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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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« I thought they were from Russia, but I was wrong; Muzzy pees on a mail box; Kalib gets into the news | Main | I pass by a lady Santa on a horse; the new house gets torn up a bit with Kalib in the middle; Jacob is named Employee of the Year by the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium »
Monday
Dec142009

No Kalib today - boring entry - I wouldn't even bother to drop by - but please do: I need the hits

DateMonday, December 14, 2009 at 4:02AM

I spent the day alone with the cats and Muzzy. Margie went into town early to help out however she could with the painting and such going on at Jacob, Lavina and Kalib's new house. Caleb was going to go in, too, but he was struck down by something that caused horrible pains in his stomach and so spent the day in bed.

So I went to Family Restaurant just before noon to buy some breakfast.

On the way home, I saw this man riding a bicycle through the sub-zero air. I haven't ridden my bike in so long. Not because its cold, but because I know if I do, sooner or later it is going to slide out from underneath me on the ice and I am going to go down.

This was not a terribly big deal in the past, but now that I have a titanium shoulder, it is. Even if I come down on ice, I don't want to fall.

Not far from the biker, I saw this man walking. All this excitement happened on Spruce Street.

And here I am, driving down Church.

Now I am on Shrock.

I then spent several hours at my computer, but at 4:00 PM, when NPR's All Things Considered Weekend Edition came on the radio, I took a coffee break. Metro Cafe is closed on Sundays, so I went to Mocha Moose.

It was then back to my computer for a couple of hours, but soon it was time for dinner. I looked for something good and simple to cook, but could find nothing.

I wanted something nutritious, so I headed to KFC, where I bought chicken, mashed potatoes and corn on the cob.

I did see the train go by. That was exciting. It's always exciting when the train goes by.

Margie came home pretty late, but then was struck with such bad tummy pains that they made her cry. She looked awful. Now she is in bed. She says she is going back into town with Lavina early in the morning to help out some more, but I don't know.

So a couple of days ago, Kalib was vomiting. He still looks weak. Then earlier today, Caleb was smitten by horrid stomach pains. Now Margie has been. Both say they are quite unlike any regular kind of upset tummy pains that they have ever experienced before.

And Jimmy, my good black cat, has been passing foul gas.

Oh, dear.

None of this portends anything good.

AuthorWasilla, Alaska, by 300 | Comment9 Comments |
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Reader Comments (9)

Hope everyone and possibly every cat recovers quickly!

December 14, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterGrandma Nancy

Bug. I hope a gentle Bug. But sounds like a Bug. My sympathies to all Bug recipients.

December 14, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterWhiteStone

I will visit your blog daily, Kalib or no Kalib (he's the icing on the cake)

I love your photos!

December 14, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterMichelle

this is going around juneau too...my mom had it, then my husband got it....i got it on friday and was out of commission all weekend...if you start to feel nauseous...DON'T EAT ANYTHING! or else the rest of your day will go badly. the worst of it is over in a day....but the fatigue and nausea lasts almost a week.

December 14, 2009 | Unregistered Commenterdahli22

Dear heavens. I have to say, really, I don't think it was paint fumes that made poor little Kalib sick. And furthermore, being an openhearted boy, it appears that he has shared.

December 14, 2009 | Unregistered Commenterdebby

To everyone: Get well and Stay well!

December 14, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterNatalie

Even on your boring days, you find some great photographs. Nice eye.

Good health to all.

December 14, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterHistoryGoddess

awww geez, I hope they all feel better. Must be something going around everywhere, as a coworker had this, and now my Wade has it this morning. Holding his stomach and groaning. Sounds like even the cat has been afflicted! I sincerely hope it gets better soon!

December 15, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterMikey

All: Everyone seems to be doing good now and Jimmy is no longer emitting the bad odors - or at least not so often,
.

December 17, 2009 | Registered CommenterWasilla, Alaska, by 300

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