing 95 fish is just too much labor even with all the kids helping. The fact that the fish are running means we will soon have a backyard full of spawning salmon. Fun to watch them but it is illegal to catch them here as you can't fish a spawning area. They aren't much good to eat this far from salt water anyway.
Being old can be difficult. Last year I thought I would be fine, come what may. Food was easy to come by and so was fuel. Then this year happened with the incessant rain ruining all crops for half the growing season but encouraging scrub and grasses. Seeds rotted in the ground and my hay is worthless so far. If I lived in real life, I would have difficulty providing for myself. Now we are short of rain. cracks are showing up in the ground. Yes I am a prepper but I figure all is only good for about three years-- If the weather stays bad, I would have to come up with a hew plan. They have kits for testing deer for CWD. The highway department spread teasel everywhere with dirt from who knows where. I use teasel to fight lymes so I guess I am OK with that, But this year thistles are worse than ever with the county's help. I Fight thistles yearly and now they and their seeds are thick along roads and in fallow ground. I hate using Round Up and such but herbicides will be the only answer next year. Walking through them will probably require chaps. I see the government as the enemy still with what they have done to destroy our money and how they will use our retirement and investments to pay for their waste. People worry about being put in nursing homes but that only happens to those with the means or something to attach, it seems. In the meantime, I am enjoying stuff as it is. Old people like to get together to see who is left? We meet and greet weekly. I enjoyed our big family reunion in MN...
On my recent trip to the Midwest, I got an opportunity to talk farming with a successful farmer in Iowa. He is 68 years old and the land he farms has been farmed by his family since his grandfather bought the land many years ago. He owns over 600 acres and once farmed it all, but he said he now farms just under 400 acres. He may lease out the rest. He told me about his 2-, 4-, and 5-year crop rotations, and said his grandfather used 7-year rotations as well but nobody does that anymore. He outlined his process of taking soil samples every 5 acres (that is a LOT of soil sampling) and sends them to a lab which converts the results into a grid which he feeds into a computer-controlled fertilizer spreader. He noted that from the grid, he can identify how his father and grandfather ran the manure spreader. The spreader then spread fertilizer according to recommendations from the lab based on the crops he is planting. Corn is cut 2-3 feet above the surface of the ground to act as a "snow fence" which keeps the soil and the moisture on the land over winter. Soybeans (with the 2-year rotation are then planted between the corn stalk rows using a gel planting system which he hires done as he doesn't want to invest in the equipment required for that process. The 4-year rotation included alfalfa, and the 5-year rotation included oats or barley. It is obvious that this man has not discussed farming with that noted expert, Michael Bloomberg, who, in a campaign debate when he was running for President, famously said, "Anybody can be a farmer. You just plant the seeds and cover them with dirt and wait for the crop to come up. I can teach anybody to be a farmer." With that simple statement, Bloomberg lost the votes of anyone connected with agriculture or anyone who knew anything about it and showed how disconnected the Elite are from the people who make the country operate.
Those that can do and those that can't teach. I was listening to a guy who was about to lose his farm because he had over extended himself at suggestions made to increase the productivity of his family farm. It was horrible to imagine. and he could not bring himself to sell everything to keep his land from Black Rock and the like. The bank would not work with him because they could easily sell his note. You could feel his tears welling up. I know it was because of the cows. He could not accept he would have to basically sell his family.
We got 10 salmon yesterday--9 Sockeye (Red) and 1 Coho (Silver). That is enough for two old folks who have eaten a lot of salmon in our 35 years in Alaska. My wife is downstairs canning a canner full, and the remainder will be frozen. It looks to be a good year for salmon, but they are not up to the backyard yet. A black bear was chasing sheep about 2 miles from here yesterday. That doesn't usually happen when there are fish about. It must have been a dumb bear.
I have nesting hawks at my pond. Screams all day. Hope my chickies don't go far. Usually they are under the shrubs when hawks are around. But they are around allllll the time now. At least there are less rabbits and wood chucks running around.