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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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Wednesday
Dec292010

Lavina's masterpiece: The little boy, the spatula and the befuddled old man with long, white, hair and beard

DateWednesday, December 29, 2010 at 11:45AM

As you would suspect, given the fact that it took me two days to complete my posts on Kalib's birthday and in that two days I did not sit still, but encountered and photographed waitresses, baristas, ravens, airplanes, the moon and such, I had plenty of material from which to make today's post.

And then Lavina emailed this picture to me, that she took at Jacob's office Christmas party. When I opened her email I laughed. Last night, as I was lying in bed wondering when sleep might finally overtake me, I thought of this picture and laughed again. And then this morning when I awoke for the final time, once again all too soon to get a good night's sleep, I thought of this picture and laughed once more.

Laughing is not what I have been doing these past many weeks, before repeatedly falling briefly into and awakening from short spurts of troubled sleep.

Poor, befuddled, Santa!

But I understand - and you, dear reader, if you have been with this blog lately, and Kalib's various adventures with the spatula, you also understand.

So today, I am going to push all of my pictures aside and run only this, a masterpiece of subtle humor and love, shot not by me but Lavina. Other than this, I won't say anything about the photo, but will let it speak entirely for itself.

Please - this is a picture that needs to be seen at a larger size. So click here or on the photograph itself to see it bigger.

 

To see all posts that include Kalib and his spatula, click here.

 

AuthorWasilla, Alaska, by 300 | Comment13 Comments |
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Reader Comments (13)

You are most definitely correct about having to see the larger version of our young scamp, Kalib and Santa Claus. I hadn't noticed that Santa held fast to one of the most "sacred" objects a young lad might own. (grin)

December 29, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterMirage

Great Christmas card! But it needs a caption......

December 29, 2010 | Unregistered Commenterbetsy s

Clearly, you certainly have to be someone very very special to be allowed to handle such an important object! And perhaps Santa will add even more magic to the spatula. Good to hear that you're laughing Bill, as they say, it's the best medicine.

Happy New Year

December 29, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterPat in MA

Kalib looks like he knows something Santa doesn't LOL

December 29, 2010 | Unregistered Commentertwain12

Delightful! Great shot, Lavinia!

December 29, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterWhiteStone

priceless........!

December 29, 2010 | Unregistered Commentergigi

Oh, that is so cute and funny! Really heartwarming.

December 29, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterCGinWI

The adventures of Kalib and his Spatula.......St Nick's got to be thinking what the heck? A Reindeer pooper scooper?.......Thanks for sharing the picture, well done Lavina, I did laugh out loud, more than once.

December 29, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterMGSoCal

We laughed (lol) till we had tears!!!! ;)

December 29, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterCyndy E

What a really fun picture! Melanie and I are laughing right now about this one as well. I hope Kalib never stops taking that thing around with him. Its so much more stylish and a way better story than any blanky like I used to carry around! That kid is really going places!

December 29, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterCharlie Earnshaw

I started giggling in the shower this morning and could not stop.

December 30, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterMerry

This picture made me laugh too. Wonderful shot! (I've read enough of the past posts to interpret this one!)

December 30, 2010 | Unregistered Commentersandi

This is a distinctly different photo viewed within the post or blown up...
Within the post , Kalib has every appearance of standing aside to allow Santa dignity... while Santa puzzles through the significance of the spatula in private...
Viewed as a larger picture, Kalib's beautiful face shows a gently expectant look...
sure that Santa will understand...?
Bless our children and our grandchildren-
with each new discovery they make for themselves of things we have known since before we can remember, our lives are fuller and richer.
Happiest New Year to Kalib and all of his extended family !

December 31, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterAlaska Pi

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