"Summer's Almost Gone, and the Winter is Coming On"

Update on the Summer in Southeast Alaska

I’m walking away from the Jeep parked on Basin road around the corner from my apartment, hauling my upright bass back inside and I notice that the majority of cars parked along the side of Mount Juneau are covered…in LEAVES!

That’s right, our Alaskan summer culminated in a blast of 85 degree weather this last weekend, and now I find myself thinking about investing in leather boots and sewing new buttons on my weathered wool peacoat. Summer is always crazy, the band family is spilt up burying ourselves in work, spending time down in the lower 48 with family and, in Scott and Brooke’s case building a glorious cabin in Montana. They just returned and it was jarring to realize that a mere two months ago I was driving them to the airport.

With a tan that I know will fade in a few weeks, brown hair that must have turned a few shades lighter growing out to rest on my shoulders and no-see-um scars dotting my arms and legs…I can look back and say I had a superb summer in Juneau.

I’m still working for the PFD (Permanent Fund Dividend), and getting used to being a State employee. It’s not the most creatively stimulating thing in the world, but music and art in the community are keeping me pretty busy in that department.

The beginning of August I traveled to Anchorage for two days with another good musician friend from Juneau and I drove to the Anderson Bluegrass and Country Music Festival in Clear, Alaska. It’s located about an hour south of Fairbanks and has a pretty fair turnout of people camped out near the river and the trees surrounding the Festival site. The musicians had our own spot in a cozy alcove near the river and the trees, and for the first weekend in August the weather was amazing. The interior sun hit highs of what felt like 90 degrees and I stayed up until 7, 8, and 9am playing music and having way too much fun with people I get to see maybe once or twice a year.

I was lucky enough to get to play Bluegrass with the musicians who inspired me to pick up the bass in the first place. I remember my first folk festival in Juneau 2008, watching all the pickers and hoping that one day I could stand with them and play.
After the festival I spent an amazing couple of days in Fairbanks with some of the crew who attended the festival. I got to see more fine interior folks and spend some time at Ivory Jack’s bar in Goldstream Valley, and the Golden Eagle in Ester, a trip to the Chatanika river, and late night hot tub soaks. The people up there are amazing, kind, generous, and fun…and I didn’t want to leave!

With sad faces we departed for the big city and after spending a great night with Kate Sangster at her gorgeous home in Anchorage, I headed home for Juneau.

I don’t really know where I will be or what I will be doing with my life, but what I do know is that I love Alaska, and it get’s deeper and deeper into me the more time I spend here. I was so excited to return to my friend community in Juneau, and I love having pockets of fantastic friends tucked into different parts of the state.

As summer winds down, I have things on the back burner, plans yet to be hatched, and the best thing to look forward to, SEATTLE AND PORTLAND for Christmas! Everyday I wake up excited to see everyone down south in the Northwest!

I will update again soon!
Love you all, Take care!
-ajc