Wednesday, September 20, 2006

(32) October 5, 1987 Off to Alaska

1987: First Class Stamp $0.22 cents
Aretha Franklin becomes the first woman inducted
into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Jessica McClure fell into the Well
The World Population reaches five billion (5,000,000,000)
Andy Warhol Dies
Prozac makes its debut in the United States.
The Harmonic Convergence is observed around the world.
We get out first view of "The Simpson's"
Toni Morrison Publishes "Beloved"
"The Last emperor" in theaters
"La Bamba", "Walk like an Egyptian" and
"BAD" on the charts
The AIDS Memorial Quilt was started in San Francisco
16,098 AIDS Deaths in the USA
Some people do things like get married or start a family at 30, I of course not being some people, moved to Alaska. It was quite an adventure, Texas femme in the wilderness. I fell in love with the place in the summer...twenty-two hours of sunshine and the most amazing mountains and clear water imaginable. But my first winter there was the real slap of reality. Cold and dark, my employees had to have breaks every hour or so to plug their cars in to keep them from freezing. Yikes! It was quite the experience to walk in a Gay Pride parade with only 12 people in downtown Anchorage, or to be the only woman in a dress at social functions.
The Iditarod starting point was right outside my apartment. Since it was Fourth street, and Third, Second, and First streets didn't exist anymore from a previous earthquake I felt every tremor of the ground. One night I was sitting in my apartment and the whole building shook as I watched a huge thirty pound art glass vase (Yes, the Grasshopper) twirl around on my desk. I called my mother to tell her about this, and she replied "God didn't mean for people to live where the ground shakes." I didn't have the heart to remind her about tornados.

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