Kakwik on Prince William Sound

Kakwik on Prince William Sound
A Sundowner Tug: Boating in Alaska

Saturday, April 18, 2020

Breakup in the Time of the Coronavirus

Breakup in Alaska refers to the breaking up of the ice, literally when the ice leaves the river, beginning a season that the river can be navigated. "In town" breakup means a time when roads and sidewalks become temporarily unnavigable themselves, an unpleasant time for recreation, since skiing is done, it's too slushy to bike (for me anyway), and walking is wet, uneven, and mostly not fun!

In this time of the Coronavirus, it's seemed more important than ever to be outside, and for the past 5 weeks, it's been great to take an hour or two or more each day to get fresh air, think of new ways and new places to be on our skis or fat tire bikes. But now the skis are put away, and the studded tires will soon come off the fat tire bikes. In the past week it's been strictly walks - and the trails are not in great shape - neither are the sidewalks. And do you wear the recommended face mask to walk? Or just if we're picking up bread from the bakery? Even though it's a handoff outside in the parking lot? Yesterday we picked up coffee from the back door for wholesale delivery at Kaladi's to avoid going to the larger grocery store when the Amazon coffee delivery was put off til mid-May. These parking lot handoffs are starting to feel illicit!



We still have snow, and at the same time, it's time to clean off the deck, anticipate a time when it will be warm enough, especially in the bright sun of afternoon, to want to sit out there - not quite yet, but you can feel it coming! The afternoon walks are feeling repetitive, though the birch forest trails are still beautiful, and Kira still loves bounding in the snow, seeks it out even when there is bare pavement. In the last two days we've walked downtown, along Ship Creek (bare pavement!) and along the Park Strip and winding around through Bootlegger's Cove and downtown (footing not too bad, pools of water in spots.)





And, we have our masks, our new ways of venturing forth in the world. We don't venture forth much, instead, hunkered down with each other and with Kira - a world of entertainment in herself!


No comments:

Post a Comment