Best Bets

If you dared to come into town over the weekend, Holy Los Angeles did this town ever change. Coming down West Hill Road the Betster ran into some scary traffic. It took like four minutes to make a left turn onto the Sterling Highway or, as they say in Boston, “wicked good driving.”

Looking at the new faces who popped into town, the Betster has several theories:

• The annual duty rotation of U.S. Coast Guard crews has started, in which case, Welcome, Coasties.

• Another batch of Trustafarians has discovered Homer is a great place to stretch that monthly $10,000 payment from the family fund.

• Our college and trade school students have returned and omigosh have they grown up you hardly recognize them.

• Or, tourists.

Based on the shiny XTRATUFs and the new Salty Dawg hoodies, the Betster is guessing that our new faces are our friends from up north, here to see the fabulous sights of Kachemak Bay and camp in the wilderness of the old chip pad.

No, really. The city set up overflow camping on the big concrete pad that 25 years ago held a mountain of spruce tree chips. Other than the chain link fence and the pile of scrap metal ready to be exported to Asia, the chip pad campground isn’t a bad place. It has one awesome view, for example, and if you’re the kind of motorhome user who fusses over flat ground, it doesn’t get any better.

So welcome to Homer. Be safe. Practice social distancing. Wear masks when you can’t. Wash your hands, and enjoy this way cool town, maybe with these Best Bets:

BEST WRITE AWAY BET: Though the Homer Public Library is closed except for curbside pick-up, Summer@HPL continues with virtual meetups. At 11 a.m. Friday it’s “HPL Kids Write,” a summer storytelling series for ages 10-13 to imagine, write, draw and connect. Use Jason Reynolds’ Write.Right.Rite. storytelling series to imagine, write, draw and connect. Respond to a specific prompt using a short video from Jason Reynolds’ series. The following week young writes meet up virtually via Zoom to share what they created and say hello. For ages 10-13. To register for Zoom or more information, visit https://www.cityofhomer-ak.gov/library/hpl-kids-write. You also can visit the library website for other Summer@HPL activities.

BEST GET CREATING BET: The deadline is Sunday for the Homer Council on the Arts 6×6 mural art project. Create an artwork 6-inches square to for HCOA’s annual Community Mural Project to celebrate the arts and Mary Epperson Day. Art works will be assembled into a community “quilt” for display at the HCOA building. For details, visit the HCOA website at www.homerart.org.

BEST FARM FRESH BET: Now more than ever we need fresh, quality, locally grown food. Not even a pandemic can keep our local growers from selling their wares when the Homer Farmers Market opens at 10 a.m. Saturday on Ocean Drive. There are a few changes to keep us all safe, so read Kyra Wagner’s Farmers Market column on page C1 for all the details.