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	<title>Classes and Workshops Archives - Julia O&#039;Malley</title>
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	<description>An Alaska Life: Culture + Travel + Food +  Home</description>
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	<title>Classes and Workshops Archives - Julia O&#039;Malley</title>
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		<title>Looking for inspiration?Join me for guided winter morning writing sessions</title>
		<link>https://www.juliaomalley.com/2025/12/18/looking-for-inspirationjoin-me-for-guided-winter-morning-writing-sessions/</link>
					<comments>https://www.juliaomalley.com/2025/12/18/looking-for-inspirationjoin-me-for-guided-winter-morning-writing-sessions/#comments</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Julia O'Malley]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 18 Dec 2025 17:24:59 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Classes and Workshops]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.juliaomalley.com/?p=9359</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>Do you want to write more in the new year? Join me for guided early-morning writing sessions meant to bring inspiration in the darkest part of the year while you build habits to support a regular writing practice.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.juliaomalley.com/2025/12/18/looking-for-inspirationjoin-me-for-guided-winter-morning-writing-sessions/">Looking for inspiration?Join me for guided winter morning writing sessions</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.juliaomalley.com">Julia O&#039;Malley</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[
<p>Do you want to write more in the new year? Are you looking to jump-start your practice, make writing more fun or get out of a funk? Join me for another season of guided early-morning writing sessions meant to bring inspiration, community, light and lightness in the darkest part of the year. Using prompts customized to inspire our particular group along with gentle, structured feedback, we&#8217;ll kick-start our Friday mornings with creative work and listening. This early morning workshop is perfect for people who are looking for motivation to meet their writing goals while also struggling to find time to fit writing into busy lives. I&#8217;ll share all my core writing hacks for showing up, getting started, writing fluently, tapping into your creative flow state, listening, and, most important, outsmarting your inner critic (getting up early helps!). The idea here is to provide accountability but not take ourselves too seriously. Except we&#8217;re very serious about having fun and letting ourselves be moved. This virtual class is appropriate for writers of all levels.</p>



<p>We will meet, write freely together and give feedback via zoom for six 55-minute sessions, <strong>beginning at 6 a.m.</strong>, January 9 to February 13. The workshop is open to 12 participants. This class has no homework and we are creating all new material, so it isn&#8217;t a place to work on projects already in progress, but instead a generative exercise in finding the seeds for new work. The cost is $225 per person. ($25 off for Yukon Island writers). You must have a working computer and internet connection. Bedhead welcome. Coffee recommended.</p>



<p>To sign up or ask questions, <a href="mailto:juliaeomalley@gmail.com">email me</a>.</p>



<p></p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.juliaomalley.com/2025/12/18/looking-for-inspirationjoin-me-for-guided-winter-morning-writing-sessions/">Looking for inspiration?Join me for guided winter morning writing sessions</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.juliaomalley.com">Julia O&#039;Malley</a>.</p>
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		<title>WORKSHOP: Write with me on Yukon Island this summer</title>
		<link>https://www.juliaomalley.com/2025/04/28/workshop-write-with-me-on-yukon-island-this-summer/</link>
					<comments>https://www.juliaomalley.com/2025/04/28/workshop-write-with-me-on-yukon-island-this-summer/#comments</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Julia O'Malley]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 29 Apr 2025 00:16:50 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Classes and Workshops]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Yukon Island]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.juliaomalley.com/?p=9442</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>Want to write this summer with a friendly, no-pressure group on a beautiful Alaska island? </p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.juliaomalley.com/2025/04/28/workshop-write-with-me-on-yukon-island-this-summer/">WORKSHOP: Write with me on Yukon Island this summer</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.juliaomalley.com">Julia O&#039;Malley</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[
<p>UPDATE: This workshop is now full. Email if you&#8217;d like to join the waitlist!</p>



<p>Want to write this summer with a friendly, no-pressure group on a beautiful Alaska island?  Throw in delicious home-cooked food, long walks, good reading and maybe a nap? The time has come again for my annual writer’s retreat on Yukon Island in Homer.</p>



<p>This is retreat is open to both men and women. It’s all about restoration, reflection, process and skill-building. It is not a place to workshop works in progress, though it is a place to generate ideas or find new inspiration for writers working on longer projects. This group is a no-judgement, no-homework, memoir workshop focused&nbsp;on techniques that stoke&nbsp;creativity, build writing fluency, hone listening/editing skills and develop&nbsp;revision strategies. You’ll come away with seeds for longer work as well as concrete, tested guidance on the writing process.</p>



<p>This workshop is well-suited for creative thinkers who write or edit for a living as well as recreational creative writers or any storyteller looking for new ways to get started or reboot. Our work together is meant to help you think more clearly about your audience, better say what you mean, and find the most resonant parts of the story you are trying to tell. I also encourage rest, reading and listening. You will leave relaxed, inspired and well-fed.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" width="1024" height="1024" src="https://www.juliaomalley.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/IMG_5268-1024x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-9443" srcset="https://www.juliaomalley.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/IMG_5268-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https://www.juliaomalley.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/IMG_5268-300x300.jpg 300w, https://www.juliaomalley.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/IMG_5268-150x150.jpg 150w, https://www.juliaomalley.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/IMG_5268-768x768.jpg 768w, https://www.juliaomalley.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/IMG_5268-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://www.juliaomalley.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/IMG_5268-2048x2048.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



<p>Yukon is located in outer Kachemak Bay, about 9 miles south of Homer, a short boat ride away. It has been inhabited for hundreds of years, with a number of archeological sites that date back to the prehistory of the bay. Our retreat will be held at the lovely, woman-owned and operated&nbsp;<a href="http://www.yukonisland.com/">Yukon Island Retreat Center</a>.&nbsp;Oh, and bonus, your cell phone only works if you walk to the end of the island.</p>



<p>The retreat is&nbsp;<strong>August 22-24</strong>, a Friday afternoon through a Sunday afternoon. The workshop cost covers travel by water taxi from Homer to the island, two nights lodging, all the glorious local food and writing instruction. The workshop fee is $825. (<strong>Fifty percent is required to reserve a spot, the other half is due July 22th, 30 days before the workshop. After 30 days, the workshop is non-refundable, but you can choose to give your spot to someone.</strong>) Want to sponsor a writer to attend? Send me an email!</p>



<p>Gretchen, our host, is an amazing cook and can accommodate most food allergies. The lodging is dormitory style, with a few singles that you can request. It is, unfortunately, not accessible and does require some walking up stairs. There is some running water, outhouses and a banya for bathing. If you have specific questions about the facilities, please write me. This workshop is small — there are only 10 slots total — and fills very quickly. To check availability and reserve a spot, send me an&nbsp;<a href="mailto:juliaeomalley@gmail.com">email</a>.&nbsp;</p>



<p></p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.juliaomalley.com/2025/04/28/workshop-write-with-me-on-yukon-island-this-summer/">WORKSHOP: Write with me on Yukon Island this summer</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.juliaomalley.com">Julia O&#039;Malley</a>.</p>
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		<title>UAA Class: Community-based reporting using Anchorage as a lab</title>
		<link>https://www.juliaomalley.com/2024/04/20/uaa-class-community-based-reporting-using-anchorage-as-a-lab/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Julia O'Malley]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 20 Apr 2024 19:13:33 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Classes and Workshops]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.juliaomalley.com/?p=9251</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>The post <a href="https://www.juliaomalley.com/2024/04/20/uaa-class-community-based-reporting-using-anchorage-as-a-lab/">UAA Class: Community-based reporting using Anchorage as a lab</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.juliaomalley.com">Julia O&#039;Malley</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[
<p><em>“To live in a city is to live the life that it was built for, to adapt to its schedule and rhythms, to move within the transit layout made for you during the morning and evening rush, winding through the crowds of fellow commuters. To live in a city is to consume its offerings. To eat at its restaurants. To drink at its bars. To shop at its stores. To pay its sales taxes. To give a dollar to its homeless.</em></p>



<p><em>To live in a city is to take part in and to propagate its impossible systems. To wake up. To go to work in the morning. It is also to take pleasure in those systems because, otherwise, who could repeat the same routines, year in, year out?”</em></p>



<p><em>― Ling Ma, </em><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/58029884"><em>Severance</em></a></p>



<p>Join me and veteran Anchorage Daily News journalist Michelle Theriault Boots for an Alaska Press Club-sponsored community journalism class at UAA (<a href="https://www.uaa.alaska.edu/academics/college-of-arts-and-sciences/departments/journalism-and-communication/jpc-classes.cshtml">JPC A194 CRN 75397</a>). The class explores histories, neighborhoods, business and cultural communities in Anchorage, using Alaska’s largest city as a laboratory to strengthen skills in community-based reporting. Though the class focuses on Anchorage, the methods can be applied anywhere. This course can be petitioned by JPC majors to count for another degree requirement. Working journalists may apply for <a href="https://alaskapressclub.com/grants/">tuition reimbursement</a> through the Alaska Press Club. </p>



<p>This in-person course focuses on techniques for increasing self-awareness, expanding reporter networks and discovering people, culture and communities. We will learn to use demographics, history, economics, housing, business, neighborhoods, subcultures and food as lenses for story-telling, relationship-making and connecting with audiences. Importantly, this class is meant to hone reporting skills for work outside of institutional settings like meeting rooms, courtrooms or boardrooms. This class involves student/working journalist mentoring. Expect field-trips, in-class speakers and solo urban exploration that requires talking to strangers. All students will be expected to produce one story for broadcast or publication. </p>



<p>Questions? <a href="mailto: juliaeomalley@gmail.com">Email me</a>.&nbsp;</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.juliaomalley.com/2024/04/20/uaa-class-community-based-reporting-using-anchorage-as-a-lab/">UAA Class: Community-based reporting using Anchorage as a lab</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.juliaomalley.com">Julia O&#039;Malley</a>.</p>
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		<title>Take some time to write with me on Yukon Island</title>
		<link>https://www.juliaomalley.com/2024/04/11/take-some-time-to-write-with-me-on-yukon-island/</link>
					<comments>https://www.juliaomalley.com/2024/04/11/take-some-time-to-write-with-me-on-yukon-island/#comments</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Julia O'Malley]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 11 Apr 2024 21:49:36 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Classes and Workshops]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.juliaomalley.com/?p=9241</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>The time has come for my annual writer's retreat on Yukon Island in Homer. </p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.juliaomalley.com/2024/04/11/take-some-time-to-write-with-me-on-yukon-island/">Take some time to write with me on Yukon Island</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.juliaomalley.com">Julia O&#039;Malley</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[
<p>How about writing this summer with a friendly, no-pressure group on a beautiful Alaska island?&nbsp; Throw in delicious home-cooked food, long walks, good reading and maybe a nap? The time has come for my annual writer&#8217;s retreat on Yukon Island in Homer. </p>



<p>This is retreat is open to both men and women. It’s all about restoration, reflection, process and skill-building. It is not a place to workshop works in progress, though it is a place to generate ideas or find new inspiration for writers working on longer projects. This group is a no-judgement, no-homework, memoir workshop focused&nbsp;on techniques that stoke&nbsp;creativity, build writing fluency, hone listening/editing skills and develop&nbsp;revision strategies. You’ll come away with seeds for longer work as well as concrete, tested guidance on the writing process.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img decoding="async" src="https://www.juliaomalley.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/IMG_5217-2-1024x768.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-9079" width="673" height="505" srcset="https://www.juliaomalley.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/IMG_5217-2-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https://www.juliaomalley.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/IMG_5217-2-300x225.jpg 300w, https://www.juliaomalley.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/IMG_5217-2-768x576.jpg 768w, https://www.juliaomalley.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/IMG_5217-2-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://www.juliaomalley.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/IMG_5217-2-2048x1536.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 673px) 100vw, 673px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Walking to Elephant Rock on Yukon Island.</figcaption></figure>



<p>This workshop is well-suited for creative thinkers who write or edit for a living as well as recreational creative writers or any storyteller looking for new ways to get started or reboot. Our work together is meant to help you think more clearly about your audience, better say what you mean, and find the most resonant parts of the story you are trying to tell. I also encourage rest, reading and listening. You will leave relaxed, inspired and well-fed. </p>



<p>Yukon is located in outer Kachemak Bay, about 9 miles south of Homer, a short boat ride away. It has been inhabited for hundreds of years, with a number of archeological sites that date back to the prehistory of the bay. Our retreat will be held at the lovely, woman-owned and operated <a href="http://www.yukonisland.com/">Yukon Island Retreat Center</a>.&nbsp;Oh, and bonus, your cell phone only works if you walk to the end of the island.</p>


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="alignleft size-full is-resized"><img decoding="async" src="https://www.juliaomalley.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/screen-shot-2016-07-28-at-1-24-43-pm.png" alt="" class="wp-image-5990" width="233" height="233"/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Yukon Island salmonberries</figcaption></figure></div>


<p>The retreat is <strong>August 8-10</strong>, a Thursday afternoon through a Saturday afternoon, leaving you the option of spending Saturday evening in Homer for a little extra relaxation. The workshop cost covers travel by water taxi from Homer to the island, two nights lodging, all the glorious local food and writing instruction. The workshop fee is $800. (<strong>Fifty percent is required to reserve a spot, the other half is due July 8th, 30 days before the workshop. After 30 days, the workshop is not refundable, but you can choose to give your spot to someone.</strong>) I can offer a discount opening for someone who is certified and would be willing to teach restorative yoga.</p>



<p>Gretchen, our host, is an amazing cook and can accommodate most food allergies. The lodging is dormitory style, with a few singles that you can request. It is, unfortunately, not accessible and does require some walking up stairs. There is running water, outhouses and a banya for bathing. If you have specific questions about the facilities, please write me. This workshop is small &#8212; there are only 10 slots total &#8212; and fills quickly. To check availability and reserve a spot, send me an <a href="mailto:juliaeomalley@gmail.com">email</a>.&nbsp;</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.juliaomalley.com/2024/04/11/take-some-time-to-write-with-me-on-yukon-island/">Take some time to write with me on Yukon Island</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.juliaomalley.com">Julia O&#039;Malley</a>.</p>
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		<title>This time four years ago, Anchorage had no idea what was coming</title>
		<link>https://www.juliaomalley.com/2024/02/08/this-time-four-years-ago-anchorage-didnt-have-any-idea-what-was-coming/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Julia O'Malley]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 08 Feb 2024 22:25:23 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Classes and Workshops]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[NEIGHBORS project]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.juliaomalley.com/?p=9215</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>Join us for a reading of writing from the pandemic years and the launch of Issue 6 of Chatter Marks, the Anchorage Museum journal, which collected all the writing from the Neighbors Project. </p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.juliaomalley.com/2024/02/08/this-time-four-years-ago-anchorage-didnt-have-any-idea-what-was-coming/">This time four years ago, Anchorage had no idea what was coming</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.juliaomalley.com">Julia O&#039;Malley</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[
<p>Just this time, a year ago, I noticed a striking woman ahead of me in line for coffee. She wore a camel-colored coat and vintage crystal earrings, her face partly obscured by a mask. Then I realized I knew her. The eyes above the mask belonged to my friend Kelly.</p>



<p>“Hi friend,” I said. “You look lovely today. I like your earrings.”</p>



<p>And so began the kind of conversation you at that time with people who you hadn’t seen much in person since The Before Times. Remember this phase of the pandemic/post pandemic? A season of repair, kind of like what happens in a community after a tornado comes through, except our disaster bulldozed relationships instead of infrastructure. The feeling of being out in public for me ranged from unexpected joy to subtle awkwardness to exhaustion. To some extent it still feels a little that way.</p>



<p>I made my re-entry into the world of strangers and distant friends at Black Cup, writing short pieces and Anchorage Daily News stories as part of a collaboration with Anchorage Museum called the <a href="https://www.anchoragemuseum.org/about-us/stories-and-voices/neighbors-stories-from-anchorages-pandemic-years/">Neighbors Project</a>.</p>



<p>Many of you receiving this newsletter were part of that project, either as story subjects, advisors or as participants in our public writing sessions. <strong>The stories and writings have been collected in a Chatter Marks museum journal and you can get free copy at our reading event, which will be Friday, March 1, at </strong><a href="https://www.anchoragemuseum.org/visit/seed-lab/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><strong>Seed Lab</strong></a><strong>, at 6:30 p.m. The magazine contains a pocket zine made by artist Jimmy Riordan that publishes short personal narratives from our writing groups. Live readings begin at 7 p.m. </strong>(If you were part of a public writing group and would like to read, please get in touch by <strong>Friday, 2/23</strong>!)</p>



<div class="wp-block-media-text alignwide is-stacked-on-mobile" style="grid-template-columns:25% auto"><figure class="wp-block-media-text__media"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="768" height="1024" src="https://www.juliaomalley.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/IMG_1659-768x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-9216 size-full" srcset="https://www.juliaomalley.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/IMG_1659-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://www.juliaomalley.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/IMG_1659-225x300.jpg 225w, https://www.juliaomalley.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/IMG_1659-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://www.juliaomalley.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/IMG_1659-1536x2048.jpg 1536w, https://www.juliaomalley.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/IMG_1659-scaled.jpg 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px" /></figure><div class="wp-block-media-text__content">
<p>Contributors to the project include: photographers Loren Holmes, Adan Hernandez, Marc Lester, Emily Mesner, Anne Raup and Bill Roth, as well as work by writers Sarah Freije, Jen Clark, Kate Ginsbach, Kirsten Merrell Kippen, Valerie Kern, Emily Mesner, Sonia Santaella and Brooke Norsted.</p>
</div></div>



<p>The year-long residency that produced this work was a deep look into the ways the pandemic changed us. It began in response to an ugly shift in Anchorage that occurred as the city came undone over covid restrictions. I’d been observing public life in Anchorage as a journalist for 20 years – but the level of vitriol that overtook the city in 2020 felt like a beloved family member having a psychotic break. The fabric of families and relationships frayed. Fear, disruption, misinformation and meanness ruled, as hospital beds filled with patients and obituaries piled up.</p>



<p>In early 2021, as I interviewed people across the political spectrum for this project, I began to notice how every story touched on two essential human impulses: longing for connection and grief over disconnection. There was the wife who said goodbye to her husband via Facetime as he died of covid but was comforted by a stream of gifts delivered to her doorstep by Twitter friends. A pastor learned to give Zoom sermons in an empty church but found himself visiting the homes of his elderly parishioners. One woman who took on her brothers’ children while his wife fought cancer. Another made peace with missing her grandchild’s birth because of the hospital’s limit on visitors. A teenager driven into depression found hope passing along kind messages as he worked a drive-thru. These stories were personal ones, but thousands of people experienced similar longings and losses. No wonder the community had lost itself.</p>



<p>Days after I ran into Kelly at the coffee shop, a hand-addressed envelope showed up in my mailbox. On the front was a quote from the French philosopher Simone Weil that read “Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity.” Inside, she’d written a note, thanking me for making her feel noticed. I tucked the card in the frame of my mirror.</p>



<p>I thought about how years of semi-isolation refracted our self perceptions. Who are we when we’re not reflected back in the eyes of our neighbors? &nbsp;What happens without the essential warmth that comes with seeing familiar faces – &nbsp;even just the mail carrier coming up the walk with a bone in his pocket for your dog, the cashier at the corner store who greets you with a “How are you, mama?,” the old friend who notices your earrings? I know sometimes over the the pandemic few years, like Kelly, I felt like a ghost. I wonder, have we recovered?</p>



<p>The card sat in my mirror for months before I looked up Simone Weil’s writing. I discovered she was a post-war religious mystic who focused in part on the power of human connection. The act of giving attention to another person and simply accepting them is similar to a prayer, she said.</p>



<p>“People can love their neighbors by emptying themselves, becoming ready to receive their neighbor in all his or her naked truth, asking their neighbor: &#8220;What are you going through?&#8221; she wrote.</p>



<p>As I wrote last year, I mostly sat in threadbare chair near the windows at Black Cup. After a while, the smell of breakfast burritos and the scrape of old wood chairs against the floor felt like home. Josh, the barista, learned my order. Terry, an ethics professor at UAA, kept my same coffee shop hours. After a while, we started sharing a table.</p>



<p>I mentioned my reading to Terry. He lit up right away, listing &nbsp;various ethicists’ theories on connection, filling my head with questions. Despite the ugliness, is it actually good for democracy that so many people feel so passionately right now? Would it be worse if people were indifferent? Are the fundamental connections between people diminished when we can’t see each other&#8217;s faces? Might empathy transform a society?</p>



<p>I finished my coffee and headed out on an errand to buy bread at Fire Island, driving through the spring grit of Midtown, ravens swooping over gray snow berms. Every building along my path, the old Blockbuster, Taco King, even Queen’s Cleaner, held a trove of tiny memories – passing interactions that built a sense of the familiar and taught me how to exist in community. I’d yet to returned to many my old haunts. I was out of practice. I some ways, I still am.</p>



<p>The bakery was crowded when I got there. As I stood in a line, I saw Janis, whose family runs the business. Once, a decade earlier, when I came in shortly after having my son, she gave me a chocolate cake because, she said, a woman who has given birth deserves a present. I hadn’t seen her much for three years. She noticed me in line and offered a warm challah roll across the counter. “Tear off a piece,’” she said. I did. As it melted on my tongue, it was both no big deal and everything. &nbsp;</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.juliaomalley.com/2024/02/08/this-time-four-years-ago-anchorage-didnt-have-any-idea-what-was-coming/">This time four years ago, Anchorage had no idea what was coming</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.juliaomalley.com">Julia O&#039;Malley</a>.</p>
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		<title>Write, rest and eat with me on Yukon Island</title>
		<link>https://www.juliaomalley.com/2023/03/02/hey-have-you-been-meaning-to-do-some-writing/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Julia O'Malley]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 03 Mar 2023 01:49:00 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Classes and Workshops]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Yukon Island]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://juliaomalley.media/?p=8128</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>The post <a href="https://www.juliaomalley.com/2023/03/02/hey-have-you-been-meaning-to-do-some-writing/">Write, rest and eat with me on Yukon Island</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.juliaomalley.com">Julia O&#039;Malley</a>.</p>
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<p>It&#8217;s been a long three years, friends. How about writing for hours with a friendly, no-pressure group on a beautiful Alaska island in the summer time?&nbsp; Throw in delicious home-cooked food, long walks, good reading and maybe a nap. I am overjoyed to get to post that we are invited back to Yukon Island.&nbsp;</p>



<p>This is retreat is open to both men and women. It&#8217;s all about restoration, reflection, process and skill-building. It&#8217;s a no-judgement, no-homework, memoir workshop focused on techniques that stoke creativity, build writing fluency, hone listening/editing skills and develop revision strategies. You&#8217;ll come away with seeds for longer essays as well as concrete, tested guidance on the writing process.</p>


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://www.juliaomalley.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Screen-Shot-2023-03-29-at-12.07.17-PM-1-1024x765.png" alt="" class="wp-image-9077" width="514" height="384" srcset="https://www.juliaomalley.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Screen-Shot-2023-03-29-at-12.07.17-PM-1-1024x765.png 1024w, https://www.juliaomalley.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Screen-Shot-2023-03-29-at-12.07.17-PM-1-300x224.png 300w, https://www.juliaomalley.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Screen-Shot-2023-03-29-at-12.07.17-PM-1-768x574.png 768w, https://www.juliaomalley.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Screen-Shot-2023-03-29-at-12.07.17-PM-1-1536x1148.png 1536w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 514px) 100vw, 514px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Yukon Island retreat-goer in 2018.</figcaption></figure></div>


<p>This workshop is well-suited for creative thinkers who write or edit for a living as well as recreational creative writers or any storyteller looking for new ways to get started or reboot. Our work together is meant to help you think more clearly about your audience, better say what you mean, and find the most resonant parts of the story you are trying to tell. You will leave relaxed, inspired and well-fed.</p>



<p>I&#8217;m a huge believer in a process that includes focused work time and deliberate time spent NOT WRITING. That means, when we&#8217;re not working together, we are walking, thinking, reading, reflecting and, yes, resting.</p>


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="480" height="480" src="https://juliaomalley.media/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/IMG_5258-3021681565-1556844180835.jpg" alt="IMG_5258.jpg" class="wp-image-8131" srcset="https://www.juliaomalley.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/IMG_5258-3021681565-1556844180835.jpg 480w, https://www.juliaomalley.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/IMG_5258-3021681565-1556844180835-150x150.jpg 150w, https://www.juliaomalley.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/IMG_5258-3021681565-1556844180835-300x300.jpg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Dinner on Yukon with fresh-caught salmon and fresh-baked bread. </figcaption></figure></div>


<p>Yukon is located in outer Kachemak Bay, about 9 miles south of Homer, a short boat ride away. It has been inhabited for hundreds of years, with a number of archeological sites that date back to the prehistory of the bay. Our retreat will be held at the lovely, woman-owned and operated <a href="http://www.yukonisland.com/">Yukon Island Retreat Center</a>. Oh, and bonus, your cell phone only works if you walk to the end of the island.</p>



<p>The retreat is <strong>July 28-30</strong>. The workshop cost covers travel by water taxi from Homer to the island, two nights lodging, all the glorious local food and writing instruction. The workshop fee is $750. (<strong>Fifty percent is required to reserve a spot, the other half is due July 28th, 30 days before the workshop. After 30 days, the workshop is not refundable, but you can choose to give your spot to someone.</strong>) I can offer a discount opening for someone who is certified and would be willing to teach restorative yoga.</p>



<p>Gretchen, our host, is an amazing cook and can accommodate most food allergies. The lodging is dormitory style, with a few singles that you can request. There is running water, outhouses and a banya for bathing. If you have specific questions about the facilities or accessibility, please write me. This workshop is small &#8212; there are only 10 slots total &#8212; and fills quickly. To check availability and reserve a spot, send me an <a href="mailto:juliaeomalley@gmail.com">email</a>. </p>


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="640" height="480" src="https://juliaomalley.media/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/IMG_0758-1.jpg" alt="IMG_0758 (1).JPG" class="wp-image-8132" srcset="https://www.juliaomalley.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/IMG_0758-1.jpg 640w, https://www.juliaomalley.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/IMG_0758-1-300x225.jpg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px" /></figure></div>


<p></p>



<p></p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.juliaomalley.com/2023/03/02/hey-have-you-been-meaning-to-do-some-writing/">Write, rest and eat with me on Yukon Island</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.juliaomalley.com">Julia O&#039;Malley</a>.</p>
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		<title>NEIGHBORS: An Anchorage doctor’s office has become a destination for patients whose lives have been upended by long COVID</title>
		<link>https://www.juliaomalley.com/2023/01/02/neighbors-an-anchorage-doctors-office-has-become-a-destination-for-patients-whose-lives-have-been-upended-by-long-covid/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Julia O'Malley]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 02 Jan 2023 21:40:19 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[NEIGHBORS project]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.juliaomalley.com/?p=9055</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>Dr. Luke Liu’s clinic will soon begin recruiting patients for a pilot study of a treatment for long COVID symptoms.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.juliaomalley.com/2023/01/02/neighbors-an-anchorage-doctors-office-has-become-a-destination-for-patients-whose-lives-have-been-upended-by-long-covid/">NEIGHBORS: An Anchorage doctor’s office has become a destination for patients whose lives have been upended by long COVID</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.juliaomalley.com">Julia O&#039;Malley</a>.</p>
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<p>I spent that last part of 2022 following Anchorage doctor Luke Liu and some of the Anchorage patients he treats who are suffering with complicated cases of long COVID. I’m still thinking about the stories I heard from people I interviewed about life-altering problems that came after even mild infections.</p>



<p>One of the themes that’s come up a lot in my reporting about culture in pandemic times is innovation. In this case, Dr. Liu has been trying a novel treatment for long COVID symptoms. He was awarded a grant to fund a pilot study out of his Anchorage office. His most fervent advocates are the patients he’s successfully treated.</p>



<p><em>Here’s how the story begins:</em></p>



<p><em>On a recent evening inside an office at Alaska Regional Hospital, Dr. Luke Liu watched an ultra thin needle move on an ultrasound screen as he guided it into the neck of his patient, Becky Hallstrom. Gently, he pushed the plunger, releasing a numbing agent called bupivacaine.</em></p>



<p><em>His needle’s target: a collection of nerves known as the stellate ganglion. His goal, using a treatment that will soon be part of&nbsp;<a href="https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT05664711?term=stellate+ganglion+block&amp;draw=2&amp;rank=7" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">a pilot study</a>, was to help Hallstrom get closer to the life she had before a COVID-19 infection turned it upside down.</em></p>



<p><em>Liu, an anesthesiologist who specializes in complicated pain and nerve problems, has become a doctor of last resort for hundreds of Alaskans — and a growing number of patients from Outside — suffering from disabling conditions that started after they were infected with COVID-19.</em></p>



<p><em>The 300 or more people with long COVID who have appeared in Liu’s waiting room have an array of crippling problems. Among them: fatigue, cognitive issues, persistent loss of taste and smell, tinnitus, depression, breathing, mobility and cardiac issues. Most are frustrated and desperate, having been to many other doctors without successful treatment. People have fainted in his office. They have hobbled in with canes. Two patients lost feeling in their throats and lacked gag reflexes. One man didn’t recognize his wife. Another didn’t recognize his co-workers. Others, people born in Anchorage, can’t navigate the city anymore without GPS.</em></p>



<p><em>“We are talking about people who before COVID, they were athletic, pretty much at the top of their career, they hiked, they could do everything,” he said. “Now they’re in bed, they can’t do very simple cognitive things.”</em></p>



<p><em>In treating them, he says he’s made some discoveries he hopes might help other patients. He’s among thousands of doctors working to define and treat long COVID, which the government estimates impacts between&nbsp;<a href="https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-22-105666" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">7.7 million and 23 million Americans</a>, including a million who can no longer work. The state doesn’t track long COVID, but a University of Alaska&nbsp;<a href="https://www.uaa.alaska.edu/academics/college-of-health/departments/population-health-sciences/blog/archive/2022-08-30-long-covid.cshtml" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">survey</a>&nbsp;released in August found one in three Alaskans who said they were infected with COVID had long-term health effects.</em></p>



<p><em><a href="https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/anchorage/2022/12/30/an-anchorage-doctors-office-has-become-a-destination-for-patients-whose-lives-have-been-upended-by-long-covid-19/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read on.</a></em></p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.juliaomalley.com/2023/01/02/neighbors-an-anchorage-doctors-office-has-become-a-destination-for-patients-whose-lives-have-been-upended-by-long-covid/">NEIGHBORS: An Anchorage doctor’s office has become a destination for patients whose lives have been upended by long COVID</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.juliaomalley.com">Julia O&#039;Malley</a>.</p>
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		<title>NEIGHBORS: A blessing for mothers in pandemic times</title>
		<link>https://www.juliaomalley.com/2022/12/02/neighbors-a-blessing-for-mothers-in-pandemic-times/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Julia O'Malley]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 02 Dec 2022 21:22:02 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[NEIGHBORS project]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.juliaomalley.com/?p=9044</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>Blessed is every coiled soccer sock you unroll before putting it in the wash...</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.juliaomalley.com/2022/12/02/neighbors-a-blessing-for-mothers-in-pandemic-times/">NEIGHBORS: A blessing for mothers in pandemic times</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.juliaomalley.com">Julia O&#039;Malley</a>.</p>
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<p><em>As<strong> </strong>writer in residence at Anchorage Museum, I lead writing groups over the last year where writers reflected on the pandemic experience. In a series of recent classes, they experimented with forms. This piece came out of a class when writers explored the form of a blessing.&nbsp;</em><a href="https://www.anchoragemuseum.org/major-projects/projects/neighbors-stories-from-anchorages-pandemic-years/"><em>Read more</em></a><em>&nbsp;about the project.</em></p>



<p><a href="https://www.blueberryhillphotography.net/"><em><strong>Sarah Freije</strong></em></a><em>, an Anchorage-based family photographer, made a series of photos during the pandemic that showed images of mothers as saints, as a meditation on the extreme overwhelming and deep sacrifices that came in the era of pandemic parenting.</em> We decided to <a href="https://www.adn.com/opinions/2022/11/18/opinion-a-blessing-for-mothers-in-pandemic-times/">combine them</a> in the opinion section of the Anchorage Daily News. </p>



<p><strong><em>A blessing for mothers in pandemic times</em></strong></p>



<p>Blessed is every coiled soccer sock you unroll before putting it in the wash.</p>



<p>And the peanut butter and jelly sandwich you throw away, uneaten.</p>



<p>Blessed are you for all you have given up, the minutes of pleasure or accomplishment or peace you haven’t felt, because you have been thinking about what your children need and how you might protect them.</p>



<p>Blessed is your trip to the customer service counter to get tooth fairy cash.</p>



<p>Bless your positive attitude. Bless every single secret, negative thought.</p>



<p>Blessed are you, night nurse, pouring medicine into a teaspoon in a darkened kitchen, lying down in the single bed with the dinosaur sheets, dozing between coughs, rising at the regular time, taking another damn COVID test.</p>



<p>Blessed is the custodian of the passwords, the under-qualified pre-algebra tutor, the resident specialist called to unclog the sink and decide whether the wrist is broken, if the dog has been poisoned by Oreos or whether the fish is dead or asleep. Bless you, too, for somehow making soup for your mom and putting it on her porch.</p>



<p>Bless you, originator of The Calendar, filler of the crockpots (clatter of frozen meatballs and glug of sauce). Bless you for thinking ahead. You are always thinking ahead. What if you didn’t have to think ahead?</p>



<p>Blessed are you, on a Zoom call with a boss who could never understand the knot in your gut, on alert for the sound of distressed children you can’t attend to. May you find relief. May we all find understanding. May you find a better job.</p>



<p>Bless you, crying in the car when you hear that song that you once fell in love to. Bless you, asleep with the phone in your hand. Bless the things you wanted for your life before all this. May you find the time. Just a little time to think about what you want. What do you even want?</p>



<p>Blessed are you, alone in the Safeway aisle in the middle of the day, forgetting what you came in for. Remember this: The rest of us are right here with you.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="709" src="https://www.juliaomalley.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/EXILIO5HLRHYJD7G34MTHN6XSM-1024x709.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-9046" srcset="https://www.juliaomalley.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/EXILIO5HLRHYJD7G34MTHN6XSM-1024x709.jpeg 1024w, https://www.juliaomalley.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/EXILIO5HLRHYJD7G34MTHN6XSM-300x208.jpeg 300w, https://www.juliaomalley.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/EXILIO5HLRHYJD7G34MTHN6XSM-768x532.jpeg 768w, https://www.juliaomalley.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/EXILIO5HLRHYJD7G34MTHN6XSM-360x250.jpeg 360w, https://www.juliaomalley.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/EXILIO5HLRHYJD7G34MTHN6XSM.jpeg 1440w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Sarah Freije sorts laundry in the living room in a self-portrait series on motherhood in pandemic times. (Sarah Freije photo)<br></figcaption></figure>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.juliaomalley.com/2022/12/02/neighbors-a-blessing-for-mothers-in-pandemic-times/">NEIGHBORS: A blessing for mothers in pandemic times</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.juliaomalley.com">Julia O&#039;Malley</a>.</p>
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		<title>NEIGHBORS: After years of pandemic disruption, Alaskans are setting more places at the Thanksgiving table</title>
		<link>https://www.juliaomalley.com/2022/11/24/neighbors-after-years-of-pandemic-disruption-alaskans-are-setting-more-places-at-the-thanksgiving-table/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Julia O'Malley]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 24 Nov 2022 21:23:00 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[NEIGHBORS project]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.juliaomalley.com/?p=9049</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>Over the last year, life in the city has inched back to normal for many people who had their usual routines hijacked by the pandemic. </p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.juliaomalley.com/2022/11/24/neighbors-after-years-of-pandemic-disruption-alaskans-are-setting-more-places-at-the-thanksgiving-table/">NEIGHBORS: After years of pandemic disruption, Alaskans are setting more places at the Thanksgiving table</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.juliaomalley.com">Julia O&#039;Malley</a>.</p>
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<p>Aimee Marx’s family is big on Thanksgiving. For years, her husband planned elaborate feasts with the same group of friends, their “Alaska family.” Chocolate-pecan pie. Sweet potato biscuits. Tables long and loud.</p>



<p>Then came Thanksgiving 2020. Three of her four family members tested positive for COVID-19. They bought dinner. She put the turkey in the oven but forgot to remove the wrapping.</p>



<p>“Nobody could smell the dang plastic bag melting,” she said. “That Thanksgiving was really a bust.”</p>



<p>The next year, as the delta variant surge filled hospitals, they gathered with some friends, but it was small and cautious. This year, for the Marx family and many others in Anchorage, the holiday guest list is finally what it used to be.</p>



<p>Over the last year, life in the city has inched back to normal for many people who had their usual routines hijacked by the pandemic. COVID risk hasn’t disappeared, but with the availability of vaccines and COVID treatments, residents are returning to the office, going to the movies, rejoining gyms, going out for dinner and gathering indoors without masks. For many, this Thanksgiving is going to be one that feels like it did in “before times,” though there are some lessons carried forward from the COVID years.</p>



<p>“It was an isolating, miserable experience having the pandemic. It caused upheaval for every single person. We all share that, but we all felt it differently,” said Aimee’s husband, Rob. “It’s a little bit more special this year because we went through that and we get to share things back together again.”</p>



<p>Dr. Anne Zink, Alaska’s chief medical officer, will be setting seven places at her table this year. They won’t be taking COVID tests before dinner because they’re vaccinated and there’s no one high-risk on the guest list. Last year, she took an ER shift while her family gathered with some neighbors outdoors and did some ice fishing. It’s important to take care to mitigate risks for COVID and other infections, she said. But Thanksgiving is important too.</p>



<p>“Life is precious, time is short. I don’t want people to miss out on opportunities to be connected as a family,” she said.</p>



<p>There is still a risk for COVID transmission, she said, but it’s relatively low in most parts of Alaska.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/2022/11/19/crowded-ers-in-some-of-alaskas-hospitals-lead-to-lengthy-waits-delayed-care/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Alaska’s hospitals, though, are as full right now</a>&nbsp;as they were during the delta surge, she said. Flu, COVID and RSV, a virus that can have serious complications for children under 2, are driving the high number of admissions. There are also more patients suffering from mental illness and illnesses that went undiagnosed over the pandemic. The difference between this year and last year is that all the pressure isn’t on one set of health care workers, because the viruses and health problems lead to a wider variety of admissions.</p>



<p>“While the strain is a lot, everyone is able to help out in this kind of surge,” she said.</p>



<p>Most flu-like respiratory illnesses have a relatively short incubation period, Zink said. If people want to take extra care, they can wear masks for a few days before the holiday to minimize their risk of infection.</p>



<p>Zink encouraged Alaskans, especially those who are having elders and very young children at their dinners, to be vaccinated for flu, up-to-date on COVID boosters, not to attend if they have any symptoms of illness, and to be vigilant about handwashing. Taking a COVID test ahead of the gathering is also a good idea.</p>



<p>“This has been a long, hard couple of years. It’s not all about respiratory illness; it’s about the whole person, mental health and physical health,” she said.</p>



<p>This is the first year Colleen Bailey and her husband, Ryan, are having Thanksgiving in their new home in Eagle River. It’s also the first year they plan to host family rather than attending as guests.</p>



<p>“We have an actual house where I can have a dining room table and I have furniture and I have space for people,” she said. “I have already started putting up some decorations, I planned my ‘tablescape.’ ”</p>



<p>By “tablescape,” she means she’ll decorate with a navy blue tablecloth and a burlap runner, ornamental pumpkins, candles and apples, she said. She’s got her food prep plan mapped out far ahead of time.</p>



<p>“My husband may think I’m going a little overboard but I do not care,” she said.</p>



<p>The last two years haven’t been easy. She was laid off from her job at the Alaska Zoo. She decided to go back to school to become a lawyer. Looking back, she feels lucky to have a strong family.</p>



<p>“I get to show them my house and pamper them and make sure that they feel the level of gratitude that we have for their support,” she said. “Also feeding people is one of the greatest ways you can show them that you love them.”</p>



<p>Molly Johnson’s low-key COVID Thanksgiving last year totally changed the game for her. She’s not going back this year.</p>



<p>“In the past, we’ve traveled out of state and gone down to (her husband’s) family and there’ll be 20 rednecks in a double-wide and a lot of people with a lot of traditions,” she said.</p>



<p>But last year, in the interest of protecting her elderly parents while still including them, they had a small gathering. Instead of the big to-do last year, it was just her husband, son and parents. The turkey was small and they spatchcocked it, so it cooked faster. They didn’t dress up. They ate, they napped, they ate again.</p>



<p>“I had so much fun. Like it’s the first time I really enjoyed Thanksgiving in a long time,” she said. “We’ve never had a family gathering that was so intimate. And we got to, like, just really enjoy each other’s company.”</p>



<p>Upending the usual traditions gave her the opportunity to audit the energy she put into things automatically. Take, for example, her grandma’s Jell-O salad.</p>



<p>“That sucker takes like three days to make and an acre of refrigerator room and no one may ever see that salad again,” she said. “It might be just something that we show the picture and talk about.”</p>



<p>This year her Thanksgiving will be small again. “I don’t want to go back,” she said.</p>



<p>Sara Dykstra’s planning to have a familiar group of longtime friends over this holiday. Some of them haven’t been inside her house for two years She’s a vegetarian and is planning lots of sides. Her husband is smoking a turkey.</p>



<p>It’s only recently that they got back to the practice of getting together with friends for dinner. The pandemic years gave her quality alone time with her husband and children, which helped to distill what she found most important. But she’s got a new appreciation for seeing the faces of friends across the table.</p>



<p>“In Anchorage there are so many people who have come here and created family with the people that they connect with,” she said. “Some people have family here, but I don’t. Having your family be the people that you’ve met along the way, it is just so much more valuable and meaningful now.”</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.juliaomalley.com/2022/11/24/neighbors-after-years-of-pandemic-disruption-alaskans-are-setting-more-places-at-the-thanksgiving-table/">NEIGHBORS: After years of pandemic disruption, Alaskans are setting more places at the Thanksgiving table</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.juliaomalley.com">Julia O&#039;Malley</a>.</p>
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		<title>NEIGHBORS: The pandemic years changed shopping in Anchorage. Maybe forever.</title>
		<link>https://www.juliaomalley.com/2022/11/01/for-adn-the-pandemic-years-changed-shopping-in-anchorage-maybe-forever/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Julia O'Malley]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 01 Nov 2022 21:26:16 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[NEIGHBORS project]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.juliaomalley.com/?p=9012</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>As the holiday season approaches, the experience of shopping and what’s available to buy has changed in major ways over the pandemic years. Economists project it’s unlikely to recover soon.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.juliaomalley.com/2022/11/01/for-adn-the-pandemic-years-changed-shopping-in-anchorage-maybe-forever/">NEIGHBORS: The pandemic years changed shopping in Anchorage. Maybe forever.</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.juliaomalley.com">Julia O&#039;Malley</a>.</p>
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<p>Over the weekend, I wrote about Anchorage’s shrinking clothing retail sector and how that’s changed what it feels like to shop. I started out thinking about the feeling of 5th Avenue Mall during the holiday season before Nordstrom closed in 2019. That closure came at the beginning of a wave of retail closures, which accelerated during the pandemic, as e-commerce grew quickly. All of that has taken Anchorage back in time, where we’re all more dependent on mail order like we were in the days of Sears catalogs.</p>



<p>But beyond that, mall shopping in winter is, for some people, a way to connect to the community and to feel connected to the world Outside. It’s a balm for the isolation that happens in the darkest season. Economists studying our retail outlook say brick and mortar retail peaked in 2015 and it may not recover for a long time. Malls are also moving away from pure retail into experiences, like restaurants and entertainment.</p>



<p>Here’s how the story begins:</p>



<p><em>Kristina Blackadar, 50, a branch manager at an Anchorage moving company, still has a hole in her heart where Nordstrom used to be.</em></p>



<p><em>Take bras, which aren’t easy to buy online. For decades she visited the Nordstrom lingerie department, where the same elegantly dressed woman would meet her in the dressing room with a tailor’s tape and return a stack of well-fitting foundations. Recently, on a trip to Las Vegas, Blackadar went to another Nordstrom. As she was being measured, she lamented the closure of her hometown store. “Let me guess,” the saleswoman said. “Alaska?”</em></p>



<p><em>“Just that very morning there were three people that had come into the bra department to stock up because of the lack of, you know, any good shopping here,” Blackadar said.</em></p>



<p><em>The change for shoppers in Anchorage isn’t just about one department at Nordstom. The store’s closure ahead of the pandemic was part of a wave of retail retraction across Alaska. Among the Anchorage clothing stores now gone: the Gap and Banana Republic in the 5th Avenue Mall and Forever 21 with its large Dimond Mall footprint. As the holiday season approaches, the experience of shopping and what’s available to buy has changed in major ways over the pandemic years. Economists project it’s unlikely to recover soon.</em></p>



<p><em>Nationally, retail expansion has been flat, and growth in e-commerce favored online shopping businesses with fewer workers, meaning a decline in retail employment. Overall the sector is projected to continue shrinking ,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bls.gov/opub/btn/volume-11/retail-trade-employment-before-during-and-after-the-pandemic.htm">according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics</a>. Before the pandemic, the clothing sector was retracting across the U.S, but the pandemic accelerated that. It declined 38% during 2020 and 2021. In Alaska, retail positions peaked in 2015 and have been on the decline since, following the national trend,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=alaskeros&amp;sxsrf=ALiCzsZ0lGBhRUpT5Idyem_MFYVW24ikkA%3A1666808585332&amp;ei=CXtZY_P4E7SS0PEP2ZyZyAw&amp;ved=0ahUKEwizoYztwf76AhU0CTQIHVlOBskQ4dUDCBA&amp;uact=5&amp;oq=alaskeros&amp;gs_lcp=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-RhoA3ABeACAAYUCiAG9C5IBBTAuNy4ymAEAoAEByAEHuAECwAEB&amp;sclient=gws-wiz">according to the state</a>.</em></p>



<p><em>Some of that is due to a shrinking state population that’s changed the market and to technology – cashiers in some stores are being replaced by self-check-out, for example, Fried said. But, like in the rest of the country, much is related to a shift to e-commerce, which got a huge boost early in the pandemic,&nbsp;<a href="https://live.laborstats.alaska.gov/trends/split/apr21art3.pdf">according to the state</a>. Businesses selling sporting goods, books, electronics and appliances, and health and personal care products took a serious hit, according to the state. Clothing retailers in Alaska were hit hardest, declining almost a third between 2019 and 2020, mirroring the nation. Over that time period, Anchorage lost 10% of its retail positions. The sector&nbsp;<a href="https://labor.alaska.gov/trends/oct22.pdf">is not projected</a>&nbsp;to rebound to 2019 levels until 2030.</em></p>



<p><em><a href="https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/anchorage/2022/10/29/the-pandemic-years-changed-shopping-in-anchorage-maybe-forever/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read on.</a></em></p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.juliaomalley.com/2022/11/01/for-adn-the-pandemic-years-changed-shopping-in-anchorage-maybe-forever/">NEIGHBORS: The pandemic years changed shopping in Anchorage. Maybe forever.</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.juliaomalley.com">Julia O&#039;Malley</a>.</p>
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