Alaska Outhouse Style
I know this has nothing to do with painting, but I just can’t resist bragging about the outhouse at the Denali Education Center, it’s great! Not only does it not smell due to good ventilation piping, it’s homey. Seriously, going to the bathroom out in the woods is always something to deal with and they have managed it well. There’s good reading material, paintings on the walls, a light and a styrofoam seat that never gets cold.I’m really liking life here at the center. Everyone is friendly and extremely knowledgeable about the park- they’re good at what they do. Today a group returned with a bus load of kids and park rangers that had been backpacking out at the far end of the park and they shared some of their experiences. It seems like there were hoards of mosquitos and that they got to see a lot of wildlife. The kids help the rangers collect data for the park and learn about being out in the wilderness.I spent my morning hiking along the Nenana river and set my easel teetering easel up on some rocks along the bank to paint. At first I was a little nervous, thinking that if a moose or grizzly wandered up I really had no route for quietly slipping away and jumping in the raging river wasn’t looking like a plausible option. I didn’t let these thoughts keep me from painting, though and I dived in. After awhile I realized that I wasn’t alone out there as a group of guided rafters started floating by. One of the rafts even came close to shore to see how my painting was going and the guide told me that I could have a free raft ride anytime! What a fun and unexpected day. I have yet to meet an unfriendly Alaskan. I even asked one why Alaskans are so friendly. His response was that really they’re still pretty rural people. I guess country people know the meaning of hospitality.