Ask any seasoned citizen about life in Homer 50 years ago, and she'll tell you that the good old days weren't always so good. When the economy went south, they called that "a bad fishing year." Sometimes the fish didn't run as strong, a storm blew in or the dock washed away. You might get a good run of fish, only to have the cannery pay prices that barely covered fuel. Most roads weren't paved, sewer and water ran about 500 feet and except for bars and churches, there weren't a lot of choices for fulfilling your needs.

Somehow, people pulled through. They planted gardens and got their moose. If the wind blew harder, they chinked up the cracks in their log cabins. If the snow fell deeper, they put on their snowshoes and dug out the outhouse. They put patches on the patches of their jeans and kept plugging away.

Sure, times are tough. If you've lost your job and might lose your house, the problems of a bunch of old sourdoughs half a century ago won't give you comfort. You're trying to find comfort in the problems of today. Some way, we'll get by. We always do.

This week, we gained 32 minutes of glorious sunshine. It's warming up, really, and soon enough we'll see green on the hillside. In the midst of adversity, we have music, art and poetry. Here in one of America's top 100 art towns, creativity abounds with amazing things to enjoy, like some of these Best Bets:

BEST ROW BY ROW BET: Travel around America these days, and in almost every town during harvest season, you'll find farmers' markets selling potatoes, lettuce, carrots and, heck, weird alien fruit that looks like something off a Klingon buffet line. Learn about Homer's own Farmers' Market at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Best Western Bidarka Inn when Paul Castellani speaks at the monthly meeting of the Homer Garden Club.

BEST STEP BY STEP BET: Athletic women moving gracefully. For men, that's been one of the attractions of Jazzline, the annual dance extravaganza. This year, women get their turn, because Jazzline director Jocelyn Shiro-Westphal has recruited some guys to join her troupe. You can see Homer's finest young dancers perform, too. Jazzline shows at 7 p.m. Friday and 3 and 7 p.m. Saturday at the Mariner Theatre. Tickets are $8 youth under 18, $10 Homer Council on the Arts members and $15 general admission, available at HCOA, the Homer Bookstore and Etude Studio.

BEST STEPPING OUT BET: If Jazzline gets you inspired to put on your clean, soft-soled shoes, step out to the monthly square and contra dance at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at West Homer Elementary School. Rich Kleinleder calls to music by the Tongas. Admission is $6; kids under 16 get in free.

BEST CHEAP DATE BET: Feeling a little strapped in the entertainment budget? Thanks to the Kachemak Bay Campus, you can see great foreign films every Friday. This week's film is "Close to Home," an Israeli production, showing at 7 p.m. at the east campus. If you have a little extra money, donations are welcome.

BEST SHORT SHARP DRAMA BET: Sometimes a tale can be told in one act and under a half hour. That's the idea behind "Under: 30," three short plays performed at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday at Bunnell Street Arts Center. From the sexual behavior of male salmon to poetic justice, three actors tackle the weird and the wonderful. Admission is a suggested $15 donation, but under Bunnell's new open admission policy, if all you have is a roll of dimes, they'll take that, too.

BEST READ ON MCDUFF BET: There's drama enough in the spoken word, too, and a good writer creates a voice that comes through when read aloud as well as read silently. Listen to essayist and novelist Philip Gerard read at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Kachemak Bay Campus.