A more positive view of life in Alaska.

I am certainly on the other side of the fence from Monica Belanger regarding life in Alaska (79/2:17). It sounds like she didn't go much beyond Anchorage and the Kenai Peninsula. I spent seven years in the Fairbanks area and can't wait to get back, but I would avoid Anchorage as quickly as I would many places in the lower 48.

I just left Alaska, yes - under my own steam and for many reasons - but I love my adopted home and will be going back in December.

I raised my own milk and meat, including pork, chicken and goat. I kept my animals in my garage, because I don't have a barn up yet. The pigs stayed there all winter, but the goats went outside on nice days (above minus 10 degrees). My doe wore a blanket on really cold days (more than 30 below zero). The cold never seemed to bother the pigs, but I only kept butcher pigs. The chickens I raised at a friend's house in the summer, but I know other people who kept chickens, ducks and geese through the winter.

I never had any trouble with wild animals - only the neighbor kids' pet dogs. In the seven years I lived in Fairbanks, wolves attacked exactly one dogyard, about 12 miles from me.

I never planted a garden, although it's an excellent place to grow vegetables. Because of the cold winters and low numbers of people, there is a low incidence of insect and disease pests.

The growing season is short, but all my information says 90 days, not the 60 Monica claims. You do have to choose your garden site carefully: because the sun is so low to the horizon, it has to go through more of the atmosphere and doesn't heat the Earth so well. You definitely want a southfacing slope for your garden.

Yes, moose are a problem. I gave my neighbor some fluorescent surveying tape and she didn't have any more trouble with moose in her garden.

I never bought a year's supply of food for myself, nor did anyone else I know, even bushbunnies. Some folks might buy the bulk of their supplies at one time, but that's as much a factor of their income as necessity: many people's main income is the dividend check which comes in the fall.

I don't know where she looked at houses, but my cabin only cost me $26,000. It has electricity but not running water, and it's less than 500 square feet. Maybe it's not everyone's dream house, but it works for me.

But at least I could buy a place of my own. Here in the San Francisco Bay area I can't afford to buy a car or even live by myself, let alone buy a house! And I'm getting the same salary I made in Alaska. I'm sure You can pay more than $1,000 for rent, but I never paid more than $200.

I used to heat my cabin with wood and never bad any trouble keeping it warm when I was home, but yes, coming home from work on those 50 below zero days, the cabin would be chilly.

Oh, those long winters! Perfect for skijorers and cross country skiers, snowmachiners and hunters! They are certainly not everyone's cup of tea (block of ice?) and they took some getting used to. I too am affected by the lack of daylight (one of many reasons I am Outside this year), and I have to make a real effort to get out in the middle of the day for my therapy - plenty of real daylight, sans most of the smog the Lower 48 enjoys. Weekend ski trips with my dog to pull me and good company as well help me keep happy and healthy. As happy as I am to see signs of spring, there's always a bit of regret, too, for the loss of those great sleep-ins on Saturday and Sunday mornings.

And where would I be without all my wonderful neighbors? Two of them keep our little road plowed all winter and are ready to lend a helping hand with a rig stuck in the snow. One of my neighbors and his brother-in-law spent two hours fixing my car - replacing the timing chain-for the cost of the part.

My neighbors are keeping an eye on my place while I'm Outside. I doubt I'll even have to fix anything damaged by the snow come December, when I get home. All the neighbor kids come by to pet the new babies when the goats are born; they're upset there won't be any this year. A friend at my old job is taking care of my dog while I'm gone. I really miss all those people up there! There's just no one like them down here.

If you want to go to Alaska, check out more than just Anchorage, or as some people call it, "Los Anchorage." In my opinion, you might as well live Outside as in Anchorage. That's not the real Alaska.

If you don't want to deal with life in the Bush, live in Fairbanks, Delta Junction, Talk, Nenana, or any of the little towns along the road. There is a lot more to Alaska than Anchorage and the woods!

It is challenging to live up there because the necessities of life aren't necessarily handed to you at the grocery store or K-Mart: you have to take responsibility for taking care of yourself.

In case anybody thinks I'm some big guy with a rifle and a 4x4 pickup, let me tell you that I'm a single woman with a front wheel drive Subaru Justy, from California. I've been down sometimes because of the difficulties. But the depression never lasts.

Where else can you see sunset and sunrise in the same morning?