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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
Dec282009

Today in Wasilla: I see great beauty in the sky; a raven passes over me; a snowmachine shoots past; I hear, "North, to Alaska!"

DateMonday, December 28, 2009 at 4:00AM

I took my walk late this morning, shortly after the sun rose. I looked up and saw great beauty in the sky.

Further along, a raven passed over me.

As I walked, I heard the loud whine of a snow machine, being throttled nearly to the red line - maybe even over. Worried that I might be in its path, I turned and saw that it was still about a block-and-a-half away, coming extremely fast, but had gone onto Seldon Street.

I hurriedly pulled out my new pocket camera and turned it on, barely in time to get this one frame before it shot past and disappeared.

I mean, this snow machine was going fast. Sixty, at the very least. I think maybe faster than that.

A bit after noon, I was in my car when "North! To Alaska!" came on the radio, sung by Johnny Horton. I am listening to it at this very moment, as I wait at the stop sign for this truck to pass.

I can't sing worth a damn - but damn! I am singing, anyway.

"North! To Alaska!"

Yeah, baby! That's right.

And God, I love it!

Don't get offended - I'm not taking the Lord's name in vain. I'm thanking Him. Or Her. Whatever you wish to believe.

I don't know.

I'm just damned thankful, that's all.

 

Please note: Today begins my review by month of 2009. January will go up 20 minutes after this post.

 

 

AuthorWasilla, Alaska, by 300 | Comment4 Comments |
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Reader Comments (4)

I have sung loudly in my car (Suite: Judy Blue Eyes), and even as the final note hung in the air, sighed "Oh, God, life is so wonderful..." It would have been a darn near perfect moment if the cheerful DJ had not immediately broken in saying, ' And that was for all you aging hippies out there...'

December 28, 2009 | Unregistered Commenterdebby

It's a wonderful feeling to sing loudly in the car with the additional exquisite feeling of "IT"S GREAT TO BE ALIVE!"

December 28, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterGrandma Nancy

The picture of the sky looks like something out of a fantasy movie.. amazing :)

December 28, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterAsh

North To Alaska by Johnny Horton (With Lyrics)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncUCb0j9TPA

December 28, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterEnjoy listening!

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