Subarctic Living Questions answered

I get lots of questions about living up here. So I thought I might spend a few minutes answering some of them...Alaska is a very cool place to live and explore, but it is a lot different than places many have lived, and indeed, very different from Southern California where I grew up.

1. How do you cope with the crazy cold temperatures?

I get this question a lot from fascinated relatives and friends. There's many ways we cope...for one, people up here are prepared for many feet of snow, ice, etc and the subzero temps for months out of the year. LOTS of snowplows. No slating the roads, because salt doesn't work when it's damn cold to work, so everything is gravelled. We all have several choices of coats dependent on the weather and everyone has several choices of mitten thickness, hat cover, scarves, etc. Our arctic entryway is crammed full of warm clothing, as is the trunk of the car. You time things carefully - I personally try not to take the children out below -20 and for any sustained time if it's below -5. Timmy is just too young to be outside for long periods of time no matter how bundled up.

We both have snow and all terrain tires. I also have an auto start...an electronic remote that starts the car from a good distance away and so the car warms before I have to put the kids in super cold car seats. Timmy has an extra blanket bungee corded to his seat to keep him extra warm. I always sling Timmy to my body and use the Peekaru baby vest over us both. Only his head sticks out of the vest and I can wrap my coat around and keep him pretty warm. Connor always wears a hat and parka and some of the time we add mittens to that. If he goes ice fishing or playing at the ice parks, we add long johns and snow pants to that. I also have a big pile of chemical handwarmers for everyone's pockets when we're out in the wicked cold for an extended period.

And because just a few minutes outside in the cold unprotected can have serious health implications, we have survival kits in the vehicles. Kitty litter to make traction in icy conditions, flares, matches, packaged food, water, etc. We also have mounds of subzero temp socks -- they work great for layering on extremities. It was brought home to us recently how dangerous it is...a guy in Salcha was woken up by a house fire and was able to escape with only socks on. It was -35, he was outside for only 20 minutes but there's a very good chance he's going to lose a good part of his feet to frostbite.

Like anything, you just get used to it. I regularly walk to the post office box at -10 with just a sweater and vest. It would be a rude shock to go back to Las Vegas...70 is gasping hot here!

2. What's different about living in Alaska?

Well, it's a weird hybrid of living overseas and living in the United States. It costs more (I paid $9.99 for a small watermelon! $5 for half gallon of milk! $2.50 for gas!) and shipping/shopping here is weird -- we don't have some of the stores most Americans would consider essential like Target, no Olive Garden, etc. We do have some box stores like Wal-Mart, but not many.

The attitude is a little different down here too. We refer to the "Lower 48" a lot and have a fairly condescending attitude toward those less hardy souls that don't want to live here.

No trash pick up at our houses to avoid attracting bears and wolves. NEVER thought I'd live somewhere the predators are actually animals, and not just humans with no soul or scruples, but there it is. A couple months ago, three bears broke into a guy's garage in Salcha and ate 60 lbs of frozen salmon and moose meat in his deep freezer. Break ins in Vegas were a VERY different type I tell you!

Okay I've got a toddler yelling for letter games, a baby rousing from a nap, and three more loads of laundry to do...I must h1ie myself off to fulfill motherly duties!