We spent all day Sunday out at our land about 11 miles out of town. The neighbors are organizing a fund for renting a dozer to do road work- a ditch, grading and widening our access road. Did we want a road out to our 15 acres? No thanks- we don't need any thru traffic. Maybe when there are other houses on the road. We use the 4 wheeler with a trailer.
Our neighbor out there, Dorothy, is making and selling pies at Granny's Pies. They own some land and a few houses out there and their entire family has moved here from Florida. They fit right in- being neighborly, resourceful, funloving and hard working. It makes us feel welcome, even though our cabin is only the foundation right now.
Tom came out and helped peel logs. Paul and Tom dug new post holes, cut the logs for posts and we peeled and painted on log oil. The next step is the floor, but the leaves are almost all gone, so we'll be having snow up there pretty quickly. We'll put up the four wheeler, boat and pop-up trailer and get out the snow tires, skis and long johns.
Teachers are getting into the rhythm of their teaching here about now. There are still some unfilled positions so unhired teachers are a hot commodity for the last few jobs. If a person is special ed certified or any of the specialty services like speech pathologists, school psychologists, physical therapists or occupational therapists, come on up!
The population in Fairbanks has swollen but the villages have lost population. The $3269 checks (per person) from the state have helped people move if they'd been thinking about it. The state always divides up the
interest from the oil revenues permanent fund between all the permanent residents of the state. It's an average from the last 5 years, so its large this year because the last low stock market year was averaged in last year. Today the fund took a beating from the -500 drop in the stock market- a $287 million dollar loss to the PFD. Another $1200 came from the state as an energy rebate. Since we're paying about $4.19 for gas (down from about $4.64 earlier this year) and more than that for the fuel oil that keeps us alive in winter, the extra money will be helpful. If only people were using it for that.....
The Farmer's Market will close this weekend. The yummy carrots are almost sold out. I bought 3# for $5 today. Most of the booths were not open, but farmers are still selling their root vegetables, carrots, potatoes and some lettuce and herbs. Our garden yielded a couple good cabbages and we hope to harvest the potatoes this week.
Our friend Ben was helping his parents out this weekend. The kids are enjoying jumping into piles of leaves- just like we did when we were kids. There are no more piles of burning leaves though like in the 50s. I'll never forget that smell- the smell of Fall. As it is, in Fairbanks, Fall smells like wet grass, old mushrooms, wood chips and the cold crisp air that bites your nose and quickens your morning pulse.
Be sure to click on the links to the right of this blog. Our son Ben is visiting Cambodia and has some interesting insights. Our teacher friends are back at school in some diverse Alaskan communities and share those experiences.
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