Not in my Alaska, you don't

As if all the things I mentioned a couple of days ago that necessitated a trip to the East Pole weren't enough, this came up today. A New York Times travel writer visiting Alaska and apparently bored with wilderness and wildlife decided to do a number on Anchorage and came up with telling folks they just had to visit the cute bistros and boutiques in downtown Anchorage.

Bistros and boutiques???? NOOOOO!!!! It is enough to drive a sourdough deeper into the mountains. She said the city was laid out like a game of Battleship and the slideshow she produced is called Across or Down, Anchorage is Alive. It is here just for proof if you want to look. And, yikes, I have been in one of those places. Just what this place needs. Are we going to be known by our boutiques and bistros.

I remember years ago thinking an awful lot of people moved to Alaska and then demanded all the things they left behind and did what they could to get them here, in the process making this place just like every other place. I was willing to put up with two week delays to watch football games on television as part of the frontier charm of the place. Now we have people demanding the streets get cleaned quickly in spring for the bicyclists. And others wanting all the bears shot so bicyclists can ride on wooded trails along salmon streams in safety. Bicycles have always been the symbol of this endless change but we could just as well substitute the bistros and boutiques that have now caught the attention of the New Jack Times. I had a flash of me walking into one of those places dressed as I do for the East Pole and packing my bear rifle. Put that in your cupcakes, cupcake.

There was a saying in Cleveland around the Cavaliers when we were there. And it fits here: "Get that weak shit out of here." Right Now! And, now the subject of the posting below becomes even more imperative.

But first I have to fix the Jeep