Old Habits…

Pine City is far from a metropolis. It is a quintessential small town if ever there was one. There are three stoplights. The biggest traffic jam of the year is when the graduating Seniors all ride tractors to school. And at that, our house sits midway down a dead end road. But some habits are hard to break.

Momma always taught me to look both ways before crossing the road. And I listened.

Then and now.

Kivalina is miniscule compared to Pine City. Pine City has three stoplights; Kivalina has three “roads” and three trucks. Honestly, there is the beat up Dodge Durango that I sometimes see parked at the Post Office, the Full-sized Ford that is used to ship freight for the store and the white Expedition that I’m not positive I’ve seen running.

The “traffic” though can get busy around the village. ATV’s cruise in and around Kivalina at all hours of the day and night. And there is no age limit to drive these machines. I regularly see kids from my class operating “Hondas” well beyond their limits. 2-4 siblings hanging on in varying degrees usually accompany them. There must be lax operator restrictions in the great state of Alaska and not one helmet in the borough. For the most part, there haven’t been any “major” safety violations that I’ve been privy to. Usually it’s just kids out buzzing around for a joy ride. Parents gladly turn over the keys to the ATVs in exchange for some peace and quiet in the home.

On my evening walks I am out and about amongst the humming engines and giggling school children. I usually feel safe enough and most everyone on the Hondas have shown some sort of etiquette and kept respectable distance when passing the guy with the orange beard.

But I look both ways…always.

But it’s actually out on the north end of the village that I noticed my “Old Habit” and not when on the lookout for a fourwheeler that might clip me. My route has always been up the frontage road by the rock revetment on the West side of town – on to the Honda two-trail that runs up along the West side of the runway and then across to the cemetery and back through the heart of downtown Kivalina.

And no matter the time of day, before I cross the runway… I always look both ways.

4 planes a day. Usually like clockwork…2 Ravn flights and 2 Bering Air flights….AM & PM…if the weather is stable they are predictable and dependable… yet, I don’t cross the runway without looking both ways…never been out there at the same time as the planes. But I still look...just in case...

I guess Old Habits are hard to break.