Bethel is Special -- Hardcore

Day one, we arrived, groggy due to our red-eye and Anchorage mission. Judge Devaney was kind enough to meet us at the airport, even though we hadn’t made any plans and we didn’t know what he looked like. Jeremy, the former clerk had described him to me as “the short guy with a beard.” Fortunately, Judge Devaney was able to pick us out from the crowd.

He gave us a quick tour of Bethel, then treated us to breakfast at Brothers, a café at the airport. We were pleasantly surprised to see a view of the mountains in the distance. Sure, they are small when you are 60 miles away from them, but it’s reassuring to see them anyway. The judge helped us find our new landlady and get us delivered to our new home sweet home. The buildings in Bethel are built on stilts, due to the permafrost making a foundation of any kind impossible.

Bethel will never be renowned for its stunning architecture. It’s the ramshackle appearance of many of the places that likely contribute to Bethel’s reputation amongst Alaskans as “the armpit of Alaska.” But beauty is in the eye of the beholder, I say. It’s all in what you focus on. And there is beauty here in Bethel.

Take the dumpsters for example. Each dumpster has been beautified by the locals. My personal favorite is the one that says, under a rainbow:

BETHEL
IS
SPECIAL
HARDCORE