With the helping hands of his mother and father, Robert Terrence Hammel was happy to welcome his baby sister Fiona on November 27 in Anchorage.

I traveled to Alaska in 1974 to visit my brothers Pat and Terrence and my sister Maureen, intending to stick around for a year.

I had a return ticket that I never used. Just like that, one year turned into 50.

My brothers are gone, though never forgotten, while Maureen is in Cincinnati.

As time passes, each year brings joy and sadness to all of our lives. For 2024, those lucky enough to have the former outweigh the latter must count the blessings and remember that time and chance happen to us all.

As 2024 ends, I want to thank the hundreds of people who wrote me this year with suggestions, opinions and donations. Many readers know more than I do about all sorts of issues and they have proven to be invaluable.

I also want to thank the loyal stable of commenters, or most of them anyway, for making the blog more interesting than it would be without them. There are many days when the comments are better than the raw material posted above them.

I am grateful and humbled by the continuing response from readers. It’s far beyond anything that I could have imagined.

I came to this after 37 years at the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner as a reporter, columnist and editor and four years at the Alaska Dispatch News. Laid off in 2017, I began this blog on December 9 of that year.

“I don't intend for this site to consume my waking hours. If it consumes an hour here and there every few days, that will be sufficient. I'll offer commentary, raise questions, give opinions and write about the weather or Alaska history,” I prophesied that day.

I was not a good prophet. The site has consumed more than a few of my waking hours on many occasions, though this self-appointed task has never seemed like a job. It will never be a job.

I do this mainly because I am concerned about the future of the state and I think we need more discussion and we need solid information that goes beyond the realm of self-serving press releases, propaganda and gossip.

I don’t pretend to have all the answers and I don’t insist that people agree with me. I do have a lot of experience, however, as I’ve been studying Alaska for 50 years. I care about what happens here.

I research what I write about and try as hard as I can to get the facts straight, offering my interpretation and opinions, based on what I’ve learned. When I make mistakes, I correct them.

That this site has taken me away from other tasks—including two books that I want to finish in honor of my twin brother—is certainly true. I keep hoping that I will find a way in whatever time I have left to get those done.

While my wife Debbie and I did considerable traveling in 2024, highlighted by a month in New Zealand and six weeks in the Northwest, the high points of the year came on a day in late November and a day in early December.

On November 27, Fiona Anne Hammel was born in Anchorage, our second grandchild. Eleven days later, Layla Susan Cole was born in Philadelphia, our third grandchild. The parents and the grandparents are thrilled with the new arrivals.

We’ve had the pleasure of meeting Fiona and look forward to seeing Layla soon.

Happy New Year to all.

Looking back, looking ahead