Happiness and Ted Stevens

First of all, to clarify: The Ptarmagin is the state bird of Alaska.  There was some confusion.

I've never lived alone before, or traveled extensively alone.  Living alone combined with copious amounts of sunlight allows me to think a lot.  A British Philosopher, Bertrand Russell, thought that "A certain amount of boredom is…essential to a happy life."   I think that there is something to that sentiment.  Too often our affluence breeds impatience.  When I'm in the middle of a task my mind often drifts to other tasks and I think I would rather be someplace else, doing something else…and perhaps be someone else.  Where is our contentment with who we are and where we are?  Where is the enjoyment of the moment? Our impatience undermines our happiness.  When we are bored we turn off our brains by turning to television or the internet or worrying about things we can't control.  I urge you to try a little exercise: sit on the couch or outside and do nothing.  Don't listen to music, read a book, or twiddle your thumbs.  Embrace the boredom and let your mind wander for five minutes.  Don't try to organize your day, don't lay out tasks, don't think about what you're getting your mom for her birthday.  Just be bored for five minutes.

Ted Steven's house - Here it is, the house that stirred all the controversy last fall.  

The bribing allegations that cost Alaska's former senior Senator, 115 year old Ted Steven, his reelection bid.  In my humble opinion, it's very modest.  I pass by it every morning.  Ted Steven was a part of the old boys club who did things differently.  He is a fiscal conservative, he chided the town for building a new library, saying, "Well now your children have to pay for it."  The $29,000 statue of the fish on the front porch is gaudy, the wrap lighting is cheesy, and the surrounding houses are much bigger.  Everyone here, democrats and republicans alike, are surprised how big the whole thing got blown out of proportion.   Things run a little differently here in Alaska and I'm starting to get a sense of it.  The lower forty-eight feel really far away.

The other day I took a jet boat up the river to Carmen Lake where I will be taking people out on kayaks.  The ice is just breaking up and the serenity is intoxicating.  I can't wait to get back here when the ice is thawed.  More pictures to come

me