THIS IS NOT AN EXCERPT, BUT A DESCRIPTION.
"Two Years on Another Planet....or is it Alaska?" is fiction. Every person, quote and situation is made up. But the book has some kernals of 'truthiness'. I hope you enjoy.
20 hours of sun on summer days, 5 hours on winter days. And that's in Anchorage. God help you if you find yourself in Utkiaviq (formerly Barrow) on the north slope. Three months of the sun never dipping below the horizon during summer. Then three months when the sun never makes it above the horizon in winter.
Beauty is everywhere, whatever the season. The same ice covered pond supporting young hockey players in winter teems with shore birds, moose and bear after the ice melts.
The air is almost always clear and pollution free. People fishing for salmon find their favorite spots, even in downtown Anchorage and line shores standing just a few feet from each other. They call it combat fishing and I've never seen it anywhere else.
I spent years paying for whale watching cruises and only caught some fleeting glimpses once in Quebec. Until Alaska, that is. Want to see whales? You will. And you don't necessarily have to pay for a cruise. Just hang out at Beluga Point.
Alaska is a green and environmentally conscious. But they drill a lof of oil there and still dig for gold. The revenue from those non-green businesses keeps state income tax as well as sales tax at ZERO. But stuff is expensive. Almost everything must be shipped in via freighters from Tacoma. Sometimes, there's no toilet paper in the store because someone left the TP pallets at the dock in Washington state.
During the winter months, you have to force yourself to go out and get to the gym when it's 0° F or lower and pitch black at 9 am.
If you move to Alaska, you might find it the lonliest place in America. Visitors come during the short summer season, but no one visits in winter. Long-time residents tend to hibernate with their families and closest friends, not newcommers like I was. Making new friends in Alaska is tough.
Alaska is life on another planet.
