You live where?

I am often asked about my home, Tuesday. Often the questions are about the obvious and ongoing construction, my bits of garden, hauling water, too little or too much sunlight, and Alaska's remoteness. The nature of the questions varies a bit with the experiences of those asking. Why did I name my house? Why Tuesday? (We will save those for a different blog post.) On the whole, most people are really asking me about finding my way, carving out an existence, composing a life.  This post is not the whole answer, but it may be the most relevant.

Life at Tuesday:
Light in the summer, glowing with warmth in the winter, music, the quiet turning of pages, laughter, and conversation are the foundation of our home. I wear blue jeans, and sarongs, and I walk barefoot when it suits me, most of the summer it suits me.

In this life I am learning, not nearly fast enough to be ahead, but almost fast enough to keep up. I plant, I explore history, I spend time in thought, I paint, I read, I write: I dabble. Tuesday is an honest reflection of the lives it shelters. A place where function and form occasionally meet, but for the most part whimsy overlaps utility to create pockets of comfort, and now and again, art.

People come from all over to spend time here. I think because here is a place that offers enough. Frequently, we find there is enough conversation, enough peace, enough to eat, enough quiet, enough candor, and enough joy, to support us on our journeys. The door is open, both to leaving and returning.

Enough is that place between too little and too much. It is easy to fall short of what is needed. We can see that truth in every community despite the plenty that surrounds so many. A fear of scarcity, felt by those who have what they need as well as those who do not, creates a hunger that more cannot satisfy - such that life's real challenge is walking the line between too little and excess.

I am like you, there are days I worry, trying to manage the tension that comes with not knowing if there will be enough.

Enough time for me to raise my daughters as individuals and sisters? Enough time for me to be alone with my husband, and enough time for me to be alone with myself? Enough time to be home and enough time to explore? My daughters know the comfort of home, but will there be enough to ensure they develop the ability to trust and delight in places unfamiliar? Can I develop enough poise to navigate day-to-day challenges and leave room to experience the sacredness in each day? Will I recognize enough?

I don’t know? I am not sure that it matters.

For now, I walk through this life with you, creating, allowing for, and discovering enough. Enough to give, enough to ensure well-being, enough to help others, enough to celebrate, enough to make each of us whole.

Welcome to Tuesday, make yourself at home.

Summer Races Ahead, June Gone, July Already in Full Swing!

Since resurrecting my blog to document the wickedly brief 94 days of summer here in AK  I have been racing with the daylight to fit in both life and writing. In an attempt to shorten the distance between my entries and summer's break neck pace I submit to you an abridged version of our summer to date...

Garden Step 1: plant 300 seeds.
Moving Day: for our friend Patrick. Though we were sorry to have him move out it was exciting to help him plan and paint his new room. The plan included a custom designed and built loft (by the Eskridge/Crowson team). He now rests each night in a cozy round bed which hangs from his ceiling – his own personal cloud!
Clean-up Happens: This time at Ruby’s homestead

Celebrating Summer: old school – very old school! See Maypole...

Summer Jobs 101 for the Modern Teen: Register with Alaska’s job board, write a resume, create LinkedIn profile, write cover letter, prepare for interview, secure references, interview, and write thank-you notes. Rinse and Repeat until employed! 

Clucking Blossom 2011: Did not disappoint: Music, Art, Mosquitoes! The event had everything a Fairbanks kid needs to know that summer has arrived and all is right with the world.

Garden Step 2: Raised beds are how we roll! 

Garden Step 3: Time to plant this crop!

Nasturtiums, Carrots: orange, purple, red and white,Sugar Snap Peas, Spinach, Lettuce,Tomatoes, Radishes, Basil, 3 kinds of Mint, Parsley, Beets, Potatoes, Dahlia's, Delphiniums, Sweet Peas, Hostas, Columbine, Lily of the Valley, Pumpkins,Wild Iris, and Sunflowers

Garden Step 4: Keep up with the watering until monsoon season...

More Music, More Friends: Amanda was in town, as was BNL! 

Student Rabbi Arrives: meet, greet, cocktails! Our kind of Rabbi!

Garden Extension: Mini-salad garden for the Rabbi, courtesy of Miriam
Bar Mitzvah #1: Daniel Wolfe, Wow! Daniel it was a perfect day.

Auntie Deb: Makes her annual summer journey north. 

Fairbanks Shakespeare Theatre Groundling’s and Fledglings Summer Production 2011: Mid-Summer's Night Dream. Thalia as Helena, Miriam as Peas-blossom, Emma as Bottom, Kelsey performed Lysander when Tyler landed in the hospital! Tyler is well now and Kelsey is our HERO!  I am hopeful that pictures will soon surface. 
Harvesting Firewood: Some chores never really end.

Time to fill the Freezer: David leaves for Chitna, 3 days later he returns with 16 Red and 1 King! Summer = good eating!
Bar Mitzvah # 2: Sam Greenberg -
Destined to be our first Pro-Baseball Rabbi! 

Cast Party: Those Monahan’s throw a  great shindig!
Rain: Enough to keep the garden happy, refill Lake Eskridge, and cancel the annual Jews in Canoes float trip. Though I am not complaining. There is still plenty of sunshine!

Thalia saves the Day: This happens pretty routinely, but this time she is doing her part down at Black Rapids Lodge. Last summer she lent a hand when Annie and Michael fond themselves short staffed with guests confirming and arriving at the end of their season. This year they knew who to call when they needed a reliable Jill-Of-All-Trades. She will be back by next Tuesday but is not opposed to making another trip down their way later in the summer too. 

First Ripe Blueberry: found in bushes behind the house July 7, 2011  

Tomorrow: is July 9, 2011. If you know who is holding the universal remote please ask them to stop fast forwarding! A momentary pause would even be appreciated. Regardless watch your inbox as I attempt to keep pace with the remaining days of summer....

94 Days of Summer: Alaskan Style

June 21st marks solstice for all of us living in the northern hemisphere and it is filled with sunlight and the promise of summer. A promise I took pretty lightly growing up in Virginia, where an Indian Summer might take you halfway through October before the air became crisp.

Life has carried me pretty far from those climes and these days I am prepared to use everyday that summer has to offer. I am often asked what life is like here. Well, living in Alaska, summer or winter, is a lot like going to camp. You mean to write, but you are on the move and writing letters home is often competing with sleep, but this year is going to be different! No for real – this summer I will send poorly edited letters, slightly sticky postcards, and maybe even some almost-in-focus photos back to document this odd life I am carving out up here. No promises about winter, but this summer is a sure thing!

I know, I know, I am already a week late and a couple of photos short, but you watch your in-box. You will get 94 days of Alaska summer in fun-size installments for your personal enjoyment!

More Soon,
Jennifer