Life as a Homeroid

Since I am officially a resident of Homer now, I thought I would share some tidbits about what makes Homer so unique.  First, for a town that is very dependent on tourism, you will experience some of the worst customer service ever.  PERIOD.  I don't understand it, service people for the most part are horribly rude and grouchy.  But, everybody, and I mean everybody loves babies.  I have literally been followed through the store by people who are wanting to look at Kadlin.  Of course, with her being as cute as she is, I can't hardly blame the people :)

And then there is the wildlife.  I mean moose, they are to be expected.  Moose in the yard, no big deal.  But pheasants??  What are pheasants doing in Alaska?  I thought that was just a South Dakota thing.  We were surprised to look out the window shortly after arriving and see a small group of pheasants helping themselves to whatever they could find to eat in our yard.

Back to the people.  Nobody lets a little snow stop them from doing any of their outdoor activities.  They have special bikes with big fat tires they ride all winter.  They go surfing, if you can call standing on a board with a paddle while a puny wave goes by surfing.  I mean, I don't know much about surfing, but I have seen the movie Blue Crush, and that is what I expect to see when someone is surfing.  And then there are the people who do extreme sports!  Sea kayaking, parasurfing and my favorite one yet, paraskating.  All of those look very appealing to me.  Not sure if it would be a good idea for me to try them or not, but it looks like fun.  And last but not least, the favorite past time around here is driving your car as fast as you can and putting it into some sort of slide or spin on Beluga Lake.  Someone told Brad that it was good training for the kids to learn how to drive on the ice.  This lake is right in town, but apparantly none of the local law enforcement agencies have jurisdiction over it.  I would like to go ice skating, but I am scared I might get run over.

Driving in town can be a little daunting.  Everyone drives fast, but the worst are the taxi drivers.  I am not sure who they drive around, but there are a lot of them, and they are always going fast.  And some of the vehicles here are just as interesting as the people.  Today Brad saw a car where they had replaced the bumper...with a piece of driftwood.

One other thing that is unique to us is all the boats.  Big ones, small ones, fancy ones, crappy ones.  You name it, they are here.  Some don't even look seaworthy, but everyone has one.  Instead of seeing horse trailers and campers in people's yards there are boats. 

Finally, the weather.  It is seriously paradise here.  The wind hardly ever blows and that in itself is wonderful to me.  And the temps stay fairly warm compared to Montana and South Dakota.  It gets in the single digits occasionally, but for the most part it hangs out in the upper 20s lower 30s.

Oh, I almost forgot the Russians or Old Believers.  They wear long shiny skirts with scarves on their heads.  They do not wear wedding rings, but can have several piercings in their ears.  And they drive some of the nicest vehicles around.  There are several little villages around here, and they seem to do a lot of their shopping in town.  I hope to be able to learn more about their culture and beliefs as I find it very interesting.

View from top of the hill looking out across the bay

End of the Spit looking across the bay

Sea kayakers launching

Paddling across the bay

Our Home

Even with all the differences, we are loving it here.  The people Brad works with are simply wonderful and the scenery and location can't be beat.  I drive out on the Spit every chance I get.  We miss our family and friends and hope that we get some visitors this summer.  I can't wait to show off our new home!