It Happened Like This: A Life in Alaska
About this ebook
It Happened Like This is, on the surface, a memoir about what it means to live and love in one of the wildest places on the planet. But the love described is not a simple one; it’s a gritty, sometimes devastating, often blood-pumping kind of feeling played out in the rugged Alaska wilderness.
In an authentic and honest voice, writer Adrienne Lindholm recounts her move to Alaska as a young woman eager to begin her career in environmental and wildlife studies. She finds herself initially out of her depth among her peers, many of whom are also “Outsiders,” new to the state, but who seem more experienced, more confident. Eventually she finds her way, immersing herself in the rigors of wilderness adventures and building a community of outdoorsy friends to sustain her. Soon she falls in love with JT and gradually, at times painfully, they build a life together and decide to start a family amidst the wild.
Adrienne celebrates the many ways in which Alaska, and her outdoor adventures there, inspired self-discovery, as well as revealing her difficult and intimate journey into motherhood. Her love story encompasses the outline of massive mountains on the horizon, viewed for the first time; a caribou moving through an alder forest; the effort to climb a glaciated peak; and the peace that settles when contemplating a quiet Arctic lake. At times, her love—for JT, but also for nature and life—also feels savage, like when she charges onto a glacier alone, or when she shoots, kills, and skins her first animal.
With It Happened Like This, readers take an intimate, gently humorous, and occasionally adrenalin-spiked journey into adulthood, and into the depth and comfort of wilderness.
About the author
Adrienne Lindholm lives in Eagle River, Alaska, where she oversees the Wilderness Stewardship Program for the national parks in Alaska. Since 2000 she has worked for the National Park Service as a backcountry ranger, park planner, compliance officer, and natural resource manager. She is also a mother, speaker, and writer. In addition to a memoir about thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail, she’s the author of several backpacking guidebooks, and her essays and articles have appeared in a variety of magazines and literary journals. She is inspired by wild unhindered places, the flash of wonder in her daughter’s eyes, and passionate friends and strangers who work to create a more compassionate and just world. For more information about Adrienne and her work visit www.adriennelindholm.com.
