REMARKABLE PEOPLE, HIGH WINDS AND THE FLIGHT OUT

I woke last Saturday morning to a very cold apartment and snow covering a portion of the living room.  One of the latches on a window wasn’t secure, so it had blown open during the night.  I imagined myself leaning against the cold window all day and wondering and if building maintenance was available on Saturdays.  Being highly motivated, I was able to determine that the latch needed to be turned in the opposite direction to keep it in place.  There are so many opportunities to be sincerely grateful here and this presented one of them.   

Darleen Lord, the Coordinator of Public Health Nursing and Julie Serstad, the Deputy Director of Community Health in Barrow were both wise, having flown out of Barrow on Friday and Saturday, respectively, missing the blizzard that descended in full force on Sunday.  Winds between 40-50 mph with falling snow created whiteout conditions, grounding all flights out of Barrow and preventing any from landing.  Liliana, a CNA and Bertrand and myself, both public health nurses were scheduled to fly out Sunday morning to join Darlene and Julie to attend a four day Alaska Public Health Nursing Summit in Anchorage.  Liliana, Bertrand and I each called or checked Alaska Airlines’ website to find out that our flight and subsequent ones were cancelled.  The sound of the wind could be heard outside reminding all of Barrow that it would relent in its own time. 

In the meantime, the apartment was becoming more and more like home.  Goce, Dave and Jovan, true to their generous words, picked up my large and heavy wooden crates filled with furniture that my son, Peter, had shipped up from Washington.  They arrived at Northern Air Cargo’s dock at the airport early last week, prior to the blizzard, and one call to Goce resulted in him and his co-workers in Maintenance jumping into action.  When returning with my key, they expressed that they had wanted to set up my bed for me, but couldn’t find the hardware.  Feeling as though I had imposed on them enough, it took them several minutes of insisting before I relented and told them where it could be found.  They told me that when I was ready to put up my shelves, to be sure to call them.  I asked them to please put together a list of things they wanted from Anchorage…would they like some fresh produce including pineapples, oranges, apples, tomatoes, etc.?  They all smiled and Jovan said for all of them, “please just smile and give us a kind greeting when you see us, Susi…that’s all the payment we need.”  Really remarkable men who will receive something that I hope they each enjoy on my return from Anchorage…if we go.

Arriving home the evening the furniture was delivered, I was overjoyed to see the stunningly beautiful coffee table Peter had made for me several years ago and the rocking chair he had refinished as a Christmas gift this year.  I had nursed both of my children in it, so it was especially meaningful and his work was characteristically very well done.  My Grandmother’s antique desk, as well as my Ikea desk, chairs and shelves, were all here and the bed was set up and ready to raise me from the moderately comfortable, narrow pillow bed I’d been sleeping on since moving in.  The storage room off of the bedroom is large and carpeted and holds both tall shelves, so has become a small library with enough room to comfortably sit and read.   I spent part of Saturday doing laundry at Julie’s and began putting the shelves together and unpacking boxes of books.  By Sunday night, the library was complete. 

There was no change of conditions on Monday morning…high winds and snow were both still very present.  The local radio station announced that all North Slope Borough, City of Barrow, and all schools were closed for the day and all residents were encouraged to stay home.  All flights were cancelled as well so I found myself with a full day ahead to unpack and hang pictures, mostly of family.  I’ve visited small cabins in remote areas and have always been impressed with entire walls being filled with photographs of family members.  I can understand now why this might feel natural to do--going long stretches of time without seeing family, the photographs remind one of their love as well as of memories in warmer climes with them, both absent here. 

By 6 pm that night, I felt satisfied with my arrangements, having just one wall left to hang when it occurred to me, that although the wind was still blowing, that I should check on the status of flights out of Barrow.  The evening one was scheduled to leave on time, so I quickly transitioned from hanging photos to finishing packing to leave on the 8:25 pm flight.  The winds continued to blow, so I felt sure that I’d learn soon that the flight would be cancelled.  While preparing, I called every five minutes, each time learning that it would be taking off one time. 

Fortunately, I live near to Liliana and her husband, Cruz, so they picked me up on their way to the airport.  Such happy, generous people and as curious as I was about the flight still being scheduled.  Shortly after takeoff, the skies calmed and we left dark and windy Barrow behind for the tropics of Anchorage.