I love houses that leak. Houses that leak are usually old houses, and I love anything old, really. I love houses filled with antiques whose origins no one can place. I love houses with secrets, houses with tumultuous pasts. I love houses that have belonged to a lot of different owners and have meant a lot to each and every one.
The KNOM volunteers spent last weekend at one of those houses.
Our wonderful outreach coordinator, Margaret, planned a rejuvenating retreat for my fellow volunteers and me. Sue Greenly hosted us at her cabin, which sits right on the coast. It’s the only original Iditarod roadhouse that is still standing, and it’s full of the quirks and surprises that I look for in an old house.
We spent some time exploring the house, some time walking the beach, some time reflecting and decompressing, and a lot of time eating. So. Much. Eating. If this cabin had been in a forest, I would have worried we were being fattened up, Hansel-and-Gretel-style.
Our lives have been incredibly busy as we’ve learned about radio and adjusted to the region, so the retreat was a nice break. I think it’s incredibly important, when you move to a new place and tackle a brand new job, to check in with yourself. It’s a chance to look at all the progress you’ve made and to put the mistakes that you’ve made along the way in perspective. You have to love yourself despite your flaws. You have to love yourself, leaks and all.
You can hear more about the retreat, and about a game of Monopoly that nearly divided the volunteers forever, in this week’s audio blog.
