Thanksgiving

Today has been a day about thankfulness, for sure. Right now, I’m simply thankful to be right here, sitting on my couch, with a bellyache from too much Oyster Dressing, watching Lady Gaga’s Thanksgiving Special on TV and having one of my daughter’s friends, Stephanie, with us. It’s such a complete 180 degree turn from last year’s Thanksgiving in the bush. Just to be able to change channels on the TV is something to be thankful for.

Sarah spent an hour or so shoveling snow off of the pond today, trying to make her own hockey rink. Denali spent her time outside chasing rabbits and bounding through the fresh snow – we have 6-8 inches on the ground now. It’s been a cold winter so far, so cold that Beluga Lake is frozen and there are cars driving around on it. Usually, the ice races don’t start until January. I’m thinking there will be Christmas races this year.

After our late afternoon feast, we took a plate of deliciousness in town to Stephanie’s mom, Lori, who works in the E.R. every year on Thanksgiving. Then, we came home and played a couple of rounds of Clue: The Office. Now, it’s time for Pecan Pie and Lady Gaga.

It makes me wonder what next year’s Thanksgiving will bring. Sarah and Stephanie will be away at college and I’ll be running The Fresh Sourdough Bakery and Café. I imagine that we’ll be open for Thanksgiving dinner, so maybe I’ll be taking a plate to Lori from the restaurant.

Life changes. People change. Even the weather changes. In the end, it’s good to be thankful for the changes.

Unmentionables

My friend calls me at work the other day and asks, “I don’t mean to be rude, but… [the proverbial but]… what’s your bra size?” I laughed as I scanned the office to make sure no one was within hearing distance and answered her question. As it turns out, she had ordered a slew of bras online several months ago and just never got around to trying them on. Since that time, she’s lost some weight and now the bras don’t fit. They still have the tags on them but it’s too late to return them. This is definitely another Alaska anomaly.

You see, the nearest city with a department store is 80 miles away and even there, you can only find Fred Meyer, Wal-Mart, and Kohls. So, shopping locally for some items can get tough and many of us resort to online shopping with its size discrepancies, lost orders, and added shipping charges to Alaska (the last time I checked, USPS flat rate boxes were the same price no matter where you send them… so I really don’t understand this last problem). My friend, who shall remain nameless, was a victim of the online shopping frenzy and needed my help. No, seriously, she just wanted to find a good home for 17 surprisingly beautiful bras of different brands and colors, but all the same size – my size! Some were even lacy, French made bras – ooo lala.

So, she brought them to me in a discreet, nondescript, black bag (felt kind of like a drug deal) and I took them home to discover that they all fit and I won’t have to make that purchase for the next 20 years.

This led to, “I’ve been cleaning out my closet…” The next thing I know, she’s bringing me armloads of designer jeans, Chadwicks and Talbots brand slacks, shirts, sweaters, everything – all lightly used and some with the tags still on them. In all seriousness, this dear friend of mine is tall like me, 5’ 9”, and we were about the same size until she started this “Fit for Life” program a couple of months ago. It was so gracious of her to think of me and most of her clothes are nice and tall and long – something that’s difficult for me to even find in the big city, much less in Homer, at the end of the road.

I know that sharing is not unique to Alaska, but our pervasive need to share is. If we don’t share, we do without or we watch others do without. We can’t just run to the store for a new bra or pair of jeans. We not only share clothes, but we share sourdough starters, fish, road conditions, and sometimes even pets and kids. (very seldom do people share their moose meat, however)

Homer is surprisingly filled with most everything we need. Still, we are at the end of the road system and occasionally cut off from the rest of the world. Just this last week, there was a car accident on The Road (there’s only one road in and out of Homer) 45 miles or so away which closed the road and that meant that anyone traveling… well, anywhere… couldn’t get there from here… at least not for several hours, until the road was open again. There are ships in our harbor that won’t be leaving for the next few days because of weather. I haven’t heard any planes today and am sure they are grounded because of the high winds. But, it’s all okay, because Homer is a sharing place and we will welcome those “stuck” souls as best we can. I wonder if they need a new bra? Just kidding, after all, sharing is more than caring, it's loving.

Moving On

I bought a restaurant. Well, actually, I bought a partnership in a restaurant with the intent to buy out the owners in the next 5 years. But, still, I’m an owner! I jumped in with both feet, no looking back. The Fresh Sourdough Express Bakery and Café usually closes in the winter so that the owners can spend it in Hawaii, but next May, we’ll be opening the restaurant and don’t intend to close the doors at all after that. You can Google the restaurant and find out about it online if you’re curious. Let me just tell you that the philosophy of this successful 30 year old business is to serve fresh, organic, local food in a way that is kind to the environment. Exciting? Yes!

When I came back to Homer last March, after having spent eight months in a Yupik village, my hopes and dreams were lost – forever, I thought. I had wanted to live the whole “get back to nature” life and thought the bush village of Kwethluk would give that to me. What an incredible disappointment. Coming back to civilization made me rethink my hopes and dreams. Did I really want to be a teacher? I thought so. Did I really want to live in the bush? Absolutely not. Did I want to just leave Alaska behind? No. Where did I see myself in 5 years, 10 years, 20 years? Homer.

As I began working at the Homer News, I truly enjoyed it. I like working in the world of advertising and marketing. I like helping businesses succeed, driving foot traffic through their front doors. I like meeting business owners in our area. I thought I knew a lot of people in Homer before, but now that has changed exponentially. I’ve made many new friends, gone into businesses that I’d never been in before, some of which I didn’t even know existed. It was definitely a positive change from the politics of teaching public school and made me question whether I ever wanted to go back to that world. As the months went by, I became better and better at my job and my income increased. Being on straight commission is a scary thing, but I learned to deal with the stress and came to feel like I was my own boss in many ways. I could see a future at the Homer News and was not looking for another job.

Over the summer, I stopped in at the Fresh Sourdough for lunch several times. It was close to my office, the atmosphere was casual, and many of my old students worked there. It just felt comfortable and the food was healthy but tasty. Their lunch specials were delicious – I particularly remember a pulled pork sandwich with a rhubarb bar-b-que sauce. The seafood chowder with a side of warm sourdough bread really hit the spot one very windy day. Then, there were the peanut butter shakes… If you’ve never had a peanut butter shake before, don’t bother getting one anywhere else but the Fresh Sourdough Express. I’ve had them all over town – Boardwalk Fish & Chips, Glacier Drive-In, Frosty Bear, even the Blue Bus in Anchor Point. They don’t even come close to the ones at the FSE. I know they’ve got to be a pain to make – gloppy organic peanut butter mixed with fresh vanilla ice cream in a blender with several restarts to manually stir the mixture to ensure the peanut butter gets incorporated before it gets hard from the cold… and then the blender has to be washed. But, Kevin (owner), never blinked an eye and served my peanut butter shake with a smile.

The FSE was one of my advertising accounts and when they started doing their end-of-the-summer advertising, it included the fact that the business was for sale. It’s been for sale for several years. I knew that. But, for some reason, this time it made me tilt my head with wonder. Hmmm. I called Donna, whom I thought of as a friend since I had briefly coached her son, Jazz, in DDF and we had worked together a lot on advertising issues over the summer. Donna and Kevin own the FSE. That’s all it took. Before I knew it, I was being coached on the nuances of buying a business by Bryan Zak, Director for the Southwest Alaska Small Business Development Center here in Homer. I had some money in the bank that I had thought I would use for a down payment on a house, but this seemed like a much better investment. So, here I am! New owner of the Fresh Sourdough Express Bakery and Café.

Why is this a good fit? First of all, I love to cook AND bake. I like to think that I’m a very environmentally conscious person and use organic foods when I can. I love Homer and this business is an icon here. I love working with teens and hiring and mentoring young people is a major focus of the FSE – they have a very low turnover in employees even though they’ve only been open summers for the past 15 or so years. I’ll get a chance to teach adult cooking classes in the fall and winter months. I’ll be my own boss and having worked at the Homer News on straight commission for the past year, by the time I open the FSE in May, the threat of an irregular paycheck will only be a ripple. I know a lot of people in this town and everyone I’ve told of this new venture is excited and supportive, promising to frequent my business often.

For now, I’m still at the Homer News, but spend many of my off-hours planning menus and new bakery items, theme nights and cooking classes, and preparing for my first catering job this December 30^th. Then, May 1^st, the gloves will come off and I’ll dive into an exciting new adventure!

I had someone once tell me that we all have a need to feel loved and when we lose a love, it is okay to try to fill that emptiness with a new love. Perhaps it is the same way with dreams. Cheers!