October 31 marked one year here in Juneau - we arrived last year at 4:45 a.m. on the ferry from Prince Rupert after driving from Wisconsin. Boy, has time flown! It is cliche to say that we've learned a lot, but I don't know any other way to say it. New experiences have turned into daily life, helpful neighbors have become friends. We know where to buy beer for the best price, have our drive time to work timed to the minute and feel that going "all the way to Douglas" is too far (it's the other "half" of Juneau across the downtown bridge). We have attended concerts and plays, picnics and football games, birthday parties and weddings. We joined the Order of the Moose and Faith Lutheran Church. Our freezer is full of self-caught halibut but decry the fact that we can't get fresh shrimp (the stuff in the store is just
not the same!).
We've been mistaken for "locals'. We have
become accustomed to discussing weather at "happy hour" especially this year since Juneau has broken some records for most rainfall in a month (August), cold weather (record low temp of 38 degrees on July 12) and most snowfall in a day (10.6" on November 14, 2011 - remember that Juneau isn't all that snowy). We are familiar with "Taku winds", high and low tides (and how it affects the fishing!), avalanche warnings and xtra tufs (rain boots). We know the five kinds of salmon, the difference between male and female crabs (important to know since you can't keep females you catch in your pots)
and how to protect yourself from bear attacks.
We've hiked, climbed, and snow-shoed many of the trails here in town but have twice as many yet to do. We've welcomed friends and family to "town" (and enjoyed it tremendously!) and we've left the "rock" to visit the United States (as some put it!). We've become accustomed to the lack of professional sports and the fact that only west-coast teams are usually shown on television. Our friends here are happy to chuckle at our still-present Wisconsin accents. With all of things that we have learned, there are more experiences to share with all of you who might think that they could never do something as "bold" as what we did. I'm here to say you
can. Our experiences here were certainly shaped by the experiences we had before, yet we don't dwell on what we left behind but are excited to learn new things everyday.
Like this interesting story I read in the paper today - those of us who have grown up in the mid-west (or anywhere there is an actual Fall season) can only shake our heads at this: seems that an annual event at a local elementary school has the city crews collect fall leaves over a few weeks and dump them in the school yard on a pre-announced day so that kids from all over can come and "jump" in a pile of dry fall leaves. The paper said that the jumps were "carefully controlled".
October 31 marked one year here in Juneau - we arrived last year at 4:45 a.m. on the ferry from Prince Rupert after driving from Wisconsin. Boy, has time flown! It is cliche to say that we've learned a lot, but I don't know any other way to say it. New experiences have turned into daily life, helpful neighbors have become friends. We know where to buy beer for the best price, have our drive time to work timed to the minute and feel that going "all the way to Douglas" is too far (it's the other "half" of Juneau across the downtown bridge). We have attended concerts and plays, picnics and football games, birthday parties and weddings. We joined the Order of the Moose and Faith Lutheran Church. Our freezer is full of self-caught halibut but decry the fact that we can't get fresh shrimp (the stuff in the store is just not the same!). 
We've been mistaken for "locals'. We have 
become accustomed to discussing weather at "happy hour" especially this year since Juneau has broken some records for most rainfall in a month (August), cold weather (record low temp of 38 degrees on July 12) and most snowfall in a day (10.6" on November 14, 2011 - remember that Juneau isn't all that snowy). We are familiar with "Taku winds", high and low tides (and how it affects the fishing!), avalanche warnings and xtra tufs (rain boots). We know the five kinds of salmon, the difference between male and female crabs (important to know since you can't keep females you catch in your pots) 
and how to protect yourself from bear attacks. 
We've hiked, climbed, and snow-shoed many of the trails here in town but have twice as many yet to do. We've welcomed friends and family to "town" (and enjoyed it tremendously!) and we've left the "rock" to visit the United States (as some put it!). We've become accustomed to the lack of professional sports and the fact that only west-coast teams are usually shown on television. Our friends here are happy to chuckle at our still-present Wisconsin accents. With all of things that we have learned, there are more experiences to share with all of you who might think that they could never do something as "bold" as what we did. I'm here to say you can. Our experiences here were certainly shaped by the experiences we had before, yet we don't dwell on what we left behind but are excited to learn new things everyday. 
Like this interesting story I read in the paper today - those of us who have grown up in the mid-west (or anywhere there is an actual Fall season) can only shake our heads at this: seems that an annual event at a local elementary school has the city crews collect fall leaves over a few weeks and dump them in the school yard on a pre-announced day so that kids from all over can come and "jump" in a pile of dry fall leaves. The paper said that the jumps were "carefully controlled".
