I’m sitting here watching the first rays of Alaskan sun crack life into the earliest hours of a new day. Watching the fireweed, which just a few weeks ago blazed a bright magenta, now wilting into a more melancholy mauvish fuzz. Noticing slivers of the luscious green Homer hillscapes turn amber and crimson, little whispers of autumn crisp in the air.
And it occurs to me that it’s been almost six whole months to the day that Arron (our founder and CEO), our baby boy and I have been hunkered down here in Homer, Alaska, for the most part in total isolation. And what strikes me about being here — besides the place’s raw, vast and ever-shifting beauty — is the fact that despite the aforementioned isolation, and thanks in large part to this very community, I’ve never felt more connected to anything.
On the one hand, I have barely interacted with anyone since March. But on the other hand, through my ongoing correspondence with you, the wonderful members of the Wild Alaskan community, I have started to forge countless new connections across the country in all fifty states, all of us linked by the simple pleasures of cooking and enjoying delicious food.
I never imagined as an owner of a seafood company that my favorite thing about my work would be to truly connect with people, to share my love of food and cooking, and most importantly to help make our members feel good. I never considered that our members would themselves write to me and share special stories about their lives, their experiences in Alaska and about their own passion for seafood.
And just as our member base has grown over time, so too has this incredible synergistic community of like-palated people, seafood lovers across the country, all of us making the best of a super weird year by cooking delicious, memorable seafood. Not only do I get the privilege of connecting with our members, but also within our own private Wild Alaskan Company Community What’s Cooking Tonight Facebook group there’s a palpable, collective enthusiasm around not only the seafood, but also around how we each uniquely prepare and enjoy it. There’s exchange. There’s sharing. There’s togetherness.
So, this week I tip my hat to the prospect of creative closeness, to the notion that we can actually stay connected no matter how far apart we are.
Live wild...and stay (metaphorically) close!
