I'M FEELING RICH
I'm feeling very rich tonight. My serial visits to Anchorage and multiple orders though Amazon Prime have resulted in my cupboards completely reaching their saturation points. I have eight liters of olive oil, bags (and bags) of dried figs, Goji berries, nuts, quinoa, flax, chia, sesame, sunflower seeds, 10 tins of sardines, pounds of frozen fruit and salmon, bottles of sesame oil, apple cider vinegar and soy sauce. I am stocked for a good, long time with all of these wonderful commodities. The drive to have an abundance of supplies on hand came from the almost tiresome routine of ordering food staples every two weeks. Not meaning to take this for granted or to be ungrateful in the least, but along with doing the wash by hand most weeks, it has become a bit of a chore and all without the enjoyable experience of bumping into friends while shopping.
Another dynamic of the online shopping experience is the multiple trips to the post office that are required to pick up one's treasures--in a week, two weeks, or a month, depending on how long a package might be held in Anchorage or in Prudhoe Bay. The post office instituted new hours in February, to my and others' mild but real dismay. One can pick up and mail letters, if already posted, from 8 am until 6 pm, but can only employ the help of a postal clerk to mail a package or retrieve one from 9 am until 5 pm. There are no self-serve postage scales or stamp dispensers. Some weeks, a wonderful clerk named Mollet keeps the window open during lunch, but when he's in one of the villages, the metal accordion-like door is firmly shut between noon and 1:30 pm. The big blue mail box outside the entrance to the post office was removed recently. I learned that it was sent to Fairbanks so that it could not find its way out the front door again. It's a chilling experience, I've heard, to empty the box, especially when it's dark and cold. This all makes mailing and receiving certain forms of mail challenging and requires taking time off from work. One used to be able to run or bike across the lagoon or jump on the bus and barely make it before the window closed at 5:15 or 5:20 pm.
Don't tell anyone, but I've been seeing the postmaster. We met over the counter of the Dutch door where he sometimes hands out packages. I began noticing that he held mine until last when disbursing them and then struck up conversations with me and we'd talk when I saw him at the library reading while I was there studying. On another visit to the Dutch door, he asked if he could see me and of course I said that I'd be happy to give him a shot at the clinic if he would like. There's not a lot to do in Barrow so it was the first thing that came to mind. He arrived for his appointment and said that he hadn't had a vaccination in over 30 years and was nervous, understandably. I explained the diseases that each vaccine prevents and had to smile when he said one after another..."I don't want that disease, no I don't want that one either," so let himself be lanced. Anyway, I was tempted to think or thoughtfully hoped that representing the other vehicle-less people here and myself, that I might have a little influence in persuading a certain postmaster regarding the hours of the postal window in question but he is one steadfast man, explaining the reasons he made the changes--all very logical and good ones. His handful of clerks are, admittedly overworked, serving all of the residents in Barrow and the village across the north slope from the single post office at the top of the world.
The wind is howling outside tonight. It's 11:01 pm and I can see clearly particles of snow being swept quickly past my upstairs window. It's very light out now for many hours of the day...the darkness is long gone. People have reported seeing a snow bird or two and silently stopping to hear their song. Whales are jumping out beyond the edge of the sea ice, teasing the whalers who are waiting for the winds to die down before hunting begins. It's an exciting time of year here in Barrow and it's only just begun = )
Wishing you all a very happy Spring, unlimited post office hours and full cupboards wherever this may find you!
Susi
Another dynamic of the online shopping experience is the multiple trips to the post office that are required to pick up one's treasures--in a week, two weeks, or a month, depending on how long a package might be held in Anchorage or in Prudhoe Bay. The post office instituted new hours in February, to my and others' mild but real dismay. One can pick up and mail letters, if already posted, from 8 am until 6 pm, but can only employ the help of a postal clerk to mail a package or retrieve one from 9 am until 5 pm. There are no self-serve postage scales or stamp dispensers. Some weeks, a wonderful clerk named Mollet keeps the window open during lunch, but when he's in one of the villages, the metal accordion-like door is firmly shut between noon and 1:30 pm. The big blue mail box outside the entrance to the post office was removed recently. I learned that it was sent to Fairbanks so that it could not find its way out the front door again. It's a chilling experience, I've heard, to empty the box, especially when it's dark and cold. This all makes mailing and receiving certain forms of mail challenging and requires taking time off from work. One used to be able to run or bike across the lagoon or jump on the bus and barely make it before the window closed at 5:15 or 5:20 pm.
Don't tell anyone, but I've been seeing the postmaster. We met over the counter of the Dutch door where he sometimes hands out packages. I began noticing that he held mine until last when disbursing them and then struck up conversations with me and we'd talk when I saw him at the library reading while I was there studying. On another visit to the Dutch door, he asked if he could see me and of course I said that I'd be happy to give him a shot at the clinic if he would like. There's not a lot to do in Barrow so it was the first thing that came to mind. He arrived for his appointment and said that he hadn't had a vaccination in over 30 years and was nervous, understandably. I explained the diseases that each vaccine prevents and had to smile when he said one after another..."I don't want that disease, no I don't want that one either," so let himself be lanced. Anyway, I was tempted to think or thoughtfully hoped that representing the other vehicle-less people here and myself, that I might have a little influence in persuading a certain postmaster regarding the hours of the postal window in question but he is one steadfast man, explaining the reasons he made the changes--all very logical and good ones. His handful of clerks are, admittedly overworked, serving all of the residents in Barrow and the village across the north slope from the single post office at the top of the world.
The wind is howling outside tonight. It's 11:01 pm and I can see clearly particles of snow being swept quickly past my upstairs window. It's very light out now for many hours of the day...the darkness is long gone. People have reported seeing a snow bird or two and silently stopping to hear their song. Whales are jumping out beyond the edge of the sea ice, teasing the whalers who are waiting for the winds to die down before hunting begins. It's an exciting time of year here in Barrow and it's only just begun = )
Wishing you all a very happy Spring, unlimited post office hours and full cupboards wherever this may find you!
Susi
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We've been missing you!
ReplyDeleteThanks Leanne! Am zipping through school these days with not much time to really reflect about the experiences here. Am looking forward to an upcoming summer break and hope to write more. How are you? Are you loving your nursing job? Happy spring! = )
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