So it goes

There’s nothing like the hometown rag to get me feeling local again. I read the Anchorage Daily News nearly every day. The ADN is what brought my family to Alaska. My mom and dad moved up from Washington state in the 80s when my dad was offered a job at the paper.

The ADN is also a direct link to life on the ground in Alaska. The stories are about fisheries, aerial wolf-hunting, earthquakes, bear attacks and the occasional stranded community (this year, one village was cut off for several days after severe flooding). That’s life at home! continue reading »

My family arrived today from Anchorage. Over the next two weeks, we’re going to try to see a lot of Scotland, and maybe some of England too. American culture is not that far removed from British culture, but I expect we’ll focus a lot on the differences: Con-TRO-ver-sy versus CON-tro-ver-sy; biscuits and tea versus coffee and doughnuts; Toyota Yarises versus Toyota Tundras.

I’ve been here long enough that I don’t notice a lot of the differences any more. I don’t hear the accents of people I know well. Even better, I don’t hear my own, sticking out like a flat vowel. continue reading »