Free/Ain't Free
Maybe it is because it's Breakup, Alaska's distant cousin to Spring. Maybe it is because we are already spending our Permanent Fund Dividend checks, despite not knowing how much (or little) that will be. Or maybe it is because "just because." Whatever the excuse, I've noticed several folks around here are suddenly spending money like drunken sailors on shore leave. Or like sun-deprived Alaskans who are emerging out of their cold-induced funks into the manic glory of 24 hours per day of visible sunlight. I am one of them. Which is sort of odd because I generally do not like to shop. I especially do not like to browse. If I have to buy something, I want to get that one thing, and bail. I do not want to linger. I do not want to surf. Brick and mortar. Virtual. Do not matter. Buy and bail, that's me. Usually. During Breakup that changes. And that change is predictable. It starts with the arrival of my garden porn, aka seed catalogs. Suddenly I am for...