Dream Builder: Willis Crafts Sleds to Go the Distance
Bernie Willis runs his hands along the runners of a dog sled perched on a workshop table at his Arctic Arrow Farm in Wasilla, Alaska. He inspects the stanchions, the hardware and straps. In a few days, the sled will be traveling the punishing 1,049 mile trail between Anchorage to Nome….
Valentine #24: A Memory
28 Valentines of February
Leaving Room for Holiday Surprises
Walls of Every Making
My son, Mark, built a wall this past week. Rock by rock, he moved 12.5 tons of granite, to create a thing of rugged beauty. The granite, blasted into chunks at a local Chugiak quarry, came back together again by the toil and hands of someone I love – a person whose lineage includes veterans who had to deal with walls of another sort.
…
Graduation and the Keeping of A Tender Distance
It’s been a several years since the release of A Tender Distance: Adventures Raising My Sons in Alaska. I was recently sitting around a table with three other women whom I’d just met, and they asked me what the book was about.
…