O Cabin, My Cabin!

We are in the middle of our very own wood-neck as Joe likes to say.

Yesterday evening we rode our bikes home from dinner at my boss' place, our first rainy night in Fairbanks. About a mile from home, chugging up that last bit of hill in the near pitch dark to our "street" we heard an enormous rattling of bushes to our right. We'd surprised a moose on his or her evening forage, and heard him dash away into the forest. Whew!

But where'd the Jeep come from? That is on loan as of today from my boss, a second car that she's thinking of selling. We're giving her a test drive to see if we like her. The car has been nicknamed Kaneesha. We have a week to decide if we like her. More on Kaneesha later...

Hope the pictures convey something of the warmth and beauty of our new place. And check out that swell outhouse! As far as outhouses go, this is a good one. Don't be intimidated by that burlap flap of a door, either: what I've learned is that an outhouse with a wooden door will warm up inside and create condensation on the walls, floor, and seat, which turn to ice in the dead of winter. So rather than have an ice-coated floor and toilet seat, by keeping the door open, or gently screened, the inside stays dry. Alaskans buy lots of thick blue insulating foam at the local Home Depot that they cut into toilet seats, because this stuff stays warm at any temperature. Also great for blocking up extra windows. Aren't you glad you don't have to worry about that?