Celebrating? Statehood

Are you sick of hearing the -43 degree blues? Today we really stayed home all day. I'm not feeling very well, we're having trouble waiting until Feb 12 for our hike, I've read all the good books and it's dark for 20 hours of the day. And check out our miserably high gas prices, too. Wah, wah!
The newspaper and radio are full of the statehood reminiscences. It's been 50 years of statehood for Alaska. The Alaskan Independence Party is still going strong, advocating for a revote- stay a territory, become an independent nation, a state or a commonwealth. We was robbed! Alaska's economy is fueled by federal money, but we've given up a lot. The federal government is the biggest land owner in Alaska, owning 65% of Alaska. You can fly anywhere in Alaska and as far as the eye can see, there are few settlements or signs of people. Yet, there is so little private land that an acre of undeveloped land near Fairbanks can run as high as $20,000 with no road access or any hope of utilities. That's just not right. Because Alaska is a state with such a small population, the rest of the country jumps right in to lobby and make decisions about almost everything about the Alaskan lifestyle. Drill, baby, drill as long it's just in Alaska and it won't pollute my water. I want my air conditioners to run and it shouldn't be expensive, either.

I've resolved not to make an resolutions this year. I think with our 6 month hike looming into our near future, we'll have an opportunity to be reflective and we'll have time to examine our priorities.

Alaska has a few interesting webcams. Check them out!