Ben and Jeannette have about an acre of sandy land carved out of the spruce forest, at the end of a dirt road, 20 minutes from town. Lots of Alaskans like to live this way, apparently….the Alaska version of a suburb is a house ringed by spruce trees, hopefully far enough from the neighbors that you don’t see them often. Here kids were in the midst of a dirt fight in the back yard. Plastic tables and chairs were a barricade which was being stormed at close range by the opposing team. “Um, that looks like fun,” I ventured, wondering that no one had their eyes packed full of sand. “Why don’t we come in, run through the showers, and play some Uno.”