Red's Wrap
Happiness. It's relative.
Tag: Alaska
Nome Friday Round-Up
Not that many places are unforgettable but I think Nome is. Sadly, I don’t think I’ll ever be back. What I’ve collected up this week by way of stones and stories will have to do. I’ve thought about that the whole time, telling myself… Continue Reading “Nome Friday Round-Up”
For the Love of Leon
I’ve taken to wearing a hat indoors. It’s part of my ruggedness wear. You know, how Stitch Fix sends you snazzy, coordinated tops and shoes and accessories? I don’t have that. I have two boxes in the downstairs closet with a remarkable array of… Continue Reading “For the Love of Leon”
The Carved Fish in Nome
The carved fish in Nome is like Bart, the guitar player I met on the train who got off in Laramie, leaving me to continue on to Sacramento with my little daughter and my fiction that had she not been there, I’d have gone… Continue Reading “The Carved Fish in Nome”
Friday Round-Up A Day Late
A Friday Round-Up a day late could make it a Saturday Round-Up. There is that thought. Never mind. The oddest thing about my week is that someone left a piano in front of my house. People down the street moved out, left the piano at… Continue Reading “Friday Round-Up A Day Late”
A True Fact
Alaskans like to ask visitors “What’s the difference between a caribou and a reindeer?” The visitors talk about antlers, size, color, all kinds of possible differences until they give up. “Well,” a good Alaskan will say, “They’re the same except caribou are wild and… Continue Reading “A True Fact”
The Nugget
A momentous trip ought to have momentous takeaways. There ought to be something life-changing about going to Nome. I’ve decided to have a second piercing in each ear. This came to me after sitting next to a woman from Boston who sported blue studs… Continue Reading “The Nugget”
Nome Friday Round-Up
Not that many places are unforgettable but I think Nome is. Sadly, I don’t think I’ll ever be back. What I’ve collected up this week by way of stones and stories will have to do. I’ve thought about that the whole time, telling myself… Continue Reading “Nome Friday Round-Up”
Tonight in Nome
“I don’t feel part of the United States.” She said this after leading our small study group in a two hour lesson in how to introduce ourselves. She is Yup’ik. She was raised by her grandparents until she was 12, moved to five different… Continue Reading “Tonight in Nome”
Bering the Sea
We are staying at what is billed as a classic Alaskan hotel in Nome. It is an old rambling place with carpet laid at the beginning of the last century and vacuumed at least twice since then. There are dusty artifacts nailed to the… Continue Reading “Bering the Sea”
Meeting Mary Shields
I think on this trip I am learning how to be old. Tonight I was talking with someone about Mary Oliver’s instructional book on poetry, how reading it depressed me because I’d wanted to think that poetry was so utterly an art. Every page… Continue Reading “Meeting Mary Shields”
Listen to Jan read her essay “Billy” presented on WUWM’s Lake Effect
Jan’s essay “At the Breakfast Bar” on WUWM Lake Effect
Jan’s essay “The Parish Hall,” on WUWM Lake Effect
“Fury Cannot Touch Me,” Modern Love, NYT, 9/29/11
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