By Rosie Preston
Several years ago, I had the wonderful opportunity to visit my sister in Anchorage, Alaska. It was my third visit. I had always gone during the warm months around the end of April when deep piles of snow lined every roadside and driveway in the state. It was quite the adventure to travel with my family in the winter months over the icy roads covered in snow. I constantly used my right foot to press a brake pedal that was not there!
The first day of my visit, I learned while traveling to the store with my sister that if you cannot make it through an amber or green light to blow your horn as you go under traffic lights. That was a nice courtesy that probably stopped a lot of accidents.
During the warm months in the summer, Alaskans do not have screens on their windows or doors. That’s because they don’t have the flea and tick issues we experience in the Sweet Sunny South. My sister did own a beautiful German Shepherd, and when he wanted to come into the house, he jumped through the kitchen window above the sink. Of course, the first time he did this, I nearly fainted!
Also, every grocery store and coffee shop in my sister’s neighborhood are open 24/7 year around. Nothing stops these citizens from traveling during the summer or winter months.
Because of the cold weather, the power, cable, gas and other utility lines are underground. The water inside their homes is always heated, even their toilet water, which would freeze otherwise.
Downtown Anchorage was a very modern city, probably due to the fact that a few years earlier, the city was hit by an earthquake that shook most of the buildings down. Everywhere I went, there were photos of the wreckage.
Most of the buildings, like the library and the mall, were very modern and very large. I had never thought I would see that in Anchorage.
During my time there the seasons changed from spring to summer to winter weather, which was quite interesting. In the warm months, folks cooked out at midnight, rode bikes, rollerbladed and had a grand time. It obviously was the time of the year when the locals lived it up since they had mostly stay indoors during the winter.
Contact Rosie Preston at rosie.preston@yahoo.com.