Have mercy, big box stores

Spectru, by Laurie Thomas

The swimsuits are in at Costco. Piles of them are in a display close to the front of the store along with goggles and beach towels. The fact that it is January and twenty degrees below zero seemed a bit ironic to me. We were standing by the tankinis, marveling that somewhere it must be summer, when another blast of frigid cold air hit us from outside. It didn't seem to matter that the store had the heaters on high and the doorways partially blocked; the subzero temperatures were coming in to find us. Right in front of the swimsuits. Had there not been an element of humor in this experience I would have stood there and cried … and cried … and cried.

Winter in Alaska is never predictable. It doesn't seem to matter, however, whether it is a winter of no snow, lots of snow, lots of ice, or powerful winds; it still seems like an endurance test. The darkness has some to do with that but not all. The fact that the winter lingers on most years into March and April is definitely a factor. And when the first snows come by mid or late September winter becomes increasingly long.

So here it is January and we are patting ourselves on the backs because we have made it half way through the winter of 03-04. This is what makes Alaskans tough; making it through the long, dark winter months. And we pride ourselves in our endurance. It's only when something like the swimsuits at Costco come along that we crack a bit.

Or the deck furniture in Carrs. A couple of years ago, not long after the Safeway conglomeration had taken over, summer lawn chairs appeared close inside the entrance of the store in the middle of February. Outside the Matanuska wind was blowing, the snow was falling from all angles and the temperatures, with wind chill factors, was below zero. And there was this lawn furniture. Beautiful, puffy chair cushions on chaise lounges with a table in the middle and an umbrella, of all things, in the center. There were a few people gathered around staring in complete silence. There was an almost starving look on their faces; hungry not for the food on the shelves but for the heat of the sun that usually goes along with lawn furniture. It seemed to me cruel and unusual punishment.

Recently, six inches of snow fell in the city of Portland. Our daughter is attending college there and called home in her excitement. She told us of finding pieces of cardboard and large garbage sacks to use to slide down the hill in front of their apartment building. I suggested they walk down to the Safeway store and get a plastic sled or two; they aren't very expensive. She said their Safeway didn't have sleds. I wondered why and she reminded me that it doesn't usually snow in Portland!

Why then, I wondered, do we have tankinis by the dozens in Costco in January and patio chairs complete with umbrellas in Carrs/Safeway in February? In Alaska. When we are still in the middle of winter. We are a hardy bunch but maybe not that hardy. Please, big box stores, have mercy; keep the summer things in storage until June. Don't divert us from our enduring.

Laurie Thomas is a Palmer resident.