Alaska - I Love You - I Love You Not
You either love it, hate it or it kind of grows on you without you being aware of it. Such are some of the comments you might get from folks if you ask them about Alaska, the Last Frontier. And it's true; you have people with some very strong opinions and comments about how they feel about the Great Land of Alaska. Indeed, they will certainly tell you that they love it if that's the case and go into much detail about why they feel this warm cuddly emotion for Alaska. Likewise they will tell you that they hate it if that is the case and then go on to support their opinions with various details about why they harbor this enmity against Alaska.
Of course, there are some lukewarm opinions in between as well. These folks usually are the types who are hard to impress with show-me personalities. When presented with the spectacular grandeur and majesty of Alaska they shrug their shoulders and say 'no big deal', they've seen other sites even more stately and majestic than Alaska. And in what appears to be quite a laughable reaction, they often go on to encourage or even dare one to try to impress them further, as if they enjoy this sort of thing.
Then you have the group of folks that have suddenly discovered that Alaska has slowly grown on them. It happens a lot with first time tourists and those visiting family for the first time. As they innocently and happily go about their sight seeing, they begin to spot little things here and there that are near and dear to their heart that perhaps they have dreamed of as a child and put on a back burner. It might be the wildlife and the wooded expanse that draws them. Or it could be the warm small-town community spirit so desired by many and closely guarded by Alaska's residents. Whatever it is for each person, all of the emotions and memories of the past flood up into their thoughts and it is like yesteryear for them again. They find themselves transfixed and captured with what could be. It's not long before they begin to wonder what it would be like to live in Alaska. And once those germ thoughts take root it's only a matter of time before they seriously think about making plans to move to Alaska.
Others who have found that Alaska has stolen their heart have quite a different story. Many are the cases in which spouses and families had no choice in a relocation move to Alaska. We're not specifically talking about mail-order brides here but you might as well include them in with this bunch. They have a lot in common. All of the spouses and families initially ranted, raved and rebelled about being forced to move to what many still call and firmly believe to be a God forsaken country with close ties to a Siberian penal colony. They were sure they were being punished for something but were unsure of their crime. But life did go on for them all and over time many found that they actually enjoyed this very different, yet beautiful place and still call it home today.