Robert Meier:  

After high school I had the opportunity to go to Alaska and work on the Trans Alaska Oil Pipeline on the North Slope. It was a strange and wonderful experience. In the summer there were 24 hours of daylight, constant temperatures of 60 degrees, and ravenous mosquito swarms that blocked the light from the sun. In the winter, the sun barely rose above the horizon to the south, the wind blew so hard it snowed sideways, and the mercury refused to come out of its bulb at 60 below zero. With the wind chill, it dropped to 90 degrees below. Teardrops would freeze to my eyelashes before they could even reach my cheeks. These were some of the extremes. The beauty and wonders of the rest of the state kept me here. There is fishing, hunting, and camping in areas of vast wilderness, some untouched by man. Yet there is also city life, no different from any urban area in America. I've been here ever since. Alaska is the most unique, and special place I've ever experienced, and many people, more worldly th...Expand for more