Thursday, August 16, 2012

Jumping Right In

Over the past few weeks in particular, since arriving in Fairbanks and getting settled--a term I use loosely as we have been here for a month and a half and are still living off everything out of our travel trailer since we have not yet received our household goods shipment--we have been diving right in to life in Interior Alaska: sourdough starter, berry picking, fresh rhubarb from the garden, and many fun new experiences and events.  These new experiences for us, especially the failures and triumphs in the kitchen, have inspired me to start this journal of our journey to become sourdough.

Many of you may be asking yourselves, "what in the world does it mean to be 'sourdough'?"  During our first month here, we lived in the Alaska Heritage House Bed & Breakfast, the former home of Mary Lee Davis, who authored several books about life in Alaska.  It was there, talking with the proprietor one day, that we ourselves were first introduced to the term as she explained the difference between a Sourdough and a Cheechako.  A few days later, thumbing through Davis' book, "Sourdough Gold," my husband found her definition of what it means to be a Sourdough.



54°40'  North is the southernmost border between Alaska and British Columbia, a fact I, admittedly, had to look up as I wrote this.  Fairbanks sits at 64°50', Anchorage is at 61°13', Juneau is at 58°26', and Ketchikan, the southernmost city in Alaska, is at 55°21'.  As newcomers to this last frontier, we are, in the words of the locals, Cheechakos.  Merriam-Webster online actually has an entry for the word and defines "cheechako" as "tenderfoot--used chiefly in Alaska."  

I hope you enjoy watching our journey from Cheechakos to Sourdoughs as much as we have been enjoying being on it.  We've only just begun. 

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