Rural vs. Wilderness

When my husband Terry and I were in Alaska this summer, we were struck by the difference between rural and wilderness. Terry grew up in York County, PA, which is a combination of rural farms, small towns and mid-sized cities. I grew up in Southern California. During the winter, I lived in the Los Angeles area, which is about as far away in spirit as you can get from either rural or wilderness. But, in the summer I spent all my free-range time on the Mohave Desert, which I think of as wilderness. We had vast swaths of miles and miles of seemingly nothing.

I hiked in the Rockies and Sierras, love the Great Smokies and Applachians. But the Chugash Range surrounding Anchorage was a mind blower. So were the mountains that form the Turnagain Strait boundaries.

I must set a Mad Max book in Alaska.

Moose Tales

One thing we learned immediatly upon arrival in Anchorage is to be on the lookout for moose. They are tall. They are big. They are fast. And they are everywhere.

Just not everywhere we looked. Everyone we met had a moose tale. One woman found a female taking a dip in her outdoor hot tub in the middle of winter. No, she didn't hand the visitor a robe and towel. Another watched a moose dine on her flowers. (Must be a relative to my local deer population.) Yet another stepped on a moose's nose when he went out to get the morning paper. The beast was sleeping next to the heat exchanger and got stepped on.

With all that send up, I had to see a moose. None appeared in Anchorage, although sitings were supposedly abundant. When we went down to the Kenai, we were assured we would see plenty. I saw one, but it was behind an old silver Airstream, so my husband Terry didn't get to see it. I thought we see plenty in Moose Pass. NOT. Eventually, as we were driving back up to Anchorage from Kenai, along around four in the afternoon, a cow and calf ambled toward a stream in a fen. I saw both. All poor Terry saw was a moose butt. He thinks there are more moose tales in Alaska than there are moose tails.

Back Online

After being gone for nearly three weeks, and trying my darnedest to stay unplugged, I'm back online. My husband Terry and I were in Alaska for most of our "away" time. We re-entered the world of the lower forty-eight on Monday, July 26th, picked up our car at Dulles Airport and drove to upstate New York. We had plans to visit our daughter and son-in-law, go to Woodstock and then on the Saratoga for part of the summer racing meet.

And then we were home, sleeping in our own bed, and not living out of the back of a car or a suitcase. Still, the time away, even though I could not get completely unplugged, was worth it. I have tons of material for this blog; ideas for story twists for upcoming novels; great pictures to work into who-knows-what; and a fresh perspective on the world around me.

I feel like I'm coming out of a creative hibernation with a mind that is tumbling with ideas. Stay tuned.