College Pleasures

I finally figured out why I enjoy living in the Great Pacific Northwet. Yes, I like having access to mountains, large trees, snow, the ocean. I do enjoy getting outside and re-creating my soul. I also enjoy the rain. I even enjoy the rain; I especially enjoy the rain. And it is all because I enjoyed college tremendously.

There are the usual reasons that most people think of - the intellectual challenges, the new acquaintances, and new found independence. Although I enjoyed all of those reasons (and a few more that don't deserve additional press), my greatest enjoyment found it's origin in more prosaic pursuits.

When I attended college, and high school before that, I lived in Alaska. In fact, my high school years were spent in a little town by the name of Delta Junction. The true terminus of the AlCan Highway (which many residents of Fairbanks will dispute), Delta Junction is situated about 100 miles south of Fairbanks. It was fairly small (and likely still is), with probably no more than 2500 people in the immediate area (a 25 mile radius). It was also famous for two other reasons. First, it had the second largest buffalo herd in North America which was celebrated at the annual Buffalo Bar-B-Que held every summer. I actually never tasted a buffalo burger or any other buffalo meat until long after I had left Delta. Lots of moose and caribou, but no buffalo.

Delta could get cold in the winter. That was the second reason. Mid-winter temperatures of -30 to -40 degrees Fahrenheit weren't unusual, and we usually had at least one cold snap that would go down to -50 or below. When I was a junior, our cold snap came over Christmas break. It reached -60 degrees and hung there for over a week. The permafrost level was driven further below ground and the school's sewage and water pipes froze and broke - sometime within the last few days before school was supposed to open again. Our break was extended by two weeks while the school dug up the pipes and repaired the system.

Delta was also located near Fort Greeley, Alaska. The Fort was the location of the Northern Warfare Training Center and the Arctic Test Facility. As a training center, that meant the Fort hosted large groups of troops during the winter for winter warfare training. Cross-country skiiing, winter camping, winter camouflage, frozen C-rations, and cold muzzles - all were a part of a new experience for many troops.

Now the cold was also the reason for the existence of the Arctic Test Facility at Fort Greeley. It gave the Army an opportunity to test new vehicles and other technology in the extreme cold of winter. My Dad came to Fort Greeley in the mid-50's with the Army. When he retired, he joined the Corps of Engineers and operated a small nuclear power generator that provided electrical power for the post as well as Delta Junction. The test was shut down quietly without protest or accident.

Although Delta wasn't technically a bush town (somewhere you had to fly to), it was pretty remote. We could drive north to Fairbanks or south towards Glenallen and Valdez or Anchorage beyond. But it was a long drive.

We lived almost five miles outside of town, so the only real "service" or utility we had was electricity. Our water came from a well (it was equipped with a pump and we did have indoor plumbing) and our waste was collected in an underground tank that had to be pumped regularly. Yes, it was a different slice of life.

Because we drew our water from a well, we had to be very conservative in our use of water. We couldn't use too much because we had to get rid of it and we couldn't overflow our tank. So five minute showers and judicious use of toilet paper was something we learned very quickly.

However, this resulted in a very utilitarian view of showers. You got in to get clean. You used only what you had to in order to do so, and no more. And it was always showers - taking a bath used too much water. I never had the chance to enjoy a long, warm shower.

Until college.

Because Alaska Methodist University and the University of Fairbanks had their own plumbing systems and an infinite supply (to me!) of hot water, I thought I had died and gone to heaven. I could, and quite often did, take hour-long showers. Just because I enjoyed the feel of hot water hitting my face and streaming over my body. Just because I could. Just because no one was going to pound on the bathroom door waiting to get in or to complain about the amount of water I was using. Just sitting on the floor of the shower stall and letting the water fall all over and around me was almost more than I could stand. It was more than I deserved. Just because.

When we finally left Alaska, we moved to the Seattle area. We had been warned about the winter rains and how gloomy it got, but it wasn't any gloomier than Alaska in the middle of winter. Actually, it was a lot brighter, even in the winter. But the rains don't bother me. Because that is what I longed to hear and experience as I went through high school - long showers. So now, I get to enjoy them. (But now that I have to pay the bills, I still watch my water usage.) But I get to fall asleep listening to the rain hit the roof. I get to emerge from the shower and hear the rain falling on our bathroom skylight.

I get to hear one of the most wonderfully soothing sounds in the world - rain fall.