Alaska

I just realized I haven't written anything about this yet: my sister and her family decided over the holidays to move to Alaska.

Or at least my sister and her husband did; it doesn't sound like the rest of the family is on board. Emily, who is 15, is as upset as can be and will be staying with my father until June so she can finish out the school year here. My sister also promised her that she can spend summers with my mother, so Idunno -- sounds like it may be September until she gets out there. Eddy, 14, has decided to live with his biological mother, which I didn't think had anything to do with Alaska, but my father thinks otherwise. What a mess. Jamie, Sam and Jennifer are too young to have much of an opinion I guess.

Personally I think they're nuts, and am predicting here and now that it will not last more than two or three years, if that. The place they are moving is in the panhandle, a tiny little touristy town called Sitka on one of the large coastal islands. It has a maritime climate, so it's not as cold as you might expect for Alaska, but it's plenty cloudy and wet. However, I think the cost of living there is going to eat them alive. Gas and milk are both about 5 dollars a gallon. The town is surrounded by federal forest land, which I'm sure is nice, but the lack of growing room can't be good for housing costs.



Sitka, the international city. Long dimension is about 3 miles.