Homers Best Bets </MCC HEAD>

Story last updated at 8:16 PM on Thursday, May 14, 2009

Homers Best Bets

You'd think we Alaskans wouldn't complain about a good solid two-week run of sunshine and warmth. Do Floridians grump about the 354th day in a row of clear skies? Of course not. You're talking about pros there in the sunshine state. Floridians expect flawless weather, and even have been known to give away newspapers on rainy days.

Although we've been glorying in great weather, eventually the conversation turns to quiet objections that maybe the weather is too good. "But a little rain wouldn't hurt," your neighbor Joe might say. "It would wash this ash away."

Photo by Michael Armstrong

Birders watch western sandpipers and other shorebirds at Mud Bay on the Homer Spit last Saturday during the Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival.

Not that people talk loudly about r-a-i-n. The party line is that while we love snow, we can't stand rain. Rain is like the weird uncle who talks loudly at Thanksgiving dinners. You know he's there and you just wish he'd shut up.

Here in Kachemak Bay, we're conflicted. If we lived in Juneau, we'd expect rain, dress for it and even take some pride in how it toughens us up. Not so in Homer. Our weather can never decide what it wants to be, and we go into summer thinking, OK, this is it, the summer we'll talk about for decades, only to grow moss on our backs.

Only, come on, two weeks of sunshine? In spring? Even the Shorebird Festival didn't get rained out, except for Thursday afternoon when one person praising the sun was heard to say, "This is going to be the best festival ever!" Ten minutes later, kaboom, it rained buckets. This is getting a bit odd.

Not that the Betster wants to jinx the summer. Like you, the Betster hopes for sunny weekends, the better in which to finish a six-page punch list. But still there's a 100-plus-acre fire out Mile 17 East End Road that could use some cooling down. You just can't trust some yahoo not to light up an old burn pile. Doncha think a touch of rain -- after 10 p.m., and done by sun up -- might not be a bad idea?

There: the Betster said it. It's the Alaska spirit. No matter how good it gets, we're so used to adversity we just don't know how to deal with blessings. We're going to have to work on that with maybe some therapy -- a long walk on a sunny beach, dancing between the raindrops if it comes or how about some of these Best Bets?

BEST BIG AUTHOR READING: You probably heard the news about the up-and-coming Alaska talent who wrote a memoir about her wild life here. She's smart, she's easy on the eyes and just as comfortable in a pair of XtraTufs as Naughty Monkey pumps -- and she has a book contract with HarperCollins. Wait? You thought the Betster was talking about Gov. Sarah Palin? No, it's Miranda Weiss, author of "Tide, Feather, Snow." She reads at 7 p.m. today at the Bunnell Street Arts Center.

BEST PEDAL POWER BET: Park the Prius and pedal the Peugeot for National Bike to Work Day on Friday. Swing by the energizer station from 7 a.m.-9 a.m. at WKFL to get some added boost to make it to work.

BEST YEARS AGO BET: It was 20 years ago this week that black tar balls courtesy of the Exxon Valdez oil spill washed up on Homer beaches. Learn about the spill with a showing of "Black Wave: the Legacy of the Exxon Valdez" at 6 p.m. Sunday at the Homer Theatre. Biologist Riki Ott introduces the film.

BEST BIG TIME BOP BET: The monthly square and contra dance is always a good time, but this week, special guest Sue Rosen calls to music by Phantom Power. We're talking world-class, top-end talent here in the swing-your-partner world. The dance starts at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at West Homer Elementary School. Beginners welcome. Admission is $6, and kids under 16 get in free.

BEST TWIRLING TASSELS BET: This little village has raised some good citizens. Give them a cheer as they set forth in life. High school commencements are all over the bay this week from the head of the bay to Ninilchik. Check the schedule in the Calendar for your local event.

Homer's Best Bets