Living in Alaska may sound to some like living in the stone age any more or well some of the things I have written in here sounds like that to some people. But most of what I have written about are things that happened to me and my children over a 20 year time span some of it is clearly years old and others are more recent. I think I am saying this because though we have shopping malls here and a freeway and jets and the like. Our lives weren't dictated totally by all the modern things children and adults live with then or today.
anyway....... onward and up ward I go.
Back when we were busy living in tiny trailers we counted ourselves as lucky because there were other families living along the road side in cars or tents. I always felt like that is something I wouldn't want to do at all.
our days consisted of daily things like meals cleaning and then getting out. that is something we did allot back then. get out and go because no one wanted to stay in a tiny trailer all day long. We would venture to the malls and window shop knowing full well if you saw something you wanted you had to question yourself. Is this a want or a need? If it was something you had to have a necessity like a piece of clothing, TV, radio, dishes or the like then you had to stand there and think ok what am I willing to give up to make this fit in our tiny trailer. For me back then to spot the winter coat of my dreams was a big deal of am I willing to get rid of one I have ? Does this one keep all elements out or is this just a good looking fashion statement? needless to say I had one coat that did the job for all of it and though it was salmon pink and wasn't a fashion statement, that is the coat I kept for about 6 years.
of course with the children back then it was a huge change over about once every two months while they grew out of or wore out anything you bought them. Even then their cloths had to fit our life style. frilly things had to be kept carefully under control and could only be an outfit that could be mixed and matched with anything else. or it was just tee shirts and blue jeans and a pair of tennis shoes for all of us.
personally I am glad I went though the experience of living life like this it made me stop and realize that there is such a thing as wants and flat out needs. and I was able to sort them out and see them for what they were.
do I still live like this you ask? nope not on your life LOL though there are times I stand in stores and ck things out and use that rule still. but once out of the having to live like that in tiny spaces it didn't take long to fill up the house and bog it down with every want I could get my hands on for sure LOL I tell you what though given time doing that and living that way leaves you with a ton of things later on that have to be cleared out and either stored or given away. LOL
The children would go outside during the day and play with the other children in the trailer park. rain shine or snow didnt bother them much at all. laundry was carefully assigned to plastic trash cans lined up with each persons name on it outside. wash days were visits to the local laundry mat. water had to be boiled on the stove before you could do any dishes. showers were done in a pay stall up behind the offices to the trailer park. and all groceries were stored in the seats around the table.
like i said it was snoopies dog house. yep we had a tv and a phone and a vcr. evenings were games of dominos and scrabble. outtings were to the beaches and parks out fishing if we could, picnics and hikes in the woods. visiting friends that lived in apartments and enjoyed our company. it wasnt unsually to plan an outing and have dinner someplace else along the road and watch fish in a stream or eagles dancing in the sky. or watch whales in the bay. sometimes today when life gets in our way we sit and remember what it was like for us back then how much it was so peaceful and how much fun we had. though i am sure at the time we didnt think it was that often LOL
memories are like that we tend to forget the bad and remember only the good. sigh.
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count the car seats
one of the things we liked to do was take our children and our grandsons and head to the beach to go fishing. we would all pile up in the car kids car seats and all. the two grandsons were still in those back then. once to the location we choose to be at . we would get out all our stuff and haul it to the high tide area and then put the two grandsons carin their car seats with all or things and head down to the water and just spend hours fishing. walking along in the directions of the beach and see what we could catch. it was always fun when one of us got a fish too. reel it in, fight with it, land it... and then whom ever caught it would have to make sure it was cleaned before we took it home. papa would always make a good fish dinner out of it for all of us too. We would make a day out of doing this and stay until we couldnt stay any longer or it was clear we had to go fix dinner and get the kids to bed. And the two grandsons got to know what it was like to live like this. of course there both grown up now and hitting there 20s here soon too. But they have some of the fondest memories of living here in alaska with grandma and grandpa too. and that is what counts isnt it ?
(The two grandsons lived with our oldest daughter in a tiny trailer right next to us for a few years before she located an apart ment and we moved into a huge two bedroom trailer.)

lets make tea again :)
like I said entertaining children in small places takes some creative thinking. But papa always found a way to do that. We had made our minds up that living in tiny trailers didn't have to be a bad experience. So we set out to make it look like snoopies dog house on the inside. One of the things we decided was we didn't have a clue how long it would be before we were able to find a place with more space for all of us. Something with bedrooms in it and hopefully a bathroom and the like. We had most of our things in storage back then up on top of the tiny trailer. Paper plates were becoming boring and making do was getting out of the question for morals sake. So we dug through all of possessions and got out all his lovely crystal dishes and began using those with every meal. I sat and crocheted table cloths as well as curtins for the tiny trailer too.
Family time was an everyday thing with us. Especially at meals. One of the things papa did was make tea. All of us were totally fascinated by this. Papa had a glass tea pot back then and he would put that tea pot on the stove full of water with the tea bags in it and then turn on the propane burner while we sat at the table and waited and ate our meals. Once the tea began to boil he would put sugar in it and we would sit there and watch as the hot water made the sugar move around it was like watching a lava lamp to us and was always a high point to our meals and so fascinating to the children too.
Our tables were set with the nicest table cloths hand made of course along with all that beautiful crystal and matching silverware and the best drinking glasses we could find and an occasional candle. After dinner we all stayed for the board games too and then tucked into bed for the evening.

pancakes papa ?
When we first moved to Alaska some 20 years ago we lived in little trailers. None of the space inside was very big. Only one person could stand at the stove and do any cooking. And of course that was papa. The rest of us sat around the table while he did this. There was certianly no getting up while he was cooking too. With wiggly kids that is sure tough so he and i came up with a way around all this to keep the family happy.
The trailer park was surrouned by trees and bushes and a ton of those were blueberry bushes. So every week end morning papa would hand out cups to each of the children and send them off to pick blueberries of course this was only during the summer months here. But it worked out really well for all of us concerend. This gave him space to do the cooking and all of us adults the time to have am coffee with out always turning to a child and telling them to sit still.
I am sure too the kids had races to see who could fill their cup up first and get those berries to papa for the pancakes. I know each of them had fun and now that all of them are grown up i know they remember things like that too.

ducks in the tub
papa had gone out duck hunting and got some ducks. but this time when he came home his back went out on him so instead of saying he got ducks it was time for us to take him to the hospital. they kept him there in traction for a few days until he was well enough to send home.
during his stay he called home and said go out to the truck and get those ducks out for me ok pluck them and skin them and put them in the fridge or freezer for me please. ok not a problem I will send Pauline out right now for those ok. papa continues to talk and Pauline goes out to the truck to get the ducks. only she comes back in and says no way I am doing this sorry. but says nothing about what is going on. so papa getting upset says ok send ira out to fetch them for me. so I tell ira to go out there and get those ducks Pauline goes off to her room. pretty soon I hear ira yelling for me to come here. I yell back ira just bring them in there ok and put them in the sink. he said I cant ma you got to come see this. so I go to the door and take a look see. papa has hung up the phone and is gone doing his what ever. I stand on the porch and look down at ira who is holding a live duck. that is flapping its wings in his face and he is hanging on for dear life and only about 8 yrs old. he said ma there alive. I looked at ira and said no cant be papa shot them all. he said nope ma all three of them are alive !!! I grab the phone call papa back and tell him well good news is your ducks are ok now bad news is none of them are dead there all alive and well !!!!!! papa said they cant be I shot them. nope papa there all alive. what do I do now? he tells me to finish his job and kill all of them ring there necks. LOL meeeeeeeeee???????? nope not me!!!!!!! I tell him no I cant do that. I don't have that kind of heart. he said where are they I tell him ira took them all out and put them in the bathtub and he wants to keep them as pets. LOL well papa called a fiend of his and he came over to see what was going on and take care of it I was thinking he would take them away alive and maybe turn them loose. he shut the door came back out said ok all is well. and left. ira and I went in and found the bodies laying on the bathroom floor. it was so sad. but over and done nothing we could do. sigh.

some dogs just wont stay where you put them
papa decided he had had enough of going duck hunting and shooting ducks that fell into the water and he couldn't get them. so he went to the pound here and found this Chesapeake golden lab retriever mix. dash was about 6 months old when he brought him home. now mind you this is a gal never grew up with any animals at home. never a pet one. so when he brought dash home Pauline and I freaked out big time this is one huge dog and he is all teeth as far as were concerned. ira got along with dash right off though. isn't that like a man though? Pauline and I spent a few days avoiding dash as much as we could though and eating our meals at the table with our arms lodged around out plates and our faces as close to them as we could LOL things calm down and we all got friendly. and time moves on. dash becomes a major part of all our lives and papa has him well trained. dash becomes our friend and is one loving member of our family and a well trained duck dog. he goes every where with papa and papa likes it that way. only thing is papa is driving this old beater truck and the shell on the back is something made out of plywood and has actual doors on the back that you can open up . that is where dash does his traveling at.
papa and him went some where and well dash seemed to know once that truck stopped it was time to jump out and maybe go home. there were no windows in the back so he couldn't see exactly where they were at. papa is on the free way and he had to stop suddenly and get out of the way of something going on in the middle of the road. like a box or something. all papa knows is it only took a few seconds and he drives on. only what he didn't know was dash thought it was time to jump out and he did only when he finally does papa is back to moving and well the lady behind him said all she saw was two doors open up and this big yellow dog jump out into mid air at her and then she put her breaks on as fast as she could to avoid hitting him as he flew towards her and went ass over head tumbling onto the road LOL papa brought poor dash home after a quick stop at the vets and dash had road burn so bad on his bottom end the fur was warn away LOl needless to say dash never traveled in the back of the truck again nor have dusty and evy.
we had to give dash up a few years later we couldn't keep him because the owner of the trailer park said dog goes or you do. papa was never so broken hearted over doing this but he found him a good home and made sure the new owner was good to him as he was. I guess dash has puppies all over town still and we are reminded of it once in awhile when we run into someone that knew him and says this is one of dashes kids.
he was one heck of a dog and sure made us all dog lovers too. :)

honey i am stuck again
i tell you this man can find some creative ways to spend his time getting out of work sometimes.
this time he and his buddies head out to the duck flats there taking a boat to a small island off shore and setting up a duck blind and digging in for the day. not a problem and they will be back later on before dinner. its his day off and tomorrow he has to work . i go about my busniness and dont give it another thought. dinner time comes and my cook isnt home and i am wondering what is keeping him and what to do about dinner. i think i finally broke down and got a pizza ordered in. time marches on and no men though and i am getting worried. i get a call from someone telling me this story.
seems they did what the set out to do i think there were 4 of them papa and his buddies. dug in made there duck blind and got to telling stories and passing time. well none of them figured on a big tide that day and i dont think any of them actually cked the books or if they did it wasnt telling them the truth which sometimes happens around here LOL they didnt take a boat out there as planned instead it turned out they hiked in. wouldnt have been a problem if they cked there times and the tides. but the tide did come in and fast. now this is a tiny piece of land out there not to big i think you could fit it into your front room LOL so here are 4 men stuck out there till the tide goes out in the wee hours of the am or the next day it had to be low enough for them to walk back in. one of them had a hand held and was able to call a friend and tell them what was up. but there was no way to retrieve them and they seemed to be ok but they were stuck for the duration and had to build a fire. LOL huddle down and keep warm. ran out of coffee and the whole bit. you could see their plight from the high way it goes right by the island LOL hey honey i see you honk honk sorry you missed out on dinner honk honk. LOL they came home later the next day with there story and now each time we drive past that island papa always looks out and foundly tells that story to me . sigh. i guess he had fun LOL there friend they got ahold of called all the bosses and said sorry this is where they are at and there stuck none of them is coming in until tide change later on today.

its only and eagle honey
papa comes running into the house tells me grab a blanket and lets go. i do as i am told not a clue what is going on. as we drive he tells me he was on his way home when he spotted this baby eagle in the middle of the road and it seems like its injured. so he wants to pick it up but needs the blanket and some help and then we will take it to the bird sanctuary. i think ok not a problem we can do this. so off we go. park the car and out he jumps and looks through the bushes for the eagle. i am out too but i dont have a clue where to look. suddenly papa comes back with this blanket in his arms and clearly you can tell he has the baby in it. he tells me to get into the car and shut my door. so he can put it in the back seat. i do as i am told and sit still waiting patiently for him to do what he is doing and think ok we wil be gone in a few. i wasnt taking a big look at the blanket or what was under it. i figured he knew what he was doing. i sure didnt. he gets done and jumps into the car. which is not a big one its one of those go cart size things a honda civic LOL i decide to take a look see . now i know eagles are not tiny things and i know this is a baby. but what in the world was my mind thinking. i turn around only to see this bird sitting in the back of the car and i am suddenly fightened of it and shocked to see how big this baby is. he was sitting there on the seat and his head was up to the back of the head rest on my seat. he was about 3 ft tall and took up 1/2 half of the back seat. i turned around fast and my heart is pounding i know what one of these can do if they get upset and this one isnt secured in the back either he is just sitting there and i know his wing span if he flapped those things could cause major problems too let alone that beak of his. but all he did fortunitly is sit there like he was enjoying the ride and saying hey this is cool i dont have to flap my wings to get anywhere LOL we got him to the shelter and they took him out of the back. fortunitly he was just about as wet as he could be and all he needed was some down time to dry off before he was set free again in a day. it was raining earlier before we ran into him and he couldnt dry off is all.
i tell you papa will pick up any hitch hiker LOL

duck hunting with papa
papa would always duck hunt with out me and this one year I decided I would tag along.
not a bad idea always show interest in your man right? let him know you care LOL
well he had this dog back them called dash he had really done a wonderful job training and him and that dog went every where together.
papa got me all bundled up and we head out with the dog to the flats . yep this is going to be the day we get closer for sure and have some good fun doing it too. I could about count the ducks he would shoot as we walked and was totally enjoying the view when papa suddenly got to one knee and aimed with his shot gun. I was behind both him and the dog about maybe 20 ft. well dash being a good dog looked at papa and then looked back at me. that dog knew I was a green horn when it came to duck hunting after all it was my first trip out with themLOL
dash suddenly runs towards me knocks me over and sits on me until papa is done taking his shot at the ducks flying over.
I spent the rest of that trip being dragged around by that dog being sat on and the like. LOL papa was taking another shot and told me to hold onto him don't let him move. being the good wife I was I did but the dog thought he should be next to papa so he dragged me over a huge log and across the sand before I could let go of him and right to papa's feet all I could do was look up spitting sand out of my mouth and say hi ya. :) papa never took me out again with him he knew that it was going to be a struggle he had one well trained dog and one woman that didn't know a thing and that dog knew it too LOL

deer hunting with papa
well here we go again me and my big I am going to take interest in my man theory LOl this time I talked him into taking me deer hunting. we couldn't go far so we headed out to Douglas island which is connected to Juneau via a bridge. we go up to the hills and are walking a nice trail with a nice board walk on it and I am chattering up a storm to him he is silent and watching things as we walk. we got to a clearing and he says look there is a deer stand up in that tree and I am going to put you up there and go up the hill a little ways see if I can spot anything. so he shoves me up in the tree stand and I do mean shove cause it was up high and I wasn't tall enough to reach the bottom branch before I could finish the climb to the stand. I got up there and it began to snow like nothing I had ever seen before. I huddle down and try to keep warm which is near impossible when your in a snow storm all the while thinking I am one nut case LOL I want to go home and drink hot coco and stay warm LOL it seemed ages before papa came back and got me out of that tree. we began to walk back down that trail and I couldn't see the board walk anymore that is how much it snowed while we were up there. I stepped wrongly and found myself feet on the ground but snow up to my arm pits. he found me a stick I still have to this day and handed it to me so I could use it to walk with . and lead me back down to the parked car put me in and away we went to back home. I caught a bad cold from that and I knew this gal wasn't going hunting ever again LOL

hiking with papa
one time papa thought lets take a good hike in the woods. not problem . hint hint you would think by this time I would have learned to say no honey I love you but I am not a woodsy woman right? nope not this woman. I said sure sounds good to me so he gabs the food up and Ira and me and we head on out dinner by a river he said and then a hike in the woods. well dinner was absolutely wonderful eagles dancing in the sky fish in the river and wonderful company. and then of course the hike. we head up the trail and I got the camera in hand I am going to take as many pictures of this event as I can so I can have them as good memories of this day for sure.
hours later we finally make it up to wind falls its breath taking and all that wonderful lake up there and the hike about did my feet and legs in. of course papa didn't tell me to wear good jeans you would think growing up here I would have known that right? nope not me short memory here LOL so we head back down. I am taking pictures like crazy and then I tell him this is one heck of a camera I haven't run out of film yet. he said nothing to me gins walks over takes the camera out of my hand and opens it to my horror. I am thinking there goes all those nice cool pictures I took LOl hands me back the camera and keeps on grinning. I take it look at it look up at him and think omg how in the world did he know it was empty not one roll of film in it LOL I take a look at that trail and say to me no way this gal is doing this hike again so I can take more pics either cause I am one worn out woman and these legs aren't going to hold me one more time around for that .

picnic on the lake
oh sigh, romance is in the air its spring time and all I can think is lets do something different lets have dinner some place interesting. we had this rubber raft and so papa says sure thing . lets head out to the lake out the road. so we put the raft on the car and took dinner and we left alone no kids. I am thinking cool a nice quiet romantic dinner for two and I know he is thinking the same thing
we got there fine, parked the car and took the raft off set our dinner in it and got in. begin to row to the middle the idea is to drift and eat dinner while were doing so and enjoy the time and the lovely view together right? all is well and we stopped rowing thinking here this is a good place to stop. we put the oars up and open our meal and begin to put everything on plates. looks really yummy to each of us. sigh. that is about the time the bugs hit us full force and I do mean bugs. they were all over the place us the food the raft you name it. its a wonder we could even see let alone stay in the boat LOL the food got left where it was and we took those oars and rowed back to shore as fast as we could bugs chasing us all the way. and we put that raft on the car and went home and ate dinner like any normal people at our own table with tons of bug bites all over ourselves LOL oh but for romance where in the world would we be huh :) I think we spent the next week with calamine lotion all over ourselves too LOL

shelter island fishing with papa
now this is the only way to go . yep fishing out on a good boat . were past the row boat thing the dingys and the like and into a skiff that is really good aluminum :) so we have a motor on it and we can now go places in it. cool deal. he puts me in the bow of it when were out on the water makes sure I have a fishing license too. and a pole to go with it though I don't actually fish. its a good thing to take me along because I am the one always gets the most fish while I am reading a book or napping up in the bow . LOL
but this time were out there and the whales come along. there out there playing around jumping and diving and the like. he tells me to look and see what there doing as he suns himself and watches the show. me I got on my knees and peek over the side of the boat. only to see this one young whale jumping not to far from us and I mean not to far. my eyes must have looked like saucers to him too because papa has this gin on his face like none I have seen before LOL
suddenly this whale I am sure sees me and takes a fast swim in our direction . I had seen this one just a min ago go under a smaller boat lift it up enough to knock the two men in it off of it and now I am watching with my heart in my throat as its taking a vee line right for us. I cant move and I cant think. I am so scared. papa is still sitting there ginning like the Cheshire cat in Alice and wonderland at me. and I am just not getting it at all. suddenly this whale isn't but a few feet from us and he looks like he is going to ram us for sure I don't know if I should scream or not and I can see a twinkle in the whales eyes. and almost a gin across his face. and then nothing he disappears under the boat beneath us as fast as a flash. and is gone. I think it took me the rest of that trip to regain my mind for sure LOL
oh but papa has another treat for me in store still. on our way back in he falls asleep on me at the front of the boat tells me I feel like I got to lay down for a bit ok. you just sit here and drift for a bit ok your going to be fine. yea right me thinks. and so with that he lays down. engine going I take over and head into the area where I know we have to go to get back to shore which is by that time about a good 12miles or so by water. but then I am out in the open with prince charming asleep at the bow this time playing sleeping beauty on me LOL the tide suddenly changes on us and that means waves. well I wouldn't have trouble with this if this were a fishing boat like my dads was but this is a skiff and its not actually that big of one either. I kept going and it seems the more I tried to get out of it the more we stayed in one spot. all the while thinking if only he would wake up. I spotted a bigger boat and now I am heading for that . I am going for help this guy isn't waking up and I am not taking any chances out here like this. what a time to take a nap. just a few more and we will be there just a few more is all and I will be safe again. I am heading to the boat and about there about to being waving to them when papa wakes up and asks me where were heading too and what I think I am doing LOL I tell you that was the worst 30 mins I ever spent in a boat so I think at that time . needless to say we went home the rest of the miles and were safe. we got home very late that night though . I think for a summer night it was pretty dark out then too. but I learned something you cant fool Mr. water man out on the ocean he knows exactly where he is even when he is asleep :)

papa and Fred decided they had had enough and went looking through the yard sales for a boat to put into the water. they must have hunted for weeks but finally they found one . it was a tiny dingy of a thing but big enough for two people and they dragged it home on the back of a truck. both of them so proud of there find for sure. going to take our skiff out on its maiden voyage. LOL
so they head on out kiss me good bye see you later around dinner time ok and off they went
time passes and suddenly before dinner here the two of them come again with out the skiff.
and this is the story they told us.
they drove out to st Theresa's shrine which is about 20 some miles out of town and put there skiff into the water and got in fishing poles tackle boxes and coffee and cups. rowed out a piece and sat quietly with there poles in the water. didn't take long before one of them had wet feet. well I guess one of them reached over and picked up a can or cup and bailed out the water on the bottom of the skiff. and they went back to sitting silently and fishing for a bit more. until one of them said they had not only wet feet but this time when they looked it was up to the seats and there ass was wet LOL about this time they both look down and realize there sinking fast so they jump out and swim to shore. well heck that wasn't the last of it kinda stings when you loose all your fishing gear but that wasn't all they lost. both of them had gotten paid that day and both of them had there cks uncashed in there wallets and both of them lost there wallets on the swim to shore. LOL took us about a week to get Darrell's re issued and about a month for Fred to get his done .

good morning Mr. bear said papa
Alaska is always a place that is full of wild life and Juneau is not an exception. the bears here which are black bears think this is there town and they can just walk around here anytime of the day or night they choose too. so the people that live here have learned to put up with it all.
well one morning papa is getting up and getting ready for work. he puts on the coffee and sits for a spell. to enjoy the peace and quiet of it all. once he is done and he sees the time he grabs his hat and heads for the door. opens it and finds this big black bear sitting on the porch right out in front of the door like nothing to this. the bears is looking at the mts and the sky and taking it all in. he turns to papa and that is when papa said ok and closes the door fast. goes in and thinks well I guess one more cup of coffee wont hurt. so he gets one and sits for a little while longer. thinking that will give the bear a bit of time to move on. once he is done with his coffee he moves to the door to leave again and opens it up . but Mr. bear is leaning on the door and enjoying the view still and abouts falls into the house when papa opens the door. papa sees this closes it again and thinks ok one more cup of coffee I guess and then we will see. well this goes on and on and this bear isn't about to move so the next time that papa does go to the door and opens it up he stands there alittle upset and tells Mr. bear. now look I got to go to work and your making me late. I know your enjoying the view early in the am and all that but you got to move on so I can get by. he said the bear looked at him like "man I got to move? but not just yet you should slow down and take a good look at all this beauty here!"papa closed the door and goes to the phone and calls his boss. says I am going to be late I got this bear sitting on the porch here blocking my way out so until he moves I cant even leave for work. ( now I know some people use some pretty lame excuses not to go to work on time but here in Alaska this one is one that is legit and not a problem because this sort of thing happens around here allot in the summer time ) papa sat down and kept on waiting. watched some TV drank about a pot of coffee and finally that Mr. bear got tired of the view or finished watching the sun come up and left . LOL