There are some things that occured to me this week that really made me think - wow, I must be in Alaska. And they had nothing to do with the moose in the front yard last week.
For instance - When reviewing a patients allergies, which is something I do all the time, I came across "polar bear meat" as a documented allergy. I've never seen that before.
One of my co-workers did not get her paper delivered on time one morning because there was a moose in her driveway.
I wondered why I haven't seen snowplows out on the streets. Well, they might have them somewhere, but I have realized they are using road graders to scrape the roads down to the ice. There are bare streaks where the tire tracks are, but otherwise there is still lots of ice on the streets.
I continue to be amazed by the diversity of the population. One patient was of native alaskan heritage who listed her religion as russian orthodox. I guess that can indicate the diversity of the cultures that have been across this land. This past week on the news they told us that there are less then 800,000 people in the state of Alaska. And speaking of the news, I believe there is only one broadcast for the whole state. Well, maybe more then one station broadcasting, but I am not sure there are several markets like there are in other places. You know, news from Chicago and Milwaukee, and then smaller stations as you go north. I think I saw the same news cast in Juneau as I do here in Anchorage. Maybe Fairbanks has another station. I'm not sure, but when the guy does the weather, he does the whole state. I mean he forcasts for the whole state. Just a little different.
This past year a movie was filmed in Anchorage called Everybody loves Whales. I think that is the title. It stars Drew Barrymore and was supposed to be based on a true story out of Barrow, but was filmed in Anchorage. Part of it takes place in a mexican restaurant and the restaurant is called Mexico in Alaska. I had lunch there the other day, it was very good. Hopefully the movie will be as good as the food was! Keep your eyes out for it.
Today we made a dash to the store to pick up goodies to munch on tomorrow. Driving into town down a six lane street there was a moose walking along in the apartment complex parking lot. Moose are like deer with attitude. Many of you grew up like me, there were lots of deer around, but they preferred to remain hidden. Most self-respecting deer would not hang out in your front yard and impede the delivery of your newspaper. Moose, I have decided, don't care. They are bigger then you. Lots and lots bigger then you. Almost as big as your car. And in a moose vs car collsion, there really aren't any survivors. The moose can walk downtown and everyone gets out of their way. Apparently, they have even tried to get into the local hospitals. So not only do they have attitude - they are curious. I hope the bears are not as curious as the moose and don't come into town as nonchalantly as the moose do.
Here is a picture of where I work. It is about 4:45 pm
After the lunch I actually did have to work. There were patients to be seen. The weather was cold and clear, single digits with the sun out. It had snowed and frozen a couple of days ago. Then there were reports of fog. The trees looked beautiful. I tried to capture a corner while we were driving through town. This corner also has some sculpture on it that is reflected in a few different ways. I have noticed several sculptures through town, many of them reflect the native heritage.
This is the view from the parking lot where I work. It is about 4:30 pm. Sometimes I am glad there are no windows in my office.
Until next week....
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