Bill Hauser - Letters from Alaska: The Inside to the Outside

Short stories about living, working, and recreating in Alaska

Winter, 2008.

Hey, Hello.

How are you doing? It is a pleasant time here in Anchorage, Alaska. It is snowing today, but it is a very pretty and gentle snow and the redpolls and chickadees are already busy doing their job at our feeders. We are happy for the snow because cross-country ski races are going on and it is just a week from the start of our annual winter carnival, the Fur Rendezvous, which includes the famous World Championship sprint sled dog races as well as snow sculptures, fireworks, a parade, and many other events and activities. In a week, the long distance Iditarod sled dog race from Anchorage to Nome will start.

When I moved here with my wife, Karel, son, Bill, and daughter, Donna, in 1980, some folks laughed and reminded us that Los Anchorage is not really Alaskabut you can see it from there. Nevertheless, we have enjoyed living here and I appreciate the amenities of a big city while I have been fortunate to make frequent visits to the real Alaska through both work and recreational activities. But getting around in Alaska is a lot different and a lot less predictable than getting around in Anchorage. Alaska, you see, is a big piece of landscape with an area roughly equal to a third of the Lower 48as the rest of the United States is called. Also, places outside Alaska are referred to simply as Outside.

Our road system, however, is limited and vast spaces of the state are accessible only by small charter aircraft or watercraft during much of the year. Winter overland travel is enhanced by the use of snowmachines. Travelers may make travel plans and schedule trips, but the actual schedule is simply defined by weather conditions. When conditions are not safe, travelers must wait, and late arrivals simply explain, I was weathered in. This is an explanation all Alaskans instantly recognize and understand and no further discussion is required.

Recreating and working in Alaska, therefore, often includes long periods of waiting and indeterminate lengths of time with nothing to do. Experienced travelers plan ahead and have a paperback book handy to read and pass the time. Most often, I have typically used that time to write, usually, in the form of a letter to share my feelings and experiences with relatives and friends, many of whom live in the Lower 48. So, that is just what this book is all about: letters and experiences from inside Alaska to the Outside.

These letters represent a sort of verbal snapshot of what was going through my mind and of the experience that I was living. As such, they were not preplanned, but represent a flow of thoughts. As I gathered them into book form, they have not been extensively rewritten or recreated, but lightly edited only to improve readability.

I am feeling good and I hope that you are having a good day, too.

Talk with you later.

Bill Hauser