Out of the Office

A day on Kachemak Bay. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Out of the Office: Water taxi talking

Reporters spend a lot of time talking to people: people they don’t know, people they do know, people who really don’t want to talk to… Continue reading

 

Fletcher runs through the snow on Saturday, Jan. 2, 2021, on Diamond Ridge near Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)

Out of the Office: How all the dogs in my life have kept me sane and happy

I have written before about the virtues of big, rowdy dogs in developing an exercise plan. In my more than 40 years in Alaska, I… Continue reading

 

Bottenintnin Lake, seen on Nov. 24, 2020 near Sterling, Alaska. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)

Out of the Office: More questions than answers

The only place life makes sense anymore is the outdoors. How do we balance the needs of students and parents with the safety of school… Continue reading

 

Moose are seen eating on the shoulder of Kenai Spur Highway on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2020, outside of Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Out of the Office: Into the office

An ode to Kenai Spur Highway

Moose are seen eating on the shoulder of Kenai Spur Highway on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2020, outside of Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
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Out of the Office: Two weeks

I’ve been thinking a lot about the 1986 film “The Money Pit” lately. If you’re around my age, I’ve probably lost you already. But if… Continue reading

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A section of the Diamond Creek beach has built up, with plants growing where 10 years ago there had been bare mud, as seen here on Sunday, Oct. 4, 2020, near Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)

Out of the Office: Annual CoastWalk beach trek reveals changes, transformation

Volunteers in annual Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies program clean up, monitor beaches

A section of the Diamond Creek beach has built up, with plants growing where 10 years ago there had been bare mud, as seen here on Sunday, Oct. 4, 2020, near Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)
The author hikes up a ridge on the way to Lost Lake on Aug. 28, 2020 near Seward, Alaska. (Photo by Lauren Jerew)

Out of the Office: Out of your bubble

People say that Alaska is their backyard, their playground — that they know this or that mountain like that back of their own hand. In… Continue reading

The author hikes up a ridge on the way to Lost Lake on Aug. 28, 2020 near Seward, Alaska. (Photo by Lauren Jerew)
A sign welcomes travelers to the Kenai Peninsula on Sept. 1, 2020. (Photo by Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Out of the Office: From Anchorage to Soldotna for the 1st time

Beauty overwhelms on initial drive

A sign welcomes travelers to the Kenai Peninsula on Sept. 1, 2020. (Photo by Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Out of the office: Checking items off the list

Out of the office: Checking items off the list

Hail to the king

Out of the office: Checking items off the list
Out of the Office: COVID camping is about slowing down and relaxing

Out of the Office: COVID camping is about slowing down and relaxing

Recreating during a pandemic presents some challenges. Is the great outdoors great enough? How do you social distance on a narrow wilderness trail? How toxic… Continue reading

Out of the Office: COVID camping is about slowing down and relaxing
Out of the Office: There and back again

Out of the Office: There and back again

In a recent display of tenacity, mediocre coordination skills and a deep love for the outdoors, some friends and I strapped on our packs for… Continue reading

Out of the Office: There and back again
The view from Slaughter Gulch trail on June 20, 2020 in Cooper Landing, Alaska. (Photo by Brian Mazurek/Peninsula Clarion)

Out of the Office: Life on the Edge

Are you a planner? An organizer? A list-maker? I’m not. I love not knowing what tomorrow will bring, and when it comes to taking a… Continue reading

The view from Slaughter Gulch trail on June 20, 2020 in Cooper Landing, Alaska. (Photo by Brian Mazurek/Peninsula Clarion)
Out of the Office: In the midst of a pandemic, birds are constant

Out of the Office: In the midst of a pandemic, birds are constant

Scattered on my desk I have three journals: my bullet journal, the daily planner that sort of keeps my life in order; my bird journal… Continue reading

Out of the Office: In the midst of a pandemic, birds are constant
Out of the Office: Trails that wind, hearts that find

Out of the Office: Trails that wind, hearts that find

As with a lot of things, Alaska has been lucky to be far removed and largely untouched by the disastrous effects of the novel coronavirus.… Continue reading

Out of the Office: Trails that wind, hearts that find
Photo credit: USFWS A morel mushroom grows in disturbed gravel on the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge.

Out of the Office: Morels surge confidence

I’m writing this in the car on the drive to Anchorage. My boyfriend, Nate, and I are in the process of moving back to the… Continue reading

Photo credit: USFWS A morel mushroom grows in disturbed gravel on the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge.
Mills Creek on April 29, 2020 in the pass between Cooper Landing and the Turnagain Arm. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak)

Out of the office: Summer arrives

What was I doing? I asked myself that as a struggled frantically to wiggle my telemark boots into the bindings and continue down the miners… Continue reading

Mills Creek on April 29, 2020 in the pass between Cooper Landing and the Turnagain Arm. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak)
A painting by the author. (Photo provided by Erin Thompson)

Out of the Office: Painted blue

I went to Homer a few weeks ago to find blue. For weeks I had wanted to paint nothing but blues and purples, but I… Continue reading

A painting by the author. (Photo provided by Erin Thompson)
The view of Turnagain Arm, as seen from Hope Point in September 2018. Hope, Alaska, would be a good meeting place for a date once restrictions caused by the new coronavirus are lifted. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)

Out of the Office: Love in the time of corona

How do you find “the one” if you can’t even leave your home?

The view of Turnagain Arm, as seen from Hope Point in September 2018. Hope, Alaska, would be a good meeting place for a date once restrictions caused by the new coronavirus are lifted. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)
Out of the Office: Nature in a time of pandemic can heal

Out of the Office: Nature in a time of pandemic can heal

As I write this I am in my third day of working at home — or, as I like to think of it, an embedded… Continue reading

Out of the Office: Nature in a time of pandemic can heal
Out of the Office: Back to basics

Out of the Office: Back to basics

What makes a successful season of Nordic skiing? Is it the miles you put in? How fast you go? Measurable improvement in technique? I’ve had… Continue reading

Out of the Office: Back to basics
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