New Digs

As my awesome six weeks winter house sitting gig came to a close on 1/12, I have good news! I moved in with two friends, Heidi Jo and her partner Kevin. Heidi Jo is focusing on her singing/songwriting and piano endeavors. And Kevin works on websites from home but is focusing on writing a few books.

They have an lovely, warm, two bedroom apt by the beach and in town. They wanted to save money while focusing on their creative ventures and I showed up! Also a plus for me, I don't need furniture.

I never lived with a couple before. But we have the same philosophies and respect for people and living space, so this should work out pretty nicely. Definately we have way more in common tthan my previous roommate situation last summer.

In Feb, it will be two years since I left Portland to find my new home. Since then, I have not had my own space for more than six weeks. Since 2010, I have wwoofed, camped, couchsurfed, lived with the rents, lived with Dave, been a nanny, rented a room, and house sat. And in that time frame, the longest, I stayed in one living space was three months, twice.

Man, I can't believe two years has gone by. I am looking forward to having a home for more than three months and being more connected to the space and people. Also starting Monday, I am taking my first creative writing class at the local College. It's good for me personally and professionally. I am excited to be more focused but will miss my social/free time exploring this great town!

Those are the latest big update. Click here for apt pix.

Xmas to New Years: Snow and Food!

I am not a huge fan of shopping these days, but buying from someone you know, like, trust, and respect is a feeling worth buying for :) I am amazed how every single friend in Homer has such amazing and eclectic talents. And I am also happy to have been given such thoughtful, practical home made gifts from jam to tea to laundry detergent! Thank u!

And finally I went inside our 1 movie theatre in town to see the Hobbit in 3D. What an experience. First, the commercials were all local: the animal shelter with a cat eating popcorn, and a band's kick starter video campaign played a few times.

We were told that in AK 3D glasses (the nice plastic kind) were not recycled and homer theatre does not ship it down to recycle. so we should keep them and bring back to reuse. I was surprised how much info and detail it went into. But wonder if there's a better solution. 

I also noticed a tall man in rubber waders and some people brought their own bowls for popcorn which is a neat idea. I was also surprised how warm it got, I almost wanted to take off my jeans and just wear my long johns. I think that would have been ok and its nice to get comfy when watching a long movie. One reason I hardly ever go to the movies is i prefer the comforts at home. But what a great movie!

Anyway, click here to see what an Alaskan lady gets for xmas and lots of shots of pretty snow, food, and amazing food art. HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Beginning of Dec in Homer

December is going by quickly. I am pretty busy at work and all is well there. We started the month colder than usual with single digits for a week straight and a bit cloudier than Nov. 

No auras yet for me. It seems when there's good activity, we either have a full moon or clouds that night.  It also does not help that I am southern facing and in town. 

And when the moon is full here boy is it bright. I have never noticed it before when living in the city. Just the other night, I was woken up by the moon. At first I thought a bright light turned on outside then looked out and up and there it was. Pretty unreal....

I have been having car battery issues, long story (even with a brand new battery), but I am learning a lot about cars and hopefully the mechanic figured the issue.  I thought I would get more writing done here in winter, but its just as busy as summer. We made it through solstice and now the days are getting longer, slowly!  

I started a Dec album and its getting full so here it is. I will post xmas-new years separately next week. Enjoy! And in just 3 days we got about 2-3 ft of snow. Pix of that coming soon... Rose

Being Green in AK - It's an Awesome Feeling!

As an environmental "human" conscious being, living in AK has been a fun experience. Because you pay for the water, no matter where you live here (unless you have a well), you really come up with ways to catch and re-use it.

I now shower with a huge pot to catch the cold water before it turns warm. I then use that to water the plants or even boil for tea. Also catch running water in the kitchen sink while doing dishes to reuse for the other dirty dishes.  Or have a small bowl of water quickly rinse my hands constantly while cooking or wash veggies in all together vs washing veggies under running water.

Also, I am finally set up to compost and even set a small one up at work. I actually have friends that need it for their soil. There's such a need here; its sad we have not set up a system that could work for all to compost and farmers to collect. Its so darn easy and feel so darn good not wasting good stuff.  Homer has banned plastic bags from stores starting Jan. It's a small start that we ALL should TAKE! There's no need to wait for law and gov't to slowly enforce these small, easy behavior changes that we so badly need to do ASAP!

I started making my own kambucha! It's a raw food antioxidant, high in Vitamin Bs including B12 and a probiotic. All good stuff for you and tasty and now making it instead of buying it at $4 a small bottle. Thanks Robbi!

I've also started appreciating mason jars and need to start collecting some. It was popular in PDX but it is much more in demand up here. It's handy for just about everything especially in the kitchen. I would never have imagined in my wildest dreams that this is my life and this is what excites me. I can just vision all my NYC friends shaking their heads in disbelief.

Every day at least once, when I walk outside I say either "wow" or beautiful". I know some of my fellow friends don't understand my living in Alaska. And you can't, until you experience this amazing feeling this place gives you for yourself! I am making a December album and will share it at the end of the month. I posted a few of those pix here but no album link yet.

Homer Fall

Thanksgiving was great, which I expected :) Lots of good homemade, local food, and even seafood with great friends. I've been winter house sitting for 2 out of 6 weeks and it was a little weird at first, but a welcomed adjustment.

I now find myself indoors more often, solo, with lots of time vs summer time. It's dark by 5 so by 8 I feel like its bed time but happy that I have more hours to burn. Been catching up on pix and writing, cooking and hopefully reading soon. But amazingly with so many nonprofits events and volunteering, artists, and musicians here we are such a busy town and I just can't keep up.

Work is also keeping me super busy and I am so jazzed up about it. I have not felt so excited about work since Idealist.org five years ago. It's not all fun and games but lots of opportunity to meet local businesses and come up with some new, creative programs for members, community, and fundraising. I feel so lucky.

People say its been a cooler winter than usual just as summer was. I think summer is actually harder for me than winter b/c winter is expected to be cold, but summer just doesn't feel like summer to me.  We have not had much snow yet but we've had sunny days all week, which I just don't recall during Portland's winter. Sun rise and sets are amazing here, so much pink in the sky. Its still getting dark till Dec 21st. Loosing about 6 mins of daylight a day.

Every day at least once, when I walk outside I say either "wow" or beautiful". I know some of my fellow friends don't understand my being here. And you can't until you come here to experience this amazing feeling for yourself!

Well here's an album packed full of pix for u to enjoy from this Fall (more like winter for me. 

Learning to drive and live in the dark

So far winter in AK has not been too bad. Mind you that I am in the SW part of AK and further north is way colder with winters from -40 to -70 degrees!! Yes, that's some how possible. And in Homer, I am not up on the bluff at 1,000 ft elevation. We have gotten to the single digits at night here, some icy roads and snow on and off.

I'm learning to drive on ice and in the dark. The roads don't have the street lights on the side that I am spoiled with; so I feel like I am really driving on country roads when driving at night and watch out for those cute bunnies! Not to worry, I am taking it slow! I've never lived on a road with one lane each way and not use to all the school buses either. Also learning to live in the dark. Its dark when I leave at 8am and dark before 5, before it was awesome catching sunrise and set, now I gotta remember to leave work to see it. But I was loaned a very bright sad light, so that should help with the blue moods. I also gotta get use to wearing my headlamp from the car to the house, gotta watch out for black ice even when temps are fairly descent. So much to learn :)

Well, its still an active community and enjoying dinners with friends. It;s rad as I get home grown potatoes, chicken eggs, and other random good stuff. I'm also testing out making my own batch of kambucha with help from a friend. And, after it coming up many times in convo, I am gonna start watching Northern Exposure. I was a bit on the young side to watch it when it came out but remember my mom watching it a bit...so weird.

It's been neat living w/ such great people as I am in between housing. It's a good thing as I am learning how to live here. Some houses are regular L48  style, while others had its quirks with plumbing but no septic tanks, which means I get a shower but no toilets! Water, heat and toilets are a main topic on discussion here. This Sat I move to my first winter house sitting gig for 6 weeks and its right on the beach. It smells like beach on the door steps and has many ceiling to floor windows looking at the beach. I am stoked b/c as much as I love people, I have had only a hand full of nights completely alone since I left PDX in Feb 2011. I know that sounds unreal but being a vagabond/woofer/volunteer/nanny/roommate etc it happens.

Oh and work is going great. Lots to do and learn but I love that. And its SO NICE to be working at a place I really like, doing things I enjoy, and for an org that is so integrated with the community. "Work" comes up all day and night while out and about with friends. So many cool, new things to do.  I just gotta get use to hearing my voice on the radio. agh...

As for pix, here's an album of jewelry making I witnessed at two different friend's studios. And Happy Turkey time and remember try to keep it real with these tips!

First AK Snow

I most likely will keep the blog posts short and do 1x a week or 2, unless there's something new and awesome to share. But I will continue sharing pix via the blog. And I have a feeling there will be some cool, winter albums created this year.


I am still scared of winter as I am cold now and its Fall. I hear everyone's first winter AK is a fun experience. I also heard from various people and sources that this will be another unsually cold, snowy winter like last year. yeah me!

But I am also excited to see the sky. It's just so beautiful here. It was a nice surprise in summer. I had my first AK snow experience. I realize NY had cold, snowy winters, but I left in 2006. PDX is a milder, less snowy climate and I never liked the cold/snow in NYC :) But so far so good and I have so many people here looking out for me, I am very lucky to have various support. Here's a link to my first snow AK album.

I'd like to add a note to my New Yorkers: I have no clue what its like there but I see pix and posts and have a long distance connection to it. It's so strange seeing and hearing the stories and not seeing this on my own in my hometown. I know things will get better and its a difficult time as there's so many variables that turned upside town. I heard there's lots of good going on and people bonding. I only hope that will last long after the disaster. Community is key for us to survive and I think there's a lot of good personal lessons being learned from this chaos. Be well!