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Although this could very well be a picture of me finding a new treasure at a favorite nursery, it's actually an illustration by David Catrow for a children's book called Plantzilla.

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Homesick and Happy


WARNING:  The fourth image in this post contains a word beginning with the letter F that may be offensive to you.  If so, please avert your eyes while scrolling past that image.

I often feel homesick for my little hometown in Alaska, especially when my email contains pictures like this one taken by Dave Sexton, a friend of my Sister and Brother in law, of the sun rising on Mt. Harding in Skagway.  Every morning for 20 years or so, I woke up to the sight of this glorious mountain and the others that surround this beautiful valley.



I pull out the Robert Service and read:

"The winter!  the brightness that blinds you,
    The white land locked tight as a drum,
The cold fear that follows and finds you,
    The silence that bludgeons you dumb.
The snows that are older than history,
    The woods where the weird shadows slant;
The stillness, the moonlight, the mystery,
    I've bade 'em good-by - but I can't.

There's a land where the mountains are nameless,
    And the rivers all run God knows where;
There are lives that are erring and aimless,
    And deaths that just hang by a hair;
There are hardships that nobody recons;
    There are valleys unpeopled and still;
There's a land - oh, it becons and becons,
    And I want to go back - and I will."

A tear forms at the corner of my eye as I long for what will always be my heart's home.



On the other hand, sometimes my inbox contains missives that include things like this weather forecast for April 6 and beyond:

Today: Snow. Snow accumulation 2 to 4 inches. Highs in the 30s. Variable wind 10 mph.

Tonight: Snow. Snow accumulation 3 to 6 inches. Lows 15 to 20. Variable wind to 10 mph.

Sunday: Snow likely in the morning...then a chance of snow in the afternoon. Snow accumulation up to 2 inches. Highs around 30. Light winds.

Sunday Night: Mostly cloudy with a chance of snow. Lows 15 to 20. Light winds.

Monday: Mostly cloudy with a chance of snow. Highs in the mid 20s to lower 30s. Light winds.

Monday Night: Mostly cloudy with a chance of snow. Lows in the teens.

Tuesday Through Friday: Mostly cloudy with a chance of snow. Highs 25 to 35. Lows 5 to 15.  

And images like these taken just a few days ago sent by my niece:




While I'm looking out my window at this:

I see the koi in the pond becomming more active, the camellia petals falling over everything and the magnolia beginning to bloom, the spring green of new leaves on trees and I'm happy in this soggy and mild place where I find myself.

Interestingly, I live in a house in Tacoma that was previously owned by the family of one of two brothers who started a jewelry store in my home town shortly after the gold rush of 1898. One brother remained in Skagway while the other came to Tacoma to live.   The store, Richter's, is still in business in Skagway.  Before the Richter Family, the house was owned by Judge Frank Allyn.  A man named Wickersham, a friend of the Judge, named the town of Allyn after him before Wickersham left Washington to live in Juneau, Alaska just 110 miles south of Skagway where the Wickersham house is now a museum.  Nearly a hundred years ago,  Judge Allyn's wife was instrumental in starting the Orpheus Male Chorus, a group that I directed for several years.  It's interesting how This house, Tacoma, and Alaska are linked.   A panoramic image of Skagway in the early days, the typed manuscript of a book about the gold rush, and various Alaskan souvenirs were among the treasures left in the house for me to find.  Maybe it was meant to be.  It's comforting to know that I'm not the first homesick Alaskan to live here where the miraculous charms of spring thrill the senses so early in the year.

23 comments:

  1. Gorgeous mountain and beautiful photos of snow. It is hard to believe those are current from our 80F forecast here today. Someday I will visit and see for myself the beauty that is Alaska. Meanwhile, I'll be out in the garden all day.

    The connection from your current home to your hometown is rather amazing and so special.

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    1. I'm happy that you'll be out in the garden all day and also a little jealous as I'll be at work all day.

      The connection is special. Although the house is way too big for the two of us and while we've enjoyed it for the last 17 years or so, a nice smaller single level home with a larger garden space sounds like a good idea. The grass is always greener...

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  2. That's why I feel so lucky to be where I am in Quebec, Canada, we get just enough of four seasons to get a taste of everything and just when you're getting sick of it the next season moves in :) But, you do have to like snow, which I do! You have lived in two amazingly different climates and each seems to have found a place in your heart.

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    1. I also lived in Vermont, not far from you, when I was very young. The four seasons in your part of the world are truly beautiful and distinct from each other. You do have to like snow! I love it here because it seldom happens but when it does, everything stops and the city seems like a small town.

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  3. Okay I'm going to admit I don't get the letter "F" reference? Although there is an image which isn't showing up for me, the fourth.

    That's crazy about the connection of your house to your home/Alaska. I love it. I have a (not really but sort of) similar story about my house in Spokane. I knew it was meant to be my home and always felt so grounded there.

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    1. You're right, it's the fourth image which comes up for me when I log in to my blog but not when I just go there. I'll try to fix it. It's an image of a sign taped to a long ruler (maybe a yardstick) The ruler is in the snow showing a depth of many inches and the sign reads f*** my life!

      Funny the way houses sometimes seem to choose us.

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  4. Interesting connection between your home and your hometown, small world! Such a gorgeous scenery, and can understand why you pine for home from time to time.

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  5. I think a lot of us feel that way about where we grew up...it shaped us and will always inform who we are...but it might not be the place we choose to live :-)

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    1. I think we both miss winter sometimes, Scott. (Like in the winter, not when it's still snowing and it's April!)

      Alison (Bonnie Lassie) and I thought of you this Saturday when we passed a beautiful display of grasses for sale at Dragonfly Farms Nursery. We talked about how you do the grass/meadow style so well and are both envious of your talent.

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  6. The view you had in Alaska looks stunning, but I'd choose your current views...

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    1. I'm lucky to have experienced both. Two totally different kinds of living! My town in Alaska had 750 people; my current town 200,000 (in an urban corridor of a million people.)

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  7. As a flatlander, it is really hard to imagine living within sight of such awesome mountains. I do wonder if it engenders a different sort of outlook on the world.

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    1. I think that being surrounded by montains like this does engender a different sort of outlook on the world. Of course the total difference in lifestyle in each place also adds to one's outlook.

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  8. That your heart has two homes seems like a wonderful thing.

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  9. I grew up in a very different climate from the one I'm now living in. I do miss my relatives, but I do not miss the snow of a New England winter. I realized the first time I visited the PNW that this is where I should have lived my entire life.

    I loved reading about all the connections between your current house and your own personal history and your hometown. It truly is a small world.

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    1. I love visiting winter in the north but don't think I want to go back to shoveling snow all the time.

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  10. I can well understand you missing that exquisite view, but there are compensations for living in a warmer climate as you show. I came to your blog via 'my flowering life'.

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    1. There are benefits and drawbacks to just about anywhere one finds him or herself. I've enjoyed both areas! Welcome Rosemary & thanks to Satu for the link love. Her blog is wonderful!

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  11. I lived for 6 years in Denver, where winters were very snowy, and most years snow ruined the spring display of flowers and the fall coloring of the leaves, except for the Aspens in the mountain. It was beautiful and I remember fondly the fantastic high altitude meadows and the glory of skiing there, but on a day-to-day basis of a nice place to live, the PNW is great for being able to get out and garden most of the year. Perhaps just vacationing in the regions of the Far Frozen Tundra would suffice....

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    1. I love visiting Alaska! The summer is beautiful and visitng in winter gives you a nice taste of the season without having to experience it for eight months!

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Thanks so much for taking the time to comment! I love to hear your thoughts.