9 Things That Are Great About/Suck About Small Towns

We’ve just returned to Tok after five weeks away. Thank you to everyone who has hung in here and also contacted me about the blog silence. My daughter and I were staying with my folks in Florida while my husband did some traveling on his own. And now we’re back. And it’s cold.

Coming back to a small, rural community like Tok makes me think of a lot of things, both good and bad. I always do try to see the silver lining on things, but I can’t deny that living here is very hard.

Here are my thoughts on the good things about living in a small towns and the not so good. I think this can apply to smaller towns and communities anywhere.

Good	Bad
It’s quiet.	It’s lonely.
It’s safe, especially for your kids.	It’s isolated with few resources for kids.
It’s a slower pace.	It can be boring.
No traffic.	No place to go.
You can see thousands of stars in the night’s sky.	Dangerous, pitch dark, icy roads.
No close neighbors.	No close friends.
People are there to help in a pinch.	People make it their business to know your business.
No crowds or long lines.	Nobody shows up for events.
No urban sprawl.	No bookstore, no movie theater, no restaurant variety.

What are your impressions of or experiences with life in a small town?

I Want My Tok Karaoke

With the darkness coming more quickly by the day, I’m thinking of dusting off my Karaoke machine and getting ready for the long, cold winter with a little in-home Karaoke madness. Music soothes the sun-deprived soul. When we were living in Anchorage, I used to marvel at the wealth of public Karaoke options. We’d usually go to Al’s Karaoke Bar in our ‘hood.

Now I know that Tok has Karaoke but it always seems to be the best kept secret. I’ve heard it is every other Saturday but  Saturdays it is on or off. Looks like I need to start making some calls! I did make it to one Karaoke night that was fun but like in most places, Karaoke is an acquired taste and most people only do it after a large amount of alcohol consumption. I actually prefer to Karaoke without too many drinks. After two, I start really missing all the notes.

I’m fascinated with the Karaoke culture, that is, the culture of hardcore Karaoke fans. It’s a bit like RV culture – this strata of people who live a different kind of lifestyle by choice and being part of that group is like being a part of a secret club where you all know the secret handshake. Someday, I’m going to take an RV and travel the country in search of Karaoke. Maybe even enter a contest or two if I can really work up a good song.

Karaoke in a small town is quite different from Karaoke in the big city. First, you are usually competing with fewer people for your chance at the mic so you end up singing a little more often. Sometimes in Anchorage, I’d be lucky to get two songs in, and that was a 8pm, the moment the Karaoke DJ opened the mic. Another thing is that if you do Karaoke in a small town, the next day everyone – and I mean everyone – knows you did it and exactly what songs you sang. But that’s okay, I don’t mind it if folks in my community know I’m a Karaoke fanatic.

I’ll make a few calls, get the winter schedule for Tok Karaoke, and start plugging away with some Dido, Sarah McLachlan, Sheryl Crow, and a little bit of Shania Twain mixed in for good measure.

Do you Karaoke? What are your best songs or artists?

If You Lived Here, I Still Might Not Know You

Just finished a fantastic book about living in remoter parts of Alaska called If You Lived Here, I’d Know Your Name by Heather Lende. I’ve crossed paths with Heather before when she received an award from the Alaska Communications Professionals in Anchorage but at the time, didn’t know who she was. Not that I didn’t read the Anchorage Daily News, but her column was being carried less and less frequently. And then I moved to Tok.

Reading about Haines, Alaska through Lende’s essays was incredibly satisfying. I love her perspective on human beings, on life, on relationships, and on life in a small town. I love the way she portrays thorny situations and real-life dramas with quiet respect and reflection. What a great essayist!

I’d love to have a modicum of Lende’s talent for conveying small town politics without getting too controversial or political. Her sensitivity is honorable and enviable. She reveals so much while still “protecting the guilty.” And you really come away from reading this book feeling like you know the people of Haines, even just a glimpse of them, and you know what it is to live in a place like Haines.

How can I tell you what it is like to live in a place like Tok? I come at this place from an entirely different place than Lende in Haines because although a transplant to her area, she has lived there for years, had children there, had a career writing obituaries for the local paper, all things to tie her more closely to a community.

I’ve arrived from “the city.” I had my only child in the city and have brought her here and hope she will grow and thrive. My career is the business I own that I run from my home which is isolating in many ways. I try to contribute to my community through this blog. I also try to tangibly contribute by making donations – monetary and in-kind – to meaningful local causes and organizations such as the Tok Tanacross Imagination Library and Duct Tape Radio and Humanities Forum. Doing the best I can.

Heather Lende’s book reminds me of the complexity of people who come to live in very small communities and who like it just the way it is. This place, like Haines, has history and layers. Nothing is like it looks on the surface. Nothing is as simple as it might seem.

You can order If You Lived Here, I’d Know Your Name online.

What are your thoughts of/experiences with living in a small community?

Long Shadows

I walk outside when I see the sun shining now, and the shadows are long. Long shadows foreshadow the quick descent of winter. We’re on the downward slide into darkness. And I’m not feeling very good about it.

Long shadows make me woeful and anxious. Long shadows haunt me.

Looks like I should figure out where my full spectrum light box is to make sure I have quick and easy access to it once the dark descends. I’m bracing myself for the disappearance of light.

How do you prepare for and deal with the darkness?

Arts Bazaar in Tok

I have a lot of interest in an arts bazaar to showcase Tok-based artists (such as Ken Lisbourne – see image below) so will definitely work to help coordinate something. But won’t be able to get it done this week. While I was able to obtain permission to set up tables on the land around the big orange truck and did get confirmations from several artisans, I just don’t have the time at the moment to do the rest. But I’m truly committed to helping make this happen in the future so if anyone is planning another event and would like an art component, please let me know, and I’m happy to do the legwork with enough notice.

In the meanwhile, I’ve finally met Gene, the produce guy, who sets up his truck daily around 3pm-ish until around 5:30pm across from All Alaska Gifts. His produce is gorgeous, fresh and homegrown. We picked up some tomatoes and squash the other day and will frequent his truck more often now that we know he’s there. It is funny how one can be in such a small community and get mail every day via the same route and never drive past the road where he’s set up. So for anyone new to the area or just passing through, keep your eyes peeled for Gene and his produce!

What else is available here in Tok that is yet another “best-kept secret?” What other Tok businesses and artisans can we all better support?

Save the Peas!

The 30 degree F weather is here, and the pea vines are drooping. We’ve been running outside the last few days to grab the last of the pea bounty, pull some carrots, coddle the tomatos and squash in the greenhouse, and we did a mega-rhubarb run to the tune of 40 quarts, chopped and now frozen. For my first official summer doing a vegetable garden (I don’t count the year I was pregnant or first year post partum in Anchorage – total blurs), I think we’ve done pretty well. Even despite the chickweed invasion.

Here are some recent snapshots of our harvest.

How is your garden doing?

The Truck is Here Today!

Our friendly CV Farms truck is here today and set up in the lot near the Husky Lounge.

Leah says they have some cantelope ($2 apiece), apples, plums, nectarines – this is an impromptu stop at the tail end of their July trip so will NOT replace their August trip which will be later in the week.

So if you are looking for some fresh fruits, stop on by today (Wednesday)!

UPDATE: Got some delicious cherries, plums (you have to feel around to get the non-squishy ones), peaches, and cantaloupe as well as some Anaheim peppers. Thinking of trying my hand at making some Chile Rellenos. Anyone have an easy recipe for them? Easy being the operative word!

The truck will be back, and I just confirmed that we are allowed to do something bigger surrounding their set up. Tentative date is August 19 so if you know any artists or arts & crafts folks in or around Tok who might like to display and sell their wares, please have them contact me through this blog.

I’m so excited! I’m still working out all the details, but things are looking good for a special event on August 19!

Who do you know who is creating art or crafts in or around Tok?

Cooking and Baking in Tok

I’d love to lay claim to these two culinary creations, however, the first is my husband’s dish and the second was made by my awesome girlfriend while I was on the phone.

Introducing…Caribou Stroganoff! Caribou cooked over the fire pit, frozen, thawed, and sliced in a creamy sauce. The side dish? Lambsquarter steamed.

And a Rhubarb Crisp ala mode, rhubarb from our backyard garden. Crisp made with gluten-free flour blend that’s on sale at the Tok General Store.

I’m getting braver about baking and think I can muster up some rhubarb dishes and even some radish ones.

What have you been baking lately?

Fresh Produce Truck

Want fresh produce today?

CV Farms parked their truck next to The Husky Lounge and opened up boxes of fresh fruit including peaches, plums, oranges, Braeburn and Fuji apples, onions, and more. They’re still there this afternoon and are debating about staying tomorrow – depends on how much they have left. They said they put up fliers but I didn’t even know there were there until I happened to pass by and saw a crowd by a truck.

The owners say they’re from Montana and they drive around with their produce through other states including Alaska although they say they hadn’t stopped in Tok before.

Gotta love summers in Tok!

Hurry on over to get some produce! The oranges are particularly sweet and juicy.

Scene from Eagle

On my way into Glenallen recently, I stopped off at Jeannie’s Java for a latte and breakfast burrito. Jeannie’s daughter and I began chatting and when she heard I was coming from Tok, she mentioned that a young man was trying to get to Tok to try to hitch a flight to Eagle. He was a photographer on assigment, and she asked if I’d speak with him. Sure, I said, and that’s how I met Ross McDermott.

Ross was on assignment to shoot photographs of the devastation in Eagle. One story was a Studio 360 radio piece by his friend Jesse Dukes and the other an article for Mother Jones magazine by Ted Genoways of the Virginia Quarterly Review (both should be out end of June).

I told Ross that I’d be heading back to Tok in the afternoon, then gave him a slew of ideas and people’s names in Tok who I thought could help him in his quest to get to Eagle. We exchanged contact information, and on my way home, I learned that he was able to hitchhike to Tok about half hour after he and I spoke.

Ross got back in touch recently to say he did get to Eagle by hitchhiking from Tok, and was able to take photos. He was kind enough to send me a bunch of them to choose one for this blog. Below is the one I picked that I thought really reflected both the physical and emotional impact of the disaster.

Take a look at Ross’s professional site and also his American Festivals Project. He’s a very talented guy. I hope his images help the world see what happened up here.

You can also check out Eagle Flood Info.

photo used with permission from Ross Dermott

Have you been to Eagle? Please share stories, images and any advice on how we can help our neighbors.