25 Comments

I think it’s true for everyone too. To sitting at a milk bar somewhere at some far distant point in time space. 🥂

I would love to hear more about your Exxon-Valdez coverage experience.

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Good to know. Richard was remarking it's such a different tone from what I mostly do . . . but there is the bit about Gillian!

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Haha! Truth. I think the difference is part of why I enjoy hearing about it. I’ve come to know you (or your writing persona). So it’s delightful to see other sides/shades of her—other experiences she’s had and tones she’s shared.

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Awww... We loved Northern Exposure. I think it made me feel like I was back home in small town northern Minnesota! But now I'm on Whidbey Island, where you must visit some day, and when you do, we'll take a trip to Roslyn WA where Northern Exposure was filmed. And wow. So glad and grateful to hear about your Exxon-Valdez experiences. Thank you.

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I would so love to come to Whidbey, and I love the idea of your excursion. I don't remember who I knew who used to go there. Is there an artist colony there? Something like that is ringing a bell.

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You are my hero, Laurie. Your energy inspires me. The day of the Exxon spill passed me unacknowledged as I drifted through my last month of addiction. Only recalled as a grey, self-pitying haze. Wasted half my life in that state and now I want more of everything, including Northern Exposure.

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Thanks, love, yes, watch this show if you have not and watch it if you have. xxL

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I recently revisited Northern Exposure too. I was in my mid-twenties the first time around. I had a massive crush on Ed and felt like Maggie was a kindred spirit. It was really interesting watching again in my mid-fifties. It resonated more deeply. I have found that I still have a massive crush on Ed but, now, Ruth Anne is my kindred spirit. Haha!

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I adore Ruth Anne. xxL

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Thanks for sharing the posts about bird and mammal rescue in Prince William Sound. I recently read the orca pod there can no longer breed due to the long-term impact of the spill and is therefore going to die out. I was lured onto a ship that headed from Seattle to Valdez to work on the spill. Valdez was so strange, transformed from village to ... whatever it became. I sought out the public library so I'd have something to read on my boat when not cooking for the crew, which served as a supply boat throughout the Sound. Reading your description of the massive die-offs hurts my heart.

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❤️

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Northern Exposure is a perfect show to watch when...oh well, world's ruined, or you're just blue. Having spent five years in a northern town (North West River, Labrador) with a population of about 500, I sure can relate. I lived in a logging town on the west coast of Vancouver Island too (Zeballos). Neither were as sweet as Cecily but one did become inventive!

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Rewatching Northern Exposure was a respite for me. Comfort when I needed comforting. I loved it the first time, but maybe loved it more the 2nd time.

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i had a miserable day and was feeling meh and reading your exxon-valdez piece totally transported me. gorgeous, rapturous writing. it's you, but also feels like something different. especially loved these lines: "It thrusts its body against my hands, expressing a will to live that is thrilling to feel." and "Nancy asks about my life in New York, and suddenly I miss it because I haven’t until this moment."

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Thanks, love. Sorry you had a rough day. 🥰

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Thank you for reminding me about the Exxon-Valdez disaster. How amazing that you went up there. Tell us more. And I was a big devotee of Northern Exposure. It was perhaps the first show with a Native character (Marilyn). One of my pals was an advisor to the show on Native issues.

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Love the Exxon-Valdez story -- and Gillian too. But those otters! -- definitely more. x

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This was enchanting! Volunteers committed to God's creation, traveling the globe to help wildlife in emergencies...caregivers hearing the screams and cries of animals around them in the days after the spill...the evolution of fish hooks in beaks... Thank you, Laurie!!!

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To this day, my husband will not let me stop for gas at Exxon Mobil and makes me keep on driving. The illustration by Chip Wass took me back to high school when I took a summer class at the School of the Art Institute with Chip, who was another higher schooler. I had such a crush on him! His incredible talent was already fully present in his work.

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Great comment! I love the image!!

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The only character I remember from Northern Exposure is The Log Lady… I was so angry about the Exxon oil spill. A couple of years before that, a friend moved to Homer to start a new life there. Her husband was a salmon fisher - that industry along with all the beautiful wildlife were destroyed.

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The Log Lady was in Twin Peaks, Avery different vibe.

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Ha! Oh yeah!

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What does “risk glints up in a coke vial” mean?

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It's a crack vial . . . I just checked to make sure it's correct.

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