Healy

August 31, 2017
Population: 1,098
Venue: Tri-Valley Community Library

Healy, Alaska is the census-designated place closest to the abandoned bus in which Chris McCandless of “Into the Wild” died.

Healy sits just northeast of Denali National Park, one of 17 (!!) national parks in Alaska. Now, at this point I couldn’t really call ourselves van bums because we had yet to actually *sleep* in the van. No better place to do it than in Denali. We were out of luck for a host family on the night after our afternoon show in Talkeetna, so we grabbed a box of pizza and drove 3 hours to Denali before nightfall. We didn’t have a campsite reservation in Denali, but we managed to spot some nicely cleared, highway turn-offs on the road bordering the park, and set up camp for the night. I’m happy to report I was quite comfortable sleeping in the UHaul. Jarett pitched a tent outside, and also had a grand time. (My setup: sleeping bag on top of camping pad on top of moving blankets)

In the morning, a trail was visible on the face of the mountain nearest us, so we decided to take a hike. It was beautiful but *windy*, and we later found out that that particular mountain is notorious for its dangerous gusts. Some hikers had even been blown off and critically injured earlier that summer! No matter, we made it down safely and had an excellent lunch & beer at 49th State Brewing. When I travel far and wide in this country, I am always impressed by how often there is a microbrewery in the least expected places, usually with the similar clean-hipster interior aesthetic, comforting presence of heavily bearded brewers, and a solid burger/salad on the menu.

My activities in Healy were organized by Amanda, the outgoing director of Healy’s Tri-Valley Library. In addition to the public concert at the library, there was discussion with the Healy public school music teacher of an in-school presentation. The details of the engagement was vague (completely my fault), and I was shocked to find out upon arrival that I would be playing to the entire student body (180 students) in one assembly - in addition to my presentation being webcast live to all four public schools in the district. I’d only ever worked in small classroom settings, maybe 30 students max.

I frantically rewired my presentation so that it would work in this terrifying situation, and it went okay! Afterwards, we wheeled the piano down the hall from the gym to the library - the public library here also serves as the school library. The afternoon public concert was sparsely attended. As it turned out, the school was hosting a football game at the same time, which is naturally THE event that Healy residents turn out to. Cross-checking with local events listing is always a good thing to do while tour planning, lesson learned. 

Nevertheless, a smaller crowd means a more personalized concert experience. I love when audience members feel comfortable enough to ask questions spontaneously. Especially precious was meeting a young boy - I had noticed him because he kept switching seats during the concert, leaning forward and trying to get the best look at my hands. He and his dad told me he is studying piano with the school’s music teacher, LOVES it, and wanted to hear me play more after hearing my presentation in school. He even played a song for me on my piano. 

I’d like to give a big thank you to Amanda, who not only took the time to see through my events, but welcomed me into her home and made Jarett and I so comfortable with good conversation, yummy food, and unlimited cuddles from her two dogs. We liked each other so much that Amanda and her whole family trekked up to Fairbanks two days later to see my concert there! We even ran into each other at a gas station in Fairbanks.

Thank you Amanda, Healy Tri-Valley School, and Tri-Valley Library!