Insanity

Its insanity I tell ya.

Every year over a hundred zany people congregate together for the annual polar dip here in Sitka.

This year was no exception despite the ultra chilly air temperature of about 20 degrees Fahrenheit. Once you have charged full scale screaming intently into the sea you crawl dripping out of the salty bath and realize as your clothes first suction onto your drenched body, and then begin to freeze to your skin, that is when you think THIS IS INSANITY!!

Maybe staying in the water, a mere 37 degrees, is the better option. However waiting just up the boat ramp is Harry Race owners Dirk and Trish White have donated delicious hot chocolate to the event. They walk around with trays filled with the satisfying concoction handing them out to those who look in desperate need of some extra warmth and maybe even a smile or two.

As for myself I am a land lover. No dripping, cold, tough Alaskan rituals will do me justice, I find ways to prove myself in other (much drier)ways. This is my second year volunteering to help out with the hot chocolate. And that is where I belong, next to the chocolate. Yum.

And if that is not enough Sitka community hospital has set up a warming tent. Ahhhhh so much better! Now all of you silly people need to go home take a hot shower/tub and get some warm dry clothes!

But first dont forget to claim your complimentary Christmas ornament and most importantly your documentation signed and stated by a qualifying psychologist that you are certifiably insane. Not that you need any proof........ but really your mommy would love to hang something like that on that wall in the living room, remember Christmas is just around the corner.

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

A very pregnant proposition

Remind me to not take lunch at lakeside in the future will you!?

So I was on my lunch break this past Friday and usually I go home to eat but I was trying to save time so I could also run a few errands and needed an item at the grocery store anyhow.

I park and step out of my truck and see an acquaintance coming towards me, which I realized I had parked directly next to his vehicle so the timing is probably my fault.... he is a man who has lived in Sitka for a while and I know him from around town and from when I was previously working at the gas station. Small world yes I know, by now I should be prepared to encounter other people on my secret little island.

I regularly harass him and he likes to return the favor (as with a lot of the gas station patrons on those particular morning shifts) So he walks up to me and asks "have you been out dancing lately?"

To which I reply "Well kinda, Ive been to my dance classes and contra dancing last week, but not out to the channel club like last month."

"Well are you dating anyone?" He asks me, I believe he is digging for information about a certain someone I had been dancing with (who I would thoroughly enjoy running into and going dancing with again! Wink wink)

"No one in particular," I say to him "but what do you know about_____" (the certain someone)

"Hes a good kid, I know his brother and sister, and his parents of course. So you're not dating anyone?" Says he.

"Nope, no one special." says me.

"Do you want to go out dancing sometime?"

"Er..... dont you have a girlfriend?!!" My warning lights are turning yellow.

"Oh yeah but you know thats off and on. Im not sure about that. Its something that Im sure Im unsure about, you know."

My warning lights are now turning red. Continuing on he then says "do you want to have babies?"

My jaw drops. "N-o-t realllly....." I slur a tad bewildered. "werent you married? Why didnt you have kids when you were married?"

"I was married twice and moved on because they didnt want children." He replies. "My girlfriend now has already had em and doesnt want to go through all that again."

Now my red light is flashing wildly as my jaw hits the pavement. Was I really just propositioned for pregnancy in the lakeside parking lot on my lunch break?!!

And how the heck are you supposed to back away from the middle of a conversation like this?! The most shocking thing to me was not what the topic was about but in fact it was the age of the man who is actually older than my father.

The fifty seven year old man who was nonchalantly discussing a matter that is usually an extremely personal conversation that I havent even had the chance of having with someone special in my life as of yet.

I guess you get to a point in your life when you just have to put it all out there. Otherwise you never know what you will get.

Then he tells me before I wander off to fill up my shocked stomach... "well, if you change your mind....."

What can I say life is not dull here in Sitka Alaska. No way nuh uh.