Friday, April 9, 2010

Five Winters


When you ask Alaskans how long they have lived here, they often reply with the number of winters they have survived. "Three winters..." or "Twenty-three winters.."

So when someone asked me that very questions the other day, I replied, "Five winters..." and then gasped in disbelief.

Five winters. When Brian and I originally discussed moving to Alaska... (the first conversation was actually two weeks after we started dating) ...the plan was to try Alaska out for two years, climb Denali, and then move somewhere down south like Colorado, so that we had easier access to our family and friends.



Five years later (this weekend), we are still here and recently had a conversation about how much we still want to do in Alaska. We have discussed moving to Colorado or Vermont, usually around the holidays when we feel the pull of our family and friends from the East Coast. But that day, when we feel like we are done with Alaska and ready to move on, doesn't seem to be getting any closer.

And the Denali plan hasn't gone through yet, partly because we have found other things we didn't even know we wanted to do, but maybe we are just saving it because we don't want to have a reason to leave.

3 comments:

Tim said...

Fourteen winters for me, and I still can't imagine wanting to leave. No other place is so amazing, and access to family requires only a few extra hours of flying each year. I keep hoping Alaska will dig its hooks into you guys.

Anonymous said...

The reason you are still in Alaska is because it is a place you love. Let your family come to you.... some people need an excuse to come to Alaska. All you needed was a dream.

Liz

Julie said...

The hooks are in Tim!