Of Fires and Frying Pans

I recently came across a posting on USAjobs for a Refuge Clerk with the National Fish and Wildlife Service. The location? Galena, Alaska. Here is a blurb from the description:

"Koyukuk/Nowitna National Wildlife Refuge headquarters is located in Galena, which is located on the north bank of the Yukon River, 270 air miles west of Fairbanks. In 2000 there were 675 residents of Galena. Galena is inaccessible by road, relying on river cargo in the brief summer for the bulk of its needs. The 3.5 million-acre Koyukuk National Wildlife Refuge lies within the floodplain of the Koyukuk River, in a basin that extends from the Yukon River to the Purcell Mountains and the foothills of the Brooks Range. This region of wetlands is home to fish, waterfowl, beaver and moose, and wooded lowlands where bears, wolves, lynx and marten prowl."

Other sites tell of -55-degree F winters. Summers, which seem to last all of two months, reach a blazing 70 degrees F.

I thought about this job. I thought about it a lot. The number of the supervisor was actually given for people who had more questions; I'm guessing they weren't expecting a deluge. I kept looking at the number. I thought about the inaccessibility by road. I thought about the harsh weather. I thought about the remoteness. 

I thought how all of that meant little crowding. A slower pace of life. Time to read. Being truly alone if I wanted to be. No Cubs fans.

I was tempted, tantalized. I went over the logistics; I'd sell everything I owned save for the little I needed to start off there. What I could fit into a small U-Haul. I'd rent a cabin with a wood stove. Harry and George could live out their final years in the wilderness.

I did a little more research on the town, and came across some photos of a 2007 commemoration by the police department. They were being visited by their governor.

The governor of Alaska.

I've already had Blagojevich as governor. The pain is fading. But Palin?  Palin, the butt of everyone's political jokes? Palin, who made rape victims in Wasilia pay for their own rape kits? MY governor? "I can see Russia from my house" Palin? MY GOVERNOR?

No.