Some questions, some answers.

A while back I put up a post called “Ask me (almost) anything,” in which I said I’d answer reader questions. Not all of them, mind you, but some of them.

I meant it, too. But you’ll notice I never said how soon I’d do it.

Now, three months later, I’m taking on three queries for starters. They’re fairly softball-ish questions, but I’m pretty tuckered out right now as I wind down the contracting gig.

Some day I’ll answer the harder questions. Today is not that day.

 

What is your favorite ice cream?

The Bordeaux Cherry flavor from Umpqua, which is a Pacific Northwest company. Fortunately they sell it in the Fred Meyer store here in Anchorage. It’s the best I’ve ever had, and I used to be a diehard mint chocolate chip fan.

When Umpqua isn’t available, I’ll go with Dreyers slow-churned flavors like chocolate and that mint chocolate chip mentioned above.

 

What do you love most (and like least) about living in Alaska? 

The obvious answer to the first would be “the natural wonders all around us.” Then again, I live in a city about which we joke, “The best thing about Anchorage is that it’s only half an hour from Alaska.”

So yes, big-box stores and chain restaurants are flooding in. We have traffic jams, drug dealers and gang issues. Alcohol abuse is huge and Alaska’s rape rate is three times higher than the national average.

But the mountains are beautiful, the wildlife bountiful. You could potentially see a bear or a moose anywhere, and wolf packs live in the city limits. (I’ve seen lone wolves twice, both times entirely too close. Bears, too, and one time a lynx.) Despite the light pollution you can still see the aurora borealis. Diamond dust or sundogs can turn an ordinary winter day into a tone poem.

The people are fabulous, too, especially the kick-ass Alaska women. I’ve been privileged to meet a lot of fascinating folks, especially when I was working at the newspaper. My job often amounted to, “Go talk to this interesting person and turn it into an article.” Lucky me!

As to what I like least, that would be the distance between me and other people I know and love. It takes a long time and costs a lot to head to the Lower 48. Which brings me to the day’s final question….

 

You seem to have a great relationship with Abby – how do you nurture that connection long distance?

How I wish that my daughter and I lived closer. It would be wonderful to see her more than a few times per year. In the between-times we e-mail a lot and talk on the phone probably once a week on average.

The fact that we’re both writers probably helps keep us close, too. Either we’re editing each other’s work or talking about potential topics or discussing the perfidies of the blogging life, all of which provide plenty of stimulating conversation and, when needed, encouragement. (The encouragement goes both ways.)

Not that writing is all we talk about, mind you, but it’s always lurking. Can’t tell you how often she’s sent me an e-mail or blurted out something on the phone about what’s good, bad or ugly in her life right then, only to have my first, instinctive reaction be, “That’s one-third of a blog post, right there.”

Again, I dearly wish I could drop in regularly or even be in the position of saying, “If I leave right now I can be at her house in two hours.” Not gonna happen, unless I become flush enough to afford a snowbird’s nest in Phoenix. (When I visit in January or February I understand why people like to go south as they age.)

For now I’ll focus on how grateful I am that she wants me to visit, and how lucky I am to have a friend who gives me the buddy passes that make those trips affordable. Also how blessed I feel to be her mom.

 

Related reading:

• Negotiating the Crappy Things Spectrum
• The marvel of an Alaska summer
• Want a chance at a decent old age? Have a daughter
• Snowbound, on purpose