my hot date

August 29, 2009

Pedro Bay, Alaska

At home, Friday night is traditionally date night, and this is a custom that has been extended to my Alaskan lifestyle. I came home from the school exhausted, (I had parent teacher conferences and not fully knowing the curriculum made it interesting.) and armed with Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild. Snuggling up for the weekend with a good book is my idea of a good time. (I am well aware of what a nerd I am.) I snagged the book from the school’s library. It is one I heard great things about, but have not been able to lay my hands on a copy…

My grand plan was innocently interrupted…

I returned home to find my amazon.com order had come in, and there were still boxes and newspaper everywhere (my groceries were flown in the day before), so I began yanking boxes out of my house, and tiding accordingly….

Savannah (the elementary school teacher’s youngest daughter) is continuously curious about my actions. In an especially playful mood, she climbed into one of the boxes, and was swallowed whole. I was absolutely charmed with her creativity. This is a game I can totally identify with because ‘using your imagination with boxes’ was one of my favorites as a young girl. (My parents still remind me, “We would buy you these cool expensive presents, and you would be more excited about the damn box.” I suppose I have always been a dreamer.) We created a master scheme to trick her brother and sister into coming out into the front foyer, so she could pop out and scare them. I do not know if I will ever outgrow innocent mischief- I found the game just as amusing as she did. A fun fact is that her big brother jumped more so than her older sister. Kids are cool.

I should stop here and explain precisely how I came to become to close with an eight year old Savannah Geffken. She lives next door, her mother is the elementary teacher, we share the front foyer of the teacher housing, and the doors are frequently left ajar, so Mrs. Geffken and I may compare notes. I also eat with them a few times a week. Savannah asks about 14 million questions over the day. Delighted by her curious nature, I entertain her intense questioning. I should note, however, I do not always give her the correct answer, sometimes I make something up- just to mess with her, and then get the reaction out of her when she realizes my teasing. She is super smart for a little kid, and it is really fun to watch her respond to ‘bigger people’ because you can tell what she thinks about a person by the look on her face.

After dinner, I tried to read, but she let herself into my apartment, sat in the adjacent chair, quietly stared at me, and just watched me read. She is not annoying, not in the slightest, especially compared to other children I have experienced. The intensity of her presence makes it impossible to ignore her. So I asked if I could braid her hair in pigtails. She relented, but not before she went home to grab all of her hair accessories and makeup. She rummaged around in her pouch till she pulled out a black satin ribbon, and announced that she wanted the ribbon at the end. One ribbon short, I went to find my gold satin ribbon, and put it in the other side. Next, she did my hair and makeup. (She did not want her makeup done.) Boy did I look hot. She put my hair in a low half ponytail with about 8 hot pink hair clips keeping my long bangs out of my face. She loved my glitter eye shadows and used her favorite, and completed the look with my hot pink lipstick which just happened to be the exact same color as my hair clips. We were ready...

Teasing, I asked her where we were headed tonight. Without a response, she went back to her house, and came back dressed for the town. She wore a sparkly gauzy sundress with a matching purse, and completes with her big sisters high heeled boots (4sizes to big). Oh! And she had three dollars which she announced she would buy dinner with…..

We ended our hot date with a movie ‘Flicka’ which was way better than I expected. I am not ashamed to admit I cried through the whole last part. I was not surprised to learn it was based on a book because it was extremely well written. I will not reveal too much of the plot because I think everyone should watch it. Flicka is set against the backdrop of a modern-day ranch in Wyoming. It tells the story of Katie (Alison Lohman), a teenager who dreams of running her family's ranch, much to the dismay of her father (Tim McGraw); his hopes are pinned on her older brother. Katie's dilemma deepens when he rescues a sickly, semi-feral filly, Flicka (played as an adult by an American Saddlebred named Country Encino). Flicka is a certifiably insane mare, and Katie's father is afraid that the filly will follow in her parent's hoof-prints. High drama, but in a compelling setting ;o)

“I believe there is a force in this world that lives beneath the surface. Something primitive and wild. That awakens when you need an extra push just to survive. Like wild flowers that bloom after a fire that turns the forest black. Most people are afraid of it and keep it buried deep inside themselves. But there will always be a few people who have the courage to love what is untamed inside of us.”

My favorite quote and how I feel about Alaska:

“There was once a time when Americans came west to discover their destiny. Today they seem to move around everyway restless and unsettled. But I think they are still looking for the same thing. A place where they can be optimistic about the future. A place that helps them to be who they really want to be. Where they can feel that this life makes sense. A place where they can feel what I feel when I'm riding Flicka. Cause when we're riding all I feel... is free.”