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A blog by Bill Hess

Running Dog Publications

P.O. Box 872383 Wasilla, Alaska 99687

 

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Wasilla

Wasilla is the place where I have lived for the past 29 years - sort of. The house in which my wife and I raised our family sits here, but I have made my rather odd career as a different sort of photojournalist by continually wandering off to other places to photograph people and gather information, which I have then put together in various publications that have served the Alaska Native Eskimo, Indian and Aleut communities.

Although I did not have a great of free time to devote to this rather strange community, named after a Tanaina Athabascan Indian chief who knew Wasilla in the way that I so impossibly long to, I have still documented it regularly over the past quarter-century plus. In the early days, my Wasilla photographs focused mostly upon my children and the events they participated in - baseball, football, figure skating, hockey, frog catching, fire cracker detonation, Fourth of July parade - that sort of thing. 

In 2002, I purchased my first digital camera and then, whenever I was home, I began to photograph Wasilla upon a daily basis, but not in a conventional way. These were grab shots - whatever caught my eye as I took my many long walks or drove through the town, shooting through the car window at people and scenes that appeared and disappeared before I could even focus and compose in the traditional photographic way.

Thus, the Wasilla portion of this blog will be devoted both to the images that I take as I wander about and those that I have taken in the past. Despite the odd, random, nature of the images, I believe they communicate something powerful about this town that I have never seen expressed anywhere else. 

Wasilla is a sprawling community that has been slapped down hodge-podge upon what was so recently wilderness of the most exquisite beauty. In its design, it is deliberately anti-zoned, anti-planned. In the building of Wasilla, the desire to make a buck has trumped aesthetics and all other considerations. This town, built in the midst of exquisite beauty, has largely become an unsightly, unattractive, mess of urban sprawl. Largely because of this, it often seems to me that Wasilla is a community with no sense of community, a town devoid of town soul.

Yet - Wasilla is my home and if I am lucky it will be until I grow old and die. Despite its horrific failings, it is still made of the stuff of any small city: people; moms and dads, grammas and grampas, teens, children, churches, bars, professionals, laborers, soldiers, missionaries, artists, athletes, geniuses, do-gooders, hoodlums, the wealthy, the homeless, the rational and logical, the slightly insane and the wholly insane - and, yes, as is now obvious to the whole world, politicians, too.

So perhaps, if one were to search hard enough, it might just be possible to find a sense of community here, and a town soul. So, using my skills as a photojournalist and a writer, I hope to do just that. If this place has a sense of community, I will find it. If there is a town soul to Wasilla, I will document it. I won't compete with the newspapers. Hell no! But as time and income allow, it will be fun to wander into the places where the folks described above gather, and then put what I find on this blog.

 

by 300...

Anywhere within a 300 mile radius of Wasilla. This encompasses perhaps the most wild, dramatic, gorgeous, beautiful section of land and sea to be found in any comparable space anywhere on Earth. I can never explore it all, but I will do the best that I can, and will here share what I find and experience with you.  

and then some...

Anywhere else in the world that I happen to get to, such as Point Lay, Alaska; Missoula, Montana; Serenki, Chukotka, Russia; or Bangalore, India. Perhaps even Lagos, Nigeria. I have both a desire and scheme to get me there. It is a long shot. We shall see if I succeed.

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Monday
Nov092009

Catching up with Kalib,* Part 2: He teases his grandma - who will eat the chocolate chip?

DateMonday, November 9, 2009 at 4:04AM

During the time of her convalescence, this end of the couch is reserved for Margie, whenever she wants to sit down. There are some good reasons for this, but I will not take the time to explain. Kalib has figured this out, and so has come to see this end of the couch as the most special seat in the house. He also recognizes the fact that all present see him as the most special person in the house - a viewpoint with which he tends to agree.

So, he sometimes seems to think, the most special person in the house should be able to claim the most special seat in the house at will. Therefore, when he sees his grandma moving slowly toward this most special seat, he will often dash ahead of her, jump into his grandma's spot and claim it for himself. 

"Can Grandma sit there, please?" Margie asks in her most pleasant voice. "Grandma needs to sit there. Will you let me sit there?"

Kalib vacates the seat. Grandma makes herself as comfy as she can. Soon, Kalib shows up with a few chocolate chips in a cup. He offers one to his grandma. "A chocolate chip for Grandma? Oh, thank you!" Margie says, as she reaches out for it.

But swift as an eagle snatching a salmon, Kalib withdraws the offer and plops the chocolate chip into his own mouth.

At another moment on a different day, as Grandma changes his diaper, Kalib suddenly dives off the couch.

 

*Although I have scheduled this to appear Monday, November 9, I actually made this post on Thursday, November 5. There are two reasons for this: 1: whatever bug it is that has got me down has left me unable to concentrate to the degree that I must to do my work. 2: The project that I have been working on is very nearly done, but I have never brought such a project to a close without going full-bore, night and day, on it at the end, distracted by no other tasks, including this blog.

So, before I go to bed, I am going to put up several days worth of posts from photos that I have recently taken but have not used. Then, for the next several days, I will not blog, I will stay away from the internet as much as possible and just bear down on getting this job done - but my posts will keep coming.

I think Kalib with get three of those posts, two at the very least.

AuthorWasilla, Alaska, by 300 | Comment3 Comments |
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Reader Comments (3)

I remember when you used Sarah Palin's name in a post to see if it generated more traffic, and it did.

For those of us who read this journal and are ''acquainted'' with Kalib through it, seeing his name in the title is a MUCH bigger draw.

Of course, I read your journal every day---but seeing Kalib's name in the title heightens the anticipation.

I wonder how Kalib will like sharing the limelight with a sibling? I'm sure he'll continue to get plenty of attention because he is just so cute!

November 9, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterAnonymous

You know, I could almost hear the giggles that went along with the pictures.

November 10, 2009 | Unregistered Commenterdebby

Anonymous: We all look forward to finding out - but we must wait until February!

Debby - I suppose I should record them, sometime.

November 10, 2009 | Registered CommenterWasilla, Alaska, by 300

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