“We Used to Take Care of the Reindeer”

“It was good.”

Photo Courtesy of the Library of Congress, via sitnews.com.

“We used to take care of the reindeer.” She repeated at the middle and end of stories, in the spaces between them. “I still think about back home.”

Every corner creased with a lifetime of laughing, celebrating a cherished memory the grandmother’s face folded softly into an ancient smile. She wore joy as effortlessly as the hair tucked expertly beneath her purple Russian scarf. Mid-sentence her face would collapse into exuberance and I was sure she was about to leap out of her chair and dance, recalling some long-buried friend or place: a whale-gut parka that kept her dry, a tricycle, an old wooden house with real glass in the window, a brother. So much peace in the comfortable way her cheeks rise to meet her eyes and embrace with more love than I think any person has ever shared, more joy than has ever been felt. So humbled by the contentedness of one blessed by the voices of ancestors in her heart, the abundance of the wild world in her blood.

 

Based on a presentation on reindeer herding in Kukaklek Lake by Mary Olympic and her granddaughter AlexAnna Salmon at the Alaska Anthropological Association 40th Annual Meeting in Anchorage, AK.

Learn about the history of reindeer herding in Kukaklek Lake, AK here.

Yes, let’s.

Let’s live in a yurt and can food all summer. Let’s tell people we’re crazy so they stop asking questions. Let’s garden naked. Let’s talk about feelings the way we talk about books or license plates or snails – you know, just talk. Let’s go find empty caves and fill them with imaginary monsters and sound. Let’s drive well but make racecar noises to make it feel more dangerous. Let’s argue about Antarctica. Let’s have shitty jobs and amazing friends. Lets’ get drunk and swap instruments. Let’s swim, all the time. Let’s start a band. Let’s start another one. Let’s bake complicated bread. Let’s get through family holidays with our sense of humor intact. Let’s make our own traditions. Lets’ call when we say we won’t. Let’s splatter paint the driveway. Let’s play Frisbee in the dark. Let’s sleep in. Let’s talk less. Let’s hug more. Let’s be careful with each other. Let’s be happy.

Lies It’s OK To Tell

(A random sampling. More to come later.)

To Anyone

“It was no trouble at all, really.”

“Aw, thanks! I love fruitcake! OMNOMNOMNOMNOM.”

“Everything is going to be OK.”

“You have a good point.”

“It’s so nice to see you!”

To Nosy, Yet Well-Intentioned, Female Acquaintances

“What, THIS dress? I’ve had it so long I don’t even remember where I got it.”

“Your husband’s not my type.”

“That color of Puce is so in this season.”

To Gentleman Callers

“Dungeons and Dragons sounds like so much fun!”

“Oh, I don’t want you to go out of your way for me.”

“I lost your number.”

“I think you’re a really nice guy.”

To Children

“Santa Claus is coming to town.”

“Grown-ups know everything.”

“You can be anything you want to be when you grow up.”

“High school will be the best four years of your life.”