Pictured above is something called 'Starvation Gulch,' an annual event at UAF featuring five or six house-sized structures built of transport pallets collected from businesses around the Fairbanks area. Like Halloween, it seems to be an event placed strategically on the calendar to mark the day(s) we all unpack boxes of gloves and hats and scarves, in addition to commemorating... not much else. No charities, no causes, no explicit historical context.

Big fires though. Like, 40-50 feet high, and not just one. In fact, the closest I could get to any sort of legitimacy for the University's seeming participation and promotion of the event was the inconspicuous and necessary constant presence of the school's fire department and Student Firefighter Program, a noted development and training unit designed to aid the surrounding community when dealing with extreme and unstable climate conditions.

So: it was a big deal, an event students were discussing and anticipating a week or two in advance. And, to be honest, it lived up to the hype, in a really primal, spectacular kind of way. It was, y'know, charming in how simple it was. 'Here, look - a bunch of really, really big, really hot fires.' Not completely unlike July 4th, though more unapologetic, if that's possible.