Musings

I've been thinking about what I'll miss about Alaska, and what I missed about California while I was here, so I decided to make a list.

What I'll miss about Alaska:

1. No crowds.  I never encountered any place that was crowded, including Anchorage.  I think the most crowded place I went was a drag show in Anchorage.  Those queens know how to party.

2. People who are easy to talk to.  I already mentioned the elders, but that's only one example.  I've been thinking about them a lot.  It's no secret that the voices we carry that endow us with the beautiful stories we tell are the same forces that can drive us to insanity.  Writers and other artists commit suicide at rates four to ten times higher than the national average.  I keep thinking that if we drank and told stories with each other, instead of by ourselves all the time, we might be able to curb some of this.     

3.  Snow.

4. Strong seasonal variations.  Not that we don't have seasons, but the huge swings of Alaska, not only in temperature, but in light, ensure there's always something new to see.

5. The unique and beautiful cultures here.

6. Ravens.  I like crows and their antics too, but they don't wheel around in the wind and play with each other like ravens do.  Watching them makes me wish I had been born a raven.

What I missed about California:

1. Secular radio.  Nome's two stations radio stations are funded by Christian groups, and alternate between cheesy praise songs and country western.  Once in a while you get something good, like Journey's "City by the Bay" (you can bet I was singing along when that came on), or Inuit singing and drumming.  Anchorage had a classical station that was actually pretty good, but when I drove outside the town limits, I lost the signal, and the dial consisted almost entirely of Christian and country western stations.  I think if I'm ever in Hell, that's what my radio will be like.

2. Fresh fruits and vegetables.  There were some in Nome, but you can bet they were expensive, and without much variety.  

3. The sun.  The sun didn't rise until 10:30 am in Nome, 12 pm in Kotzebue, and 9:15 am in Anchorage.  I'm not lying when I say white people in Alaska are pale as parsnips, and for a reason.  I'm a mix and I think I'd be pretty pasty too if I lived up there full-time.  My mother would be horrified if she visited me and then leap into a long lecture on the dangers of being a recluse and not eating enough orange vegetables.

4. Lots of vegetarian options.  Because I don't always eat fish.  I once worked and studied in Dresden for six months, and this was my huge gripe to the folks at home.  At first I tried to assimilate, so I cooked and ate German cuisine, but after a week I got tired of crapping rocks (once I could even crap at all) and started just shopping at the international market all the time so I could make California food.  

5. The relative harmony between the many cultures here.  I met a shopkeeper in Anchorage who had lived for a little while in San Francisco, and he said what he enjoyed most was that many different kinds of people with different backgrounds and different lifestyles could get along in very close company.  I specifically remember one recent July 4th spent with friends and family in San Francisco.  We saw a lion parade in Chinatown, complete with firecrackers, had a British afternoon tea service in the Financial District, and enjoyed amazing sushi and sake at a Japanese restaurant.  I don't see that happening in Alaska.

6. Surf.  I didn't make it to Yakutat or Sitka, Alaska's only surfing destinations, and only towns with surf shops.  Until there was a storm offshore, the waves in Nome were barely ankle high anyway.

Things that came up about even:

1. Recreation.  Plenty of things to do in both places.  I'd probably have to ride the mountain bike all the time in Alaska and set my road bikes aside, but I can fish and kayak quite well in both places, and hiking's good year-round.  I'm not yet crazy enough to do the Iditabike.

2. Seafood.  The seafood was great up in Alaska, but it's great in the Bay Area too.  Maybe there are some different options in both places, but many similarities as well.  We catch halibut from the piers and boats right in the Bay.  We also eat copious amounts of seaweed, and crab when its in season.   

     Jack London ultimately returned to his roots.  After a lifetime traveling the world as an oyster pirate, hobo, war correspondent, and yes, writer, he spent his last years in Sonoma County where he died.  As evidenced in his literature, the North always held a special place for him, and I think for him it was both frightening and fascinating.  I wonder what comparisons he made with the place of his origins, and the place that called to him from the darkness.

Nome Cuisine

     I am missing Dungeness season.  The bulk of it is in November, where people around northern California cast big hoop-shaped nets from piers and boats loaded with traps stuffed with chicken pieces or salmon bellies.  You leave it down there for some time, bring it up, and if you're lucky, you'll have a couple of red dungeness crabs for dinner.  Around this time I'd be making eggs San Francisco (think eggs benedict with fresh crab instead of bacon, sourdough instead of English muffin), pumpkin soup with crab innards (my own invention), and fresh steamed crab.  Even if you don't catch any yourself, you can get them for less than $4 per pound this time of year.  My crab net is currently collecting dust under my bed while I'm up here in Nome, and that pains me.  I can taste the sweet briny meat as I write this.  However, I've had no shortage of things to eat here.  

     Nome has an interesting collection of restaurants.  One of my favorites here has been Husky, a Japanese restaurant that serves sushi, tempura, and some weird Americanized rolls (real Californians do not eat California rolls).  I admit I was surprised at the quality of the food, as I consider myself somewhat of a connoiseur of sushi down south.  I particularly enjoyed their ikura, salmon roe wrapped in seaweed.  There's another Japanese restaurant called Milano's Pizzeria.  That's right.  It serves both Italian and Japanese.  There's a Chinese restaurant, a Vietnamese restaurant, an American-style dinner (minus the counter), and Subway.  I think the last might be the northernmost fast-food restaurant in the U.S.  What Nome seems to lack is good coffee.  A lot of places serve it, and some even have espresso drinks, but I have yet to find just a damn good cup of coffee, along with actual milk or cream, rather than the non-dairy creamer that is ubiquitous here.  Maybe I should move here and open a coffee shop.

     The other side of Alaskan cuisine is something you won't find in restaurants, because it can't be sold commercially, but is certainly no less special.  I went back to the shop with the old storytelling proprietor to get some things and hear some more of his stories.  I happened to mention that I was very much interested in trying traditional Alaskan foods, but I didn't know where to go, and if he had any suggestions, I'd very much appreciate them.  He proceeded to go to a small kitchen at the back of his shop and brought back a plate with a piece of smoked tomcod and some dried seaweed.  I ate and listened to him talk, and it was excellent, tasting like a cross between herring and Atlantic cod.  He went back into the kitchen and came back with slices of muktuk, raw pieces of whale skin and blubber.  It may well be the most delicious meat I have ever eaten.  It tasted like fish and the sea, with a buttery background to it.  It was tough to chew, but I think that's part of the fun.  

     I don't eat meat in California; it just isn't necessary with fresh organic produce available at every farmer's market and accessible local fish.  It's healthier that way, and better for the environment.  However, foods from the lower forty-eight are very costly here in Nome because of how far they must be shipped, so local fish and game is vitally important.  It's also very nutritious, especially when eaten raw.  A small amount of seal oil has all the vitamin C you need in a day.  Why eat beef pumped full of hormones and antibiotics when there are so many natural options available here?  Muskox and moose are big foods here, having lower fat content than beef, as well as reindeer (remnants of a Lapplander herd left here).  Dried and smoked fish are pretty common as well, and in the summer, there are berries and other plants available.  

     I believe that much of a culture lies in its food, and I was pretty fortunate to be able to sample a little bit of it.  I hope I'll be able to taste some more, and perhaps return the favor should anyone visit the bay area.  If you come in November, I'll have some crab waiting.