Homer's Best Bets </MCC HEAD>

Story last updated at 9:59 PM on Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Homer's Best Bets

In the Zen parable about the farmer and the horse, one day a farmer's horse runs away. His neighbors say, "Ah, bad luck," and the farmer says, "Maybe." His horse returns with a beautiful white stallion. The farmer's neighbors say, "Ah, good luck," and the farmer says, "Maybe."

Photo by Michael Armstrong

Artist Michael Murray paints a plate earlier this month for Bunnell Street Arts Center's annual Plate Project fundraiser.

While riding the stallion, the farmer's son breaks his leg. The farmer's neighbors say, "Ah, bad luck," and the farmer says, "Maybe." A little while later, the emperor's army comes through to draft soldiers, but because the son has a broken leg, he isn't taken. The farmer's neighbors say, "Ah, good luck," and the farmer says, "Maybe."

When a volcano blows, when ash falls and when our lives go topsy turvy because of events way beyond our control, who can say if this brings bad things or good? For every blessing there is a curse and for every curse there is a blessing. Maybe because you stayed home and watched gray snowflakes falling on spruce trees you spent a precious few hours with your family and got to know each other better. Maybe while waiting in line to hose off your ash-speckled Subaru you met a new friend -- or hey, the woman or man who would be your soul mate for life.

OK, the Betster won't go into the bad luck part of the volcano. Holy Pantyhose! You can imagine all the icky stuff that can happen when a volcano 75 miles away goes all nuclear and spits a couple trillion pounds of ash on us. Last Thursday afternoon Homer looked like the set of "Mad Max Under the Volcano." All that was missing were evil guys in spiffy leather jackets toting Uzis.

Even though school children had to board buses wearing dust masks and teachers wore those nerdy high school chemistry glass goggles, we made it through. For some of you old timers, this could be the third time you've seen Mount Redoubt blow. Sheesh, if you've been here three years, this is the second volcano that's dusted Homer. We ought to get little medals: "I survived Augustine Volcano, 2006" or "I survived Mount Redoubt, 2009." Live here long enough and you'll have a chest full of tin like some old Soviet general at a May Day parade.

That's life on the Ring of Fire. If you live on the edge of where continental plates grind against each other, you live on the edge: earthquakes, volcanoes and tsunamis, oh my. Not that it's any safer in, say, Florida, where you have to contend with hurricanes, sinkholes and feral Burmese pythons.

So dust yourself up, pick yourself up and celebrate life with all sorts of fun events, like some of these Best Bets:

BEST LIVE LONG AND LEARN BET: Like little Bobby Dylan once said, "He not busy being born is busy dying." Want to keep those brain cells fresh? Thinking about going back to school and learning a new trade? Check out the Kachemak Bay Campus College Fair from 10 a.m.-6:15 p.m. Friday at the campus. See what programs the college offers and how you could learn to be everything from a phlebotomist to a pharmacist.

BEST LOST IN THE SPILL BET, TAKE 2: Craig Matkin can handle rough seas and foul weather, but last week's ash was another matter. His talk, "Wildlife, Whales and the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill" got canceled. It's on again today from 6-8 p.m. at the Pratt Museum.

BEST STETSONS WITH SONNETS BET: It gets lonely out there during round-up on the Fox River Flats. A cowboy can make some music or -- smile when you say that, Pilgrim -- write some verse. When it comes to poetry in Homer, the men and women who watch the cattle can outshine the tweed-jacket crowd. Check 'em Friday with the Second Annual Cowboy Cabaret, an evening of cowboy poetry, live music and some dang good vittles. The fundraiser benefits the Kachemak Bay Equestrian Association. Tickets are $25 adults, $10 children at the Homer Bookstore.

BEST BIRD ON MCDUFF BET: If clear weather and sunny skies hold, Saturday should be a fine day to go birding. Join the Kachemak Bay Birders on its monthly First Saturday event at 11 a.m. at the Beluga Lake Viewing Platform at the end of FAA Road by the airport.

BEST DRAMARAMA BET: Skiers and runners aren't the only ones doing a marathon. Homer's theater geniuses get together at 8 p.m. Friday for 24 hours of brain-numbing creativity. From writing to set design to acting, the annual DramaSlam! puts together a play. Join the madness or just watch the result. DramaSlam! starts at 8 p.m. Friday at the Homer Council on the Arts. At 8 p.m. Saturday, see what happens at Alice's Champagne Palace.

BEST ASHY ART BET: Wipe your feet when you enter art galleries this Friday and check out the shows around town. From student artists at HCOA to abstract art at Bunnell Street Arts Center, you can see some amazing stuff. First Friday runs from 5-7 p.m. See schedule, page 16.

BEST HIGH ENERGY BET: Who the heck cares about the HEA board? Well, before electric rates went higher than a Redoubt steam burp, apathy like that might have been OK. With ever-changing rates and the challenge of finding newer energy sources, the Homer Electric Association board has some big jobs to tackle. Hear what candidates have to say at the Homer Chamber of Commerce's forum from noon-1 p.m. Tuesday at the Best Western Bidarka Inn.