SOME NORTHERN EXPOSURE

Photo by S. Auberle

On the train from Talkeetna (the town that inspired
the TV series Northern Exposure) to Anchorage, we
pass a bright blue house set back from the tracks in
the middle of nowhere, that says "City Hall". I reach
my camera too late (the above picture is of a different
cabin), but we're past it. The official sign by the side
of the tracks says "Sherman, Alaska." The guide
tells us the story: seems a man named Clyde Lovell
and his wife live there. The town population is 2,
and Clyde is the mayor. For six months of the year,
that is--then his wife impeaches him and, alas,
no mayor the other six months. Why she doesn't
take over the job, I can't imagine, but since the guide
didn't even know her name, I doubt the lovely Mrs.
Lovell is very ambitious. The next year Clyde is
again elected mayor.

Before you think of moving there, however, know that
the Lovells' daughter lives in a cabin further down the
tracks. Apparently Clyde insisted she not be inside the
corporation limits of Sherman. Might screw up the
election, eh?

(somebody asked me if Alaska really was full
of eccentrics.)

- mimi