And don’t believe all this crap about “dark in the winter.” Because we’re way up north, the sun’s angle to the earth means that we have (up here) about two hours of dawn and two of hours of dusk - thus explaining the “midnight sun” - and also explaining that even on the most grim days around Christmas we still see about four to five hours of light each day. Southeasterns are further south, so they get more sun, but it’s also above 20,000 feet of thick gray clouds.
I forgot to mention the mosquitoes. Don’t believe the stories that you read. They rarely exceed eight pounds.
You know, I grew up around New York. In a wierd way, Alaska is like New York. Those of us who live here choose to live here. We love to share stories of hardship and tough efforts to survive - and end the stories by mentioning how beautiful the skyline looks at night, or the northern lights.
One more thing - everything up here is personal. After a while, once you get to the Alaska Airlines terminal in Seattle, you always run into someone you know. When we go shopping in Fairbanks, we run into old friends at the stores or the movies all the time.
Alaska is the world’s biggest small town.
By the way, that also includes the bad stuff, like crime. Much of the crime is intimate - husbands and wives, brothers feuding, friends falling out. That’s why I try to stay out of village politics, which can sometimes be vicious. (It’s also why I’m not worried about Sarah Palin, who cut her teeth in village politics - and in Alaska fashion, I’ve worked with her and when I went back to college, delivered pizza to her home. The Palins are good tippers.)
Good luck again.
Ketchikan crime rates compared to New York City:
http://www.areaconnect.com/crime/compare.htm?c1=New+York&s1=NY&c2=Ketchikan&s2=AK
“Alaska is the world’s biggest small town”
How true that is! I met people I had known somewhere in the lower 48 quite frequently.