I was a cook.......

at the 1260 Inn on the Al-can Hwy. way back in 1984-85. The Al-can Hwy. was (is?) the one road to get from the lower 48 to Alaska.
The 'then' owner hired me over the phone. She asked me, "do you make pies?"  "Yes" i answered, "but i won't bake on the job. I'm not making pies." Her comeback was, "well you have to make pies!"
  "Nope. Not gonna make pies. Find somebody else."
"Wait. wait. okay. you don't have to make pies. I'll make the pies. You're hired."

Just like that. I was a cook. At an Inn. During the busy season. Oh boy.  Not only was it the busy season, but there was also road repair and construction going on, and since places to eat and sleep were far and few between, we got a lot of business.

We opened the dining room doors at 5 a.m, and closed at 9 p.m. Long days.
Some days i was cook/dishwasher/cashier/waitress, all at once. Some days i was just the cook.
When i first started she put me on as the dinner cook, which meant i started work at noon, doing a little of this and that, getting my kitchen ready for the dinner rush. That included coming up with a nightly special. A different special every other night. I stuck pretty close to the norm for the first week, but then got bored with the same words on the sign, over and over again. So i got goofy. Fridays i put 'Fried Chicken Lips' on the board. Wednesday it was 'Tuna Casserole with crushed Snail Shell topping', and Sunday was 'Grab it before it gets away snake bites'.  Oh, i had fun. So did my customer's. I was a hit. I joked and talked with people, took special orders. Mrs. owner wouldn't do anything special for anyone. She was not pleasant.

After a few weeks she changed me over to the breakfast shift, which i actually liked a lot more. I made the biggest, softest, fluffiest pancakes in the state. When you ordered a stack from me, you got a 'stack'. Mrs. owner didn't like that, she wanted to go as cheap as possible, like pancakes the thickness of a quarter, sandwiches so empty they were scary. Me, i liked pleasing my customers, making them smile. 
I think she must have fired me a half dozen times, but it only lasted a few minutes. There were no more cooks within miles, and it would take weeks to get another one. Which, being the brat i am, i took advantage of. I didn't do anything wrong, i just wouldn't cheat or short people. 

Every once in a while she would get after me about the pies. Threatening me. Oh was i scared. Ha.  Usually the threats came when there was a tour bus on its way. They always stopped for coffee and pie. She had to make the pies. She hated me then. I didn't much like her anytime, so it didn't bother me a bit. 

This photo below was taken one night about midnight, the night before my day off. I had just picked up a 6 pak of Coors, the bartender, 'Capt. Quirk', was calling out to me...."Linda sweetheart, you can flip my cakes any ole' day!" 

I was so alive that year. I was sizzling with it. I was full of piss and vinegar and loving it all. 
Even though this photo is such a terrible shot, hard to see any detail, when i look at it i can see the sparks flying off of me, and the stars dancing around my head. I can hear my laughter and feel how my body glowed and moved so smoothly and easy. 
It was a good time.

Alaska

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I lived in Alaska for a while, 14 years to be almost exact. It was interesting. And cold. Way too much snow and ice for me, though i do have to say, there were some fine summer days, and you could grow mega vegi's during those long summer days.

It took me a while to get used to the "no night" thing during the summer. Laying in bed at midnight reading by daylight, just didn't seem quite right to me, so i took a black plastic garbage bags and hung it over the window of which ever bedroom i was sleeping in. That was a boring look, so i cut holes in the plastic, hung crystals from the rod so that they just dangled in front of the holes....TA DA! rainbows!

I lived in a total of 12 house's, apartments, buses,and cabins in the 6 years i lived in Homer, then i lived in a boat for 13 months in Sitka, then just 2 apartments the last 7 years in Anchorage. I had a nomadic heart.
I don't have pictures of most of the places, but i do have a few.
The first was a camper on a hillside....that was my first winter there, and when i would wake up in the morning i hair and blankets would be frozen to the window. A real shock the first time i went to get out of bed.
The second place was this cabin you see below. It was at the end of a 2 mile road that was only drivable during the dry days of summer, so for most of the year it was hiking in and out. There was no running water, i carried that in 5 gallon jugs. It had no electricity, i used propane, candles and wood. And needless to say, there was an outhouse.

The next place was also without electricity or running water, but it was only a couple miles from town and right off of the main road.

The next photo is place # 7. It sat on top of another hill, and it was windy up there. The house and outhouse both, were tied down with guy wires to keep them on the ground.

...... the matching outhouse....

I remember being trapped in that outhouse once, by a moose refusing to leave. She was munching on the branches of the young trees. I think she kept me there for at least an hour, finally, my cat, Doodle, came out looking for me and the moose beatfeet away.
Below is Doodle, my rescuer.

And that's it for Alaska memories right now.....

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At the Fair

 This is linked over at Together for Good for Flashback Friday...

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This photo you see was taken in 1993 or so. I can't remember for sure. But i do remember what a fine fun time we had.
It was in Alaska, the big yearly fair. We convoyed there, in 3 different vehicles. There were 6 adults, 2 teens and 2 little ones.
As we were wandering around we came upon a booth doing wild things to hair, so we all decided to have our hair done. I chose a mowhawk, you can see me there, the one in the middle of the three in back. See that TALL mowhawk? It was sprayed stiff and sparkly and with 3 colors.
That guy in front with the Bozo the Clown do and glasses, is my Old Guy.
Oh, we were a sight!
It was the most windy day of the year. My mowhawk was just tall enough and just stiff enough to make that a problem... every time a big gust of wind would come through it would almost blast me off my feet, which about took the fun out of walking around the fair. Gave everybody else a good laugh though.
By the time we got home, my neck was SO sore from trying to keep my head level.
I kid you not!!!

Once upon a time.....

I lived in Sitka, Alaska. I was only there a year, but during that year i had some wonderful adventures.
It was in the mid 80s, i was not yet 40 and i was ALIVE.

This photo is of an old boat i came across while i was babysitting an island.