The Muse

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E

MUSE A LEISURE WORLD PUBLICATION

WHAT’S INSIDE: Fine Art Photography Poetry Short Stories Musings A collection of creativity from Leisure World residents

FEBRUARY 2023

www.lwca.com • THE MUSE • February 2023 1

Your One-Stop, On-The-Spot Tire & Auto Service Headquarters in Mesa Hatch Tire would like to thank all the Leisure World residents for their kind words and business!

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February 2023 • THE MUSE • www.lwca.com

INDEX 3: Reflections 5: The Long Goodbye 7: A Love Letter Interesting Reported Facts 8: The Lost Century 9: Spiritual Meaning of Heart-Shaped Objects

17: Golf Course Restaurants 19: I Love You Sign Language 2 21: Planned Vaccinations 22: Romance & Dating in Later Life 24: Is it Currency or Money?

11: South Mountain

25: Quiet Thunder

12: Ode to the Outhouse

27: Call to Artists

13: Upstairs Downstairs 15: Poem of Love

THE MUSE Owned by the Leisure World Community Association. Published quarterly.

Communications/LW News Office: 480-832-0000 ext. 117, news@lwca.com

29: Lie With Me

Communications Manager: Diana Bridgett, dbridgett@lwca.com

30: The Honeymoon

Administrative Assistant: Joni Livdahl, news@lwca.com Advertising Specialist: Stephen Annunziato, sannunziato@lwca.com Graphic Designer: Erica Odello, eodella@lwca.com Social Media: Carley Carmean, ccarmean@lwca.com Cover: Linda Weinstock

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Photos: Linda Weinstock, Jennifer Knudson, David Sussman, Robert Froelich, Jim Johnson, Justin Kauffman, Kristina Litvjak, Kristina Tripkovic, Louis Hansel, Raychel Sanner Contributing Writers: Shelley Ringland, Jennifer Knudson, Robert Froelich, Linda Weinstock, Jim Johnson, Roger Sweet, Marie Sharkey, William Costanzo, Dr. Cassandra Cotton, Jim Johnson For Advertising Information: 480-758-5825 or sannunziato@lwca.com

www.lwca.com • THE MUSE • February 2023 3

REFLECTIONS A photograph by Linda Weinstock

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February 2023 • THE MUSE • www.lwca.com

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www.lwca.com • THE MUSE • February 2023 5

I wrote these while traveling along side my mother after her dementia diagnosis. It helped me while writing them, maybe others could relate and feel seen, maybe start some dialogue. It can be a lonely road for loved ones and support people. I entered these in a national poetry contest in Canada, made the long list in the top 26 of 2200 entries. It was a great reward and surprise for me as an amateur.

THE LONG GOODBYE- A TRIPTYCH

By Shelley Ringland

My mother Is in a prison With no bars, She rattles her chains While gripping the arms Of her wheelchair With arthritic white knuckles, She stares out From behind the glass Reflected in her eyes, I see her, I tell her I see you Mom, Somewhere In that Closed Locked Dark Maze I hope She sees me too

My mother forgets But I remember When I reminisce She looks at me And smiles Like I am talking About someone else My mother is shrinking Each time I hold her My arms reach further Around her tiny frame My mother is drowning She cannot call for help And I cannot save her I can only hold her hand So she is not alone My mother is leaving She sleeps more She eats less I see only glimpses Of who she is As she drifts away I do not call her back Because she is Going home

My mother and I traveled on the same path But she was on her journey And I was on mine The path dementia put us on Allowed for us to Hold onto each other At times But often We walked side by side In our own thoughts Sometimes the distance Between us Was vast The difficulty with Communicating Made it hard For her to connect And her frustration Was understandable And painful Often I felt like I was moored In concrete And she was Walking further And further away But still visible The years of all the things Left unsaid Swirled around like dust On the road Stinging my eyes And when it settled she was gone.

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February 2023 • THE MUSE • www.lwca.com

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www.lwca.com • THE MUSE • February 2023 7

Gary I love you more than words can say. You are my sunshine, my life and my everything! They said our marriage would never last but after 48 strong years of marriage we have proved them wrong.

Love you lots! Jennifer

INTERESTING REPORTED FACTS

By Robert Froelich

Clif High, from his research has stated,“Since 2020, the rate of death per 100,000 people ages 15 to 55 has increased from 10 to 15 percent.” Insurance companies specializing on insuring this age group have reported having financial short falls because of the increase over expected deaths.

General Flynn and Clay Clark, from their research reported, “Medical publications have reported numerous negative side effects from Covid vaccine and booster shots. But to date there has not been a positive health effect from the Covid and booster shots identified nor reported or published.

Flynn and Clark also reported: 1. that “for the first time in history of reporting cause of deaths world wide, the number 1 cause of death has been reported as “unknown”.

2. Biden presidential Order 14067 March 3, 2022 has research money focused on Transhumanism, {Internet definition below) Covid 19 was a product of this line of research.

Reference: Clif High rumble podcast August 2022ark interview on X22 report 10/08/22 Flynn and Clark interview on X22 report 10/08/22

transhumanism [ trans-hyoo-muh-niz-uhm or, often, ‐yoo‐, tranz‐ ] noun 1. A belief that humans should strive to transcend the physical limitations of the mind and body by technological means.

2. A movement of people who espouse such a belief.

3. A philosophy favoring the use of science and technology, especially neurotechnology, biotechnology, and nanotechnology, to overcome human limitations and improve the human condition.

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February 2023 • THE MUSE • www.lwca.com

THE LOST CENTURY AND HOW TO RETRIEVE IT!

By Robert Froelich

Check out this interview of Dr. Ted Loder, a professor of Earth Science. He sees this topic of known science being secret as the number one challenge for society. (The linked YouTube video interview runs 25 minutes.)

https://www.youtube.com/ playlist?list=PLnrEt2fIdZ0ZKhkY_khsZBjBPs2L-sYKb I have followed this topic for years and have been frustrated in how to make the information available for LW residents. Before my house fire, in February, I had DVD’s of interviews, books by Dr. Greer and Dr. Salla, and video tapes of images and interviews; all dealing with Extraterrestrials (ET’s) on earth. There actions have all been friendly and have made a number of nuclear weapons in silos inoperative, thus preventing destruction on earth.

Dr Loder paints a very real need for citizens to learn about a way to save the earth for humans by accepting and learning the science already known by the secret government/industrial complex, that President Eisenhower warned us about.

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www.lwca.com • THE MUSE • February 2023 9

SPIRITUAL MEANING OF HEART-SHAPED OBJECTS Submitted by Linda Weinstock

We celebrate our LOVE through the beauty in nature when we travel.

On our travels we take time to notice the natural beauty all around us. It is amazing to see little gifts and blessing everywhere.

We are always in awe when we stumble across an object, like heart-shaped rocks or shells.

It reminds us of the beauty in nature and how grateful we are to be in love and together.

Here are a few of the treasures we have found during our travels in 2021.

New York NY, Chicago IL, Puerto Peñasco Mexico, Forest Falls CA, Alameda CA, Sacramento CA, Catalina Island, Van Pugh Park, Georgia

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February 2023 • THE MUSE • www.lwca.com

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www.lwca.com • THE MUSE • February 2023 11

SOUTH MOUNTAIN A photograph by David Sussman

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February 2023 • THE MUSE • www.lwca.com

ODE TO THE OUTHOUSE

By Jim Johnson

Oh, for the more simple times – The days before the modern indoor plumbing.

When one could enjoy the morning’s reflection of the Previous day and contemplation of the coming day

Or when sitting there observing the current weather and Suddenly seeing God paint another beautiful aurora borealis.

Without the complaints of “Oh you stunk up the whole house!”

Or just enjoying the morning view while sitting on that warm Styrofoam seat, Not having to endure the shock of a cold seat,

Days when there was no morning dance while waiting for The fairer sex to complete their make-up.

Or the cost of a plumber to repair a frozen or broken pipe, While you disrupt the neighbor’s morning.

When there was never a discussion about leaving the lid up or down.

Oh, the simple pleasure of perusing the Sears catalogue And dreaming -- before tearing the page out to use.

Or wondering what is being splashed on your toothbrush.

Nights enjoying the silent beauty of a light winter snow,

Copyright © 2014 (James Laroy Johnson II) All Rights Reserved

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www.lwca.com • THE MUSE • February 2023 13

UPSTAIRS DOWNSTAIRS

Copyright ©2002 Roger Sweet All Rights Reserved I’m downstairs chasing youth while the grim reaper’s chasing me

I collect thoughts and hoard nuts n’ bolts She collects jewelry and hoards paper wrap

She’s upstairs pondering a 30 across, 8-letter word meaning, “to accept life more graciously”

I’m just trying to plan my next 5 minutes She’s already planned our funerals

I’m outside walking the dog and talking to myself She’s inside stroking the cat and talking on the phone

I can lie down and not have a thought in my head She lays down thinking about what she’s thinking about

I’m inside watering the plants She’s outside killing dandelions

I’m still trying to keep up with Peter Pan Her childhood ended at 16 when Peter Pan broke her heart

I like watching the “Terminator” She watches the “Antique Road Show”

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February 2023 • THE MUSE • www.lwca.com

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www.lwca.com • THE MUSE • February 2023 15

It was a beautiful tree

POEM OF LOVE BY MARIE SHARKEY Submitted by Bob Sharkey

From a young seedling, you grew healthy and fast, you were becoming a tree at last.

Greeting friends from near and far, as they would arrive in their car.

Your strong branches would bend with every brush from the wind.

Then one summer day a storm did arrive, “Striking you right in the side.”

With leaves abound, you gave shade all around.

Trying very hard to survive, the tree doctor did arrive.

Lots of years went passed till you were thirty or so.

The tree must go, it is dying slow.

About forty feet you would grow, boy did you put on a show.

Now you’re divided into parts you know as sap from your wooden heart does flow.

Majestic, you stood in your small neighborhood.

I provide you with firewood you see.

As I am no longer your Beautiful “Big Tree”.

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February 2023 • THE MUSE • www.lwca.com

www.lwca.com • THE MUSE • February 2023 17

GOLF COURSE RESTAURANTS

By William Costanzo

Having lived in Leisure World less than four years I have come to love the food and people of COPA, currently operators of the Leisure World Rendezvous Café.

I am retired from the ownership and operation of two golf courses and restaurants one on a golf course and I know the pitfalls and difficulties in both on-course and off-course operations.

In recent months, a number of people have expressed interest in a more modern and upscale restaurant offering a “full dinner” service, better menu choices, and staffing appropriate to this concept.

All golf course restaurants are subsidized by the golf course and based on the number of rounds played, these subsidies can include, rent, utilities, janitorial service, and insurance, etc.

These subsidies are based on the limited operational restrictions placed on golf food services, due to course play. As an example, preparation to supply a breakfast service begins at least one hour before play and is usually limited because the customer is there to play golf not enjoy breakfast. In our case breakfast service is also limited to the residents living in the World since outside access for this purpose is generally restricted to guests only.

This is equally true for lunch service; most golfers prefer carry-out food rather than a sit-down lunch.

In addition, residents do not generally populate the restaurant for lunch.

Dinner service is not usually a key part of a golf course restaurant operation since by the time dinner service starts most golfers are home resting and waiting for dinner.

Lunch and dinner service in most golf course restaurants serve alcohol. Alcohol service requires dedicated staff for that purpose and that staff must be in attendance the entire time the service is open to the public. Based on the state of Arizona Department of Liquor License and Control authority: The cost of an Arizona liquor license is determined by two things: the type and the county. Most liquor

licenses cost between $8,000.00 and $300,000.00.

With series 7 beer and wine bar licenses in Pima County being among the least expensive and series 9 liquor store licenses in Maricopa County being among the most expensive.

We can assume a license would cost upward of the maximum. In addition, the license is issued to the operator and they assume full liability for compliance.

Without a liquor license or at least a beer and wine license, any “full-service” restaurant would fail.

In the case of the Café, breakfast, lunch, and dinner are restricted to the occupants of the World and their guest, and our course play is far below local competing courses.

In order for a “full scale” restaurant to survive it would need to compete with at least 4 major restaurants just outside the gates and another dozen or so within a mile of our homes.

COPA, being a non-profit, loses money on every meal served to us here in the World, because its purpose is not to feed us cheap meals but to train people to live on their own. If Leisure World or COPA terminates this relationship, we would find it impossible to find anyone who could operate this service, let alone anyone at this level of expertise.

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February 2023 • THE MUSE • www.lwca.com

www.lwca.com • THE MUSE • February 2023 19

Title: I Love You sign language 2

By Linda Weinstock

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February 2023 • THE MUSE • www.lwca.com

www.lwca.com • THE MUSE • February 2023 21

PLANNED VACCINATIONS

By Robert Froelich

I learned from the LW weekly Buzz, and further research, that the LW recreation office is sponsoring a vaccination clinic later this month (October 2022), which will include Covid-19 boosters. Since there has been a media black-out about the negative effects of the shots, the LW population is generally not aware of the shots negative effects.

General Flynn and Clay Clark, from their research reported, “Medical publications have reported numerous NEGATIVE side effects from Covid vaccine and booster shots. But to date there has Not Been a POSITIVE health effect from the Covid-19 and followup booster shots identified nor reported or published in medical Scientific Journals.

According to official figures published by the UK Government institution, the office for National Statistics (ONS), by the 1st of June 2022, 1 in every 73 Covid-19 vaccinated people in England had sadly died. But during the same time frame, only 1 in every 172 not-vaccinated people had sadly died. Thus: Covid-19 vaccinations were associated with 2.36 times more deaths than the non-vaccinated in 17 months following the shots.

General Flynn and Clay Clark reported that for the first time, since recording “Cause of Deaths”, the number one cause is “Unknown”. I believe this is either due to failure to know whether a patient had a Covid-19 shot and/or booster or not, or due to censoring of the fact by the media.

Clif High, from his research has stated,“Since 2020, the rate of death per 100,000 people ages 15 to 55 years, has increased from 10 to 15 percent.” Insurance companies specializing on insuring this age group have reported having financial short falls because of the increase over expected deaths.

Due to the growing lack of honor, trust and honesty in institutions and governments, please check the information available about any shot’s history, effects, side effects, and FDA and CDC actual certificates. Covid-19 vaccine was never approved for general use as long as effective treatments were available.

The following table of deaths is consistent with the data above.

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February 2023 • THE MUSE • www.lwca.com

ROMANCE & DATING IN LATER LIFE Seeking Adults 55+

Interviews: Our project is called “Romance and Dating in Later Life,” and we’re interested in speaking to Arizonan adults aged 55+ who are either single or who began a relationship after age 55. Our study is focused on understanding what dating and romance looks like in this stage of life - for example, how adults 55+ look for partners, what those dating experiences are like, what kinds of factors adults 55+ consider when they enter into relationships, and why adults 55+ might choose to remain single. Among those who are in romantic relationships that began later in life, we are interested in understanding how you found a partner, what kind of relationship and partner you were seeking, how you experience your relationship, etc. We are interested in interviewing people of any gender identity and any sexual orientation.

To participate in the interview study, we have participants complete a short background survey online that takes about 10 minutes (asking sociodemographic questions), and then participate in an interview with Dr. Cassandra Cotton or another member of the research team. The interview will take between 1 and 2 hours. Interviews can be done in person at a location convenient to the participant.

After completing the interview, participants receive a $25 digital gift card as a thank you.

Focus Group (Group Interview): Our project is called “Romance and Dating in Later Life,” and we’re interested in speaking to Arizonan adults aged 55+ who are either single or who began a relationship after age 55. Our study is focused on understanding what dating and romance looks like

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in this stage of life - for example, norms about dating in later life, how adults 55+ look for partners, what kinds of factors adults 55+ consider when they enter into relationships, and why adults 55+ might choose to remain single. The focus group focuses primarily on perceptions and norms about dating, sex, and romantic relationships after 55+. We are interested in speaking to people of any gender identity and any sexual orientation.

a group interview with Dr. Cassandra Cotton and other participants, who will be same-gender adults of a similar age group. The focus group will take approximately 2 hours. The focus group will be in person at a location that is convenient for members of the group. After completing the focus group, participants receive a $15 digital gift card as a thank you. Participants may be eligible to participate in both a one-on-one interview and the focus group interview.

To participate in the focus group/group interview, participants will complete a short background survey online that takes about 10 minutes (asking sociodemographic questions), and then participate in

Dr. Cassandra Cotton can be reached via email at cassandra.cotton@asu.edu or by phone at 602688-2223.

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February 2023 • THE MUSE • www.lwca.com

IS IT CURRENCY OR MONEY

By Robert Froelich

Since no school or college teaches us the basics about currency & money, in the draft below are several basic ideas. I am sure can be better expressed.

Biden, in March, issued a presidential order directing the development of a digital currency and it will do away with the paper currency. Corporations and those with wealth are converting their dollars into items that hold value —gold, silver, key cryptos, fine art, collectibles, etc…. What will replace the dollar is not known at this time.

Is it Currency or Money What do you plan to use for money, when additional inflation makes the Federal Reserve dollar buy less and less — to the point of nothing. The history of all fiat currencies is to become worthless — the 5000 year Chinese average currency life span is 27.4 years.

Today’s dollar is the third US currency.

Primitive societies first use barter in the exchange for goods. Then they use scarce items from sea shells, to eggs, to bits of metals, to stamped metals (coins), to paper notes representing metals, finally to paper backed by law (faith)..

The criteria, attributes, that make an item useful as money, it must be: Currency Money 1. Divisible Yes Yes 2. A unit for accounting Yes Yes 3. Easily carried, transportable Yes Varies 4. Fungible— units have the same value Yes Yes (my dollar has same value as your dollar) 5. Easily Transferred i.e. on internet Varies Varies 6. Store of value over time No Yes 7. Control is distributed No Yes 8. Limited Supply No Yes

The proposed Federal Reserve (Biden) Dollar will be centrally controlled with all of the possible government control as seen in Canada, during the trucker’s strike.

When the current dollar dies, hope you choose the right money for yourself.

Reference: A. Michael Maloney’s “Hidden Secrets of money” video series.

B. Catherine Austin Fitts, “Central Bank Digital Currency …will be able to cut off your finances….”

C, Roadtoroota.com based on Boston Federal Reserve publication 2007 about money for children along with a teacher’s guide Robert Froelich, vrpilot@icloud.com • 480-599-5821

www.lwca.com • THE MUSE • February 2023 25

QUIET THUNDER

By Roger Sweet

There are times when watching you from a safe distance — safe for you that is I become consumed by my attraction for you but say not a word your soft fraying hair, high cheekbones, soft white skin, blue eyes slender, long boned fingers surrounded by rings of white gold and turquoise born from an earlier time beauty surrounding beauty understated, classic beauty, a Kathryn Hepburn kind of beauty but also a deeply sensual passionate beauty surrounded by an opaque wall until the smallest of life’s simple pleasures make you smile, make you laugh, make you sigh when I brush aside your hair and like a little child, you hum when I touch your face and you gaze at me, eyes half open with a Cheshire cat smile when I hold your face and look in your eyes where passion quietly waits forever, my quiet thunder

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www.lwca.com • THE MUSE • February 2023 27

CALL TO ARTISTS

The Herberger Theater is excited to welcome artists to apply for the upcoming exhibit - “BIG” The exhibit will be on display at the Herberger Theater Center in Bob’s Spot Gallery, April 7 – May 29, 2023.

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February 2023 • THE MUSE • www.lwca.com

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www.lwca.com • THE MUSE • February 2023 29

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I love you

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INTRODUCTION: What you are about to read is a true story in a series of our adventures. This was originally published as THE GEEZER’S HONEYMOON in installments in the Shemya Chronicles published and edited by Melissa White. A second article entitled THE BRIDE’S VIEW was subsequently published. During the publication of THE GEEZER’S HONEYMOON several comments were heard throughout the publication. Many of them were similar and amounted to “I wonder what the bride was thinking?” or “I wonder what the bride’s view of this was?” Well, like a whole bunch of women of today the bride hates to write, she has no problem whatsoever talking for hours on the phone. But when it comes to writing – she won’t even do email unless she has to. So, after much cajoling, several false starts and many hours of listening to her we finally got her viewpoint down on paper. Yes, it’s her thoughts and mostly her words that I have tried to faithfully transcribe for our readers. This is an attempt to combine the two articles into one without losing the humor and viewpoints of either participant. For clarification, DP - the author stands for Dumb Plumber. That is my day job occupation and a way the Lord has shown me to maintain my humility. The shift to THE BRIDE’S VIEW will be indicated by a change in the font (she likes her words to be a little harder to read, for the simple). So, with these words of explanation and without further ado here is -----

THE HONEYMOON

By DP

Young people today have no concept of real life with its joys and trials. They are into what the marketing gurus tell them life is about. They think a honeymoon has to be a cruise or a trip to some hot exotic place. I might be old to some people (including myself), but I have done quite a few neat things and had a lot of fun and heartbreak in the process. For instance, let’s go back to when I married my second (and final) wife.

We had met when I hired her to work in a fast food restaurant in Midland, Texas. We lived together for a few months (which is another story) before I ran off heading to Eagle, Alaska, but got waylaid at Dawson City, Yukon Territory.

That’s in Canada for all you well-educated young’uns. Yes, that was the destination of the last great gold rush.

didn’t know where he was going and what he was going to do – he was just running from civilization.

Now, here is the rest of the story (actually the real story – we know how men have kind of an inaccurate view of reality). Yes, we met when the geezer hired me at a fast food restaurant and he was a pain in the butt from the beginning. But the geezer was hurting after his family left him and in a tight pair of Levis he had the cutest ass you ever saw (but that’s another story). Heck of a reason to stick with a guy, however he also treated me fairly and with a certain amount of respect, which I wasn’t used to. He even offered to let me go with him when he left but he

I didn’t go with him, as I had two teenage daughters and wasn’t too sure of the unknown. It wasn’t too long after that geezer left that I realized I was tired of facing life alone when the girls were going their own way anyway, besides, maybe I needed a little adventure in my life. I found the geezer’s mother’s phone number and called her. I asked her to have him call me if he got a hold of her. I really didn’t know if I would ever hear from him again, but kind of hoped I would. Boy, was I shocked and relieved when the geezer called about a week or two later.

www.lwca.com • THE MUSE • February 2023 31 We got into contact with each other after a few months and she decided she was tired of living by herself (she’d been divorced for ten years) and wanted to join me. I was penniless by then, and she had decided we would get married. We didn’t love each other (that was one of those things that grew later); we just didn’t like living alone any more and figured we could put up with one another. At any rate to get to the point she bought a bus ticket from Dawson City to Whitehorse, then a plane ticket to Midland, Texas.

I told him that I thought I had made a mistake in not going with him and was ready to go now (I was really tired of not having anybody to share hurts and joys with and I thought I could put up with his BS— boy has that been a challenge). I was disappointed when he said I couldn’t come up until I had saved a certain amount of money and purchased certain items he said would be required for the north. At the same time, I was so relieved about the possibility of being with him that I started sending $50 a month to him to keep him on line, and alive. There have been quite a few times I’ve questioned the wisdom of that investment.

By the end of the year I had convinced him we should get married and could probably put up with each other. So, I bought the plane tickets for him (to be picked up at the airport) and sent him the bus ticket to get to Whitehorse. Now, the big question was “is that geezer going to show up or has all my money been wasted”?

So, on a nice crisp (-65o F.) January morning in 1985 I shut up my cabin and hiked the 11 miles to the corner with my pack to catch the bus. I spent the night in Whitehorse in a cheap hotel and got on the plane the next day. When I finally got into Midland – she didn’t even recognize me. When I had left I was fairly clean cut, but now I had been living in the bush for the past 7 months and looked appropriate for such a life style. My hair hung below my shoulders and my beard was at least a foot long. This was perfectly functional as it protected me from the mosquitoes in the summer and was insulation in the winter. Also, the beard was handy for catching one’s breath

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www.lwca.com • THE MUSE • February 2023 33 and freezing it right there where it is handy when you get thirsty.

On the appointed day I brought my best friend Teresa with me to the Midland – Odessa (Texas) airport to pick him up. I felt a little safer and needed the moral support to face the geezer after the past 6 months. As we waited for him to come down the concourse from the arrival gate I couldn’t even recognize him and figured he was a no-show. But I noticed this real scruffy skinny guy carrying a backpack and for some reason I had this uneasy feeling, that was the geezer I had sent for. While transfixed by that apparition I told Teresa “Oh, my God I think that was him”. As I pointed him out to her I was thinking – what have I gotten myself into?

If I were able to think faster it wouldn’t have been too hard to just sneak out of the airport without him seeing us. But instead we caught up with him and he started embarrassing me from then on. But this is getting us sidetracked and can all be yet another story for another time.

But we’re getting sidetracked again, back to the story. On the first of February (the day she had picked to get married on – figuring it would be easy for me to remember) we woke up to 11 inches of snow and a temperature of 11oF. Remember this is in Midland, Texas. That didn’t stop us, I loved it and she might as well get used to it.

Yes, when getting up on our wedding day I received more signs of what may be to come. What am I getting myself into? Whoever heard of it getting so cold in south Texas? My problem was, once I made up my mind I seldom changed it. So, we went through with the wedding and started preparing to leave for the Yukon. By the time we left Midland I had gotten both daughters married off (not the wisest move) and they were now someone else’s responsibility (again another story).

We finally left Midland heading north in April driving a 1958 Chevy ½ ton pickup that had been rolled (again that’s another story), but it ran and could hold everything we owned. We stopped in Montana and spent one night with my ex so we could see the kids one last time, not a cool move. My oldest daughter (17 at the time) informed us she was going with us and it

didn’t bother her a bit when we told her we were on our honeymoon. We were a lot thinner then and with the use of a shoehorn we were all able to get in the cab, but the doors were definitely spring loaded when they were unlatched.

We made it to Montana planning to stop and see his kids as we went through. That night was spent at his ex-wife’s house (that’s right I said his ex-wife – the one that had left him only a couple of years earlier), which was not really, too neat and beside that, it was pointed out (but not learned yet) that the Geezer had a hearing problem—it’s called selective hearing!

I tried to tell him that his oldest daughter (obviously a headstrong spoiled brat) had decided she was going to go with us. She had already informed me that there was no way she was going to listen to me.

Needless to say, I was not too excited when that da#! *&d geezer said she could go with us. As can be seen the trip started out rather interesting and continued to go downhill (sometimes literally – especially when the brake lines on the truck kept breaking) from there, but that is part of another story.

The trip north will have to be another story. Just suffice to say I got kind of a kick out of it as well as having fun driving the Alcan in the early spring. My bride was either white knuckling it or blowing steam out of her ears, as my daughter used the trip to inform us how things were going to be.

When we got to the turn off to our honeymoon cabin there was about a three-foot snow berm across the turn off. Now before I had left, a friend had been keeping the road passable, so I figured the berm was fresh from the highway plowing. I decided to plow through it with the truck, so we backed up, and then plowed ahead full speed.

The front end bounced up and the truck landed on top of the berm (which wasn’t fresh – but had packed into ice). So, there it sat perfectly balanced with the rear wheels in the air.

I figured it was no big problem, it was early in the day and we could just pack-in everything we needed for the night and come back in the morning to get the truck taken care of. It was a nice spring day – probably in the mid teens temperature wise, so the girls put on their heavy coats (as close to a parka as you could get in Texas). They put on their pack boots and grabbed a couple of things that they would need

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February 2023 • THE MUSE • www.lwca.com

while I filled the pack with everything else we would need for the night. Away we went for a nice afternoon hike.

Not only was that geezer not too swift about bringing his brat with us, but also trying to go over a snow berm, Lord help us. After getting out of the truck, he figured it wouldn’t be a big problem hiking in; I went along with that (after all I knew he was going to pack in whatever we needed, they were the great outdoor people). Naturally, the walk in was not near as easy as he said it was going to be.

To begin with the parka (he had insisted I have) was way too hot for such temperatures and activities.

Have you ever hiked a trail with one to two feet of unmarked spring snow on an afternoon, again not cool, in fact you warm up real quick.

Walking on a spring snow in the afternoon is like walking on a real thick fruit crisp. There is a crust on the top that will hold the partial weight of putting your foot on it until your entire wait is on that foot. Then you break through and sink to the ground. This happens with every step.

Needless to say, it only took a few yards and I was given the privilege of also carrying the bride’s coat. This was no major problem as we were only hiking in a little over two miles, and no real grumbling had started yet.

Another thing to remember is that both of the girls were city girls. Neither of them could hike more than a couple of blocks at a time, even though the daughter had been telling us how she could out hike every one in her school. I guess that was just on paved trails. It wasn’t too long before I thought I was hearing some grumbling and that 2+ mile hike took almost to sundown.

About halfway there we ran into our nearest neighbor, and he said they would be over in a little while with supper. She had been preparing for us to get in all week.

Finally, we crossed the Bailey bridge over the still frozen North Klondike River and got to where we could look down on the cabin. We called it the Northfork cabin.

We were on what was

called the ditch road, which has its own history and is another story in its own right. The ditch road formed one bank of the river and was about 20’ above the river. On the other side of the road was a set of wooden steps going down about 18’ to a hollow where the neatest little cabin sat (in the middle of a patch of wild roses during the summer). That’s why I can honestly say the only thing I ever promised her (and delivered on) was a rose garden.

Now, I had carefully described this cabin to her several times.

It was a little two room, log, trapper’s cabin tall enough to walk around in. It was made out of 3”6” diameter black spruce logs. Each room was about 10’ by 12’ and one of the rooms had a wood floor (the other was just a permafrost floor – the daughter’s room).

There was a 1’ by 1-1/2’ window near the roof on the north gable end (the end facing the ditch road). There was a 1-1/2’ by 2’ window on the west side next to the door. The door was about 3’ by 5’ and opened to where I had a fire pit and home split log benches for enjoying the outdoors. Now this whole thing was covered in a beautiful white snow and while I stood there admiring the scene I noticed the girls didn’t really have the joyful and serene smiles I had expected for such a romantic sight. In fact, the bride told me later (because I never heard it then) that she looked at the cabin, the daughter, the road (thinking if it wasn’t so far to hike out she would), then turned toward me and growled, “the honeymoon is over”. It was probably a good thing I didn’t hear her or she would have missed out on a lot of fun, as I kept on going in my ignorance.

At the end of this glorious 2-mile hike we came to this little trapper cabin that he had called the Northfork cabin. Standing above (on the road) looking down at the cabin in the hollow I saw what was to be our honeymoon cabin. And what I saw was a little cabin with a little window, and a little door. I looked at him, then back down the way we had come, then at his brat, then at the cabin, then back down the way we had come, then back at him with his jerky smile and told him that this

www.lwca.com • THE MUSE • February 2023 35 honeymoon is over. I would have left right then, but I couldn’t see myself walking that 2 miles back out.

Anyway, I led the way down to the cabin. I didn’t carry her across the threshold, as the door was too small when you bent over to get in. I showed them the table in the corner between the windows, the elevated (about 35”) bed along the east wall, and the barrel stove I had made at the foot of the bed (that way I never had cold feet at night – even when getting back to the cabin after several days of below 0 temperatures). I had a heck of a time starting the stove as someone had used the cabin while I was gone and left only soft green wood, but I did finally get a fire started so we could relax.

About that time my neighbors showed up with a fresh loaf of sourdough bread and a big pot of moose stew for supper. They also brought Cat – she was a puppy when I left her with them

(40%wolf and the rest husky and malamute), beautiful black animal. Now she really is another story. But back to this story, we enjoyed the company and good food. My neighbor said it had taken her a week to get the cabin cleaned, as the guy who had used it was a real slob.

Our neighbors arrived with a pot of moose stew and homemade sourdough bread, so we had a meal together and they spent the night on our floor. Sue’s kindness was what helped get me through that first night. I had wanted adventure in my life and I couldn’t deny that now I had some (maybe a little too much for what

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February 2023 • THE MUSE • www.lwca.com

www.lwca.com • THE MUSE • February 2023 37 this city girl was thinking of). I just didn’t realize how much of an adventure life was going to be with this geezer.

After they left I showed the girls where the outhouse was and I went over to the river to cut a hole in the ice and get a couple of 5-gallon buckets full of water. Then we rigged up a curtain for the door to the other room and fixed up a spot for the daughter to throw out her bedroll. I didn’t think much of it at the time but the wife didn’t really help set up the daughter.

Finally, here I was back in the Klondike in my little cabin, with my dog, a nice warm stove, and an old-fashioned woman for a wife that I could cuddle up to (of course it helped that the bed was just barely big enough for us both to fit onto). I was in Heaven and slept like a log (completely unaware of the forth coming storm of the next day).

The next day the first priority was to take care of the truck and all of our stuff. Well, I left the girls to get familiar with the cabin and set it up the way the bride wanted it, right after I stoked the stove and had heat for the morning. Cat and I headed for the truck with a shovel and dragging the wood sled in case I couldn’t get the truck out. On the way I remembered there was a slight turn out on the highway right across from the Bailey bridge only a ¼ of a mile from the cabin. Boy were the gals surprised when I got back to the cabin in time for lunch with the first load of our stuff.

I related the morning events to my new wife telling her how it’s easier to walk on the spring snow in the mornings while it is still cool. Then how I hardly had to use the shovel as the heat of the truck and the afternoon had melted the packed snow down to where the rear tires were almost on the ground. By using the bumper jack on the front, I was able to get enough traction on the rear wheels to back out. When I told here I had remembered the place to park the truck only a ¼ of a mile from the cabin she went through the roof yelling that I had made her walk over 2 miles in that snow when it could have been only

a ¼ of a mile downhill. I didn’t get any lunch that day and figured it would probably be best to just get the kid to help unload the truck, even Cat didn’t want to stay at the cabin & see all the new things.

The next day he went to take care of the truck and everything. He returned to the cabin way too soon and told me there was a closer place to park that was only ¼ mile away instead of the 2 miles away. I still hadn’t gotten over the 2-mile hike and glorious view of the cabin, so he and his daughter unloaded the truck. I spent the day trying to figure out how to organize everything for 3 of us into 2 of the smallest rooms I had ever seen. One of them didn’t even have a floor – perfect for the brat.

It took awhile, but after a few days I was able to start calming down (what other choice did I have).

The brat avoided me as much as possible. And the geezer, well what can I say? He was trying, and sometimes it was a real struggle to keep from laughing, as he could be so funny.

After a while she started to calm down and we all started settling in. One day I got a piece of 5/8” x 4” siding I had stashed in a junk woodpile, and cut it to about 4’ long. Then I found a straight tree branch about 2” in diameter and cut it off at about 5’. I carved a hole in the center of the piece of siding for the branch to slide through smoothly. I found an old piece of flat tin and cut it into the shape of a fan blade and twisted the blades slightly. After nailing the tin onto the end of the branch and standing it up in our nineteen-gallon galvanized tub (blade down), I slid the piece of siding down the branch and tied the ends to the handles of the tub. Set a chair down next to the tub, fill the tub up with hot water, dirty clothes, and a little soap, work the branch like a butter churn up and down with a slight twisting action and waa-la we have clothes washing machine. In fact, it worked as well as any Maytag. After washing the clothes, she learned to tie them to a rope before sticking them in the river to rinse (she lost a few items when trying to hold on to them separately, I have always wondered what some fisherman thought when he caught those things). Then hang them on the line to dry. She gradually started calming down as I was continually coming up with ideas to make her life easier.

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February 2023 • THE MUSE • www.lwca.com

Trying to learn how to live like the pioneers did was also fun. I had to do the washing on a scrub board, and the first time I rinsed the clothes in the river (the natives called it “thundering water”) I was rinsing them one item at a time. That thundering water got a hold of a couple of unmentionables that were never to be seen again, at least by me. I learned to tie a few items to a rope and rinse them that way. One day the geezer got a great idea (he could be creative as well as funny) and put together an agitator (usually that was his job) for the washtub making it a lot easier to do the laundry. But I still missed my own washing machine and dryer ever so much (never thought I’d say that about doing laundry).

After a while enough of the snow melted where we were able to get the truck right up the road to park it above the cabin.

One sunny Saturday after we had gotten the fire pit dug out of the snow we decided it was bath day. I got several buckets of water, started a fire and used every metal pot and metal container we could to heat the water. That was pretty relaxing sitting out there in the nineteengallon galvanized tub soaking in hot water. My bride stretched out on a lounge chair in the snow soaking up the sun and getting a tan in her bikini while waiting her turn in the tub. It really was a nice sunny warm (probably in the mid 40’s) day.

But the daughter had to have the tub moved into her room before she would clean up.

As I got the hang of life as a pioneer wife, things had calmed down somewhat and we began to get into a routine. The brat even got put down a few times as she tried to compete with her dad on outdoor activities. After a few weeks of being with just the geezer, the brat, and the dog I was beginning to feel the need for some adult company. The geezer suggested we do a bath day one day (I think it was a Saturday—time gets away from you when you are having so much fun). Then the next day hike over to our neighbors in the other direction.

We decided we would get up the next day have a nice sourdough pancake breakfast and then go for a nice Sunday stroll to our other neighbor’s place upriver. It was only nine miles, but I didn’t tell the girls that – I just told them it was up the road apiece. I did suggest that we take our bedrolls as it was customary to spend the night when visiting. It was another beautiful spring day, but there was still a bit (probably a foot and a half) of snow on the road.

After breakfast and cleaning things up, all three of us started up the ditch road to our other neighbors’ cabin on Lee Creek. It was a beautiful day and we were all feeling pretty good. We enjoyed the walk, the scenery and even each other’s company, at least for the first mile or two.

By then it was well after noon and the snow was getting soft again, so the girls were starting to get a bit tired and even a little grumpy. Every time we rounded another curve I was asked how much further and the only safe thing I could say was just up the road apiece. By the time the bride started getting upset about “this Sunday afternoon stroll” it was just as far to go back as to continue on. Would you believe that ninemile hike took all day? We did finally get there though.

The bath day was okay and the Sunday started out okay with a leisure sourdough pancake breakfast. It was probably close to midday by the time we started out for the neighbor’s place. I was a little curious, but it didn’t really register with me when the geezer said we should take our bedrolls with us. When we got started I figured it wouldn’t be a major trial (even though the trail conditions were about the same as when we came in), I had made the two miles a few weeks ago and surely, I was in better shape now. It was a beautiful day and we were all getting along pretty good. Boy, can things turn around. After hiking around several bends in the road the hike began to get a little tiresome. I would ask the geezer how much further we had to go and he would say, “it’s just up the road apiece” or “it’s just around a couple more bends”. I guess I’m just a slow learner at times, but if you want a straight answer from the geezer you have to be very specific with the question, even then be suspicious of the answer. That became the worst day yet. It liked to have killed me and I would probably have killed him if there hadn’t been any witnesses around. We hiked the full day to get

www.lwca.com • THE MUSE • February 2023 39 there - nine miles.

When we did get there, I introduced the bride and the kid to our neighbors Barry and Diane.

Now Diane was a 40 plus year old hippy. Rings in her nose and probably other places, before that became popular with the kids today. But she was a great independent woman – I had started calling her my big sister. Anyway, we can get back to her some other time. Now the bride was old-fashioned and graceful enough not to raise hell in front of others – but I found out later that she was just a little mad at me, again.

The next day Diane asked if we could stay at their place for a few weeks, as they needed to go to Whitehorse for some business and needed someone to take care of their sled dogs. Before I could say anything, the bride said yes, as she wasn’t walking back to our cabin. She was staying there until I could go get the truck to drive her back.

Also, she liked this cabin a lot better. It was built in 1928 by the YCGC (Yukon Consolidated Gold Company), which operated the ditch and the ditch road. It was built out of nice 12” to 14” logs, with a loft at one end of the 20’ by 40’ cabin for the sleeping area. In addition, someone else had built a sauna and set up a claw foot tub down by the creek, which again has a story of its own.

Well, we stayed there for a few weeks enjoying the accommodations, the privacy and got to know each other a little better while the bride was learning pioneer skills and the daughter was learning she wasn’t as tough or as good as she thought she was.

When Diane asked if we could stay there for a while I didn’t hesitate or let the geezer have a chance to consider it, as I had no intention of going back the little cabin with out a ride, and there was no way a vehicle could use the road yet. Even

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though it meant we had to take care of a sled dog team. Although it was still a primitive life style the accommodations were so much nicer here than at the honeymoon cabin. There was a loft we could get away from the brat in, the living area actually had room to walk around in and shelves and chairs.

There was even a separate kitchen area with a sink to use (of course you still had haul the water in and carry the gray water out). It was such a nice change.

Besides the geezer decided to see just how much the brat could take. They started to hike to South Fork (about 5miles farther in). It took her three (glorious) days before she was able to make it all the way. By then she was worn out and less of a pain in the ass. I was even able to take a hot bath while there thanks to that tub on the creek bank.

The snow on the ditch road finally melted enough that I could hike back to the little honeymoon cabin and drive the truck back up to Lee Creek. This was about the same time as Barry and Diane returned so I took the girls back to our cabin.

Around this time, I suggested we go into town (Dawson City) to get some supplies and maybe even take a shower. When I said that, the bride asked where we’d be able to take a shower. I innocently told her there were a couple of coinoperated showers at the Laundromat. All of a sudden, she blew her stack again, yelling at me that I had made her wash Levi’s and sheets by hand when there was a Laundromat available. I mean sometimes there was no pleasing that woman.

Everything would be going along fine; sometimes even good and all of a sudden, I’m in the doghouse, again!

When we got to town the daughter took off on her own and managed to get someone to hire her as a nanny and housekeeper for the rest of the time she was up north (until about August).

The bride and I took our showers, did the laundry,

and then I showed her the town. Also introduced her to the friends I knew. But the good thing was when we went back to the cabin it was just the two of us.

As with all good things the stay at Lee Creek eventually had to end and the geezer hiked back to the honeymoon cabin and got the truck. So, it was back to the little cabin again. It wasn’t long after that we needed some supplies and the geezer suggested we finally go into town and maybe even take a shower. When I asked where we would take a shower he nonchalantly said “oh, at the laundromat”.

When I found out there was a laundromat I couldn’t believe he had me doing laundry by hand. Needless to say, I blew my stack. But it didn’t last too long as we got to town and went directly to the Laundromat.

It was such a pleasure to use real washing machines and dryers, and that first shower after several months was almost heavenly. Things got even better as I met some of his friends and found out I could actually buy things I needed. We even went to a restaurant to eat for a change (what a treat from building a fire and cooking over it). But the best thing about that trip to town was that the brat found herself a job as a live-in nanny and housekeeper – she wasn’t going back out to the cabin with us.

We even spent a couple of weeks on our placer claim.

That’s a gold mining claim for the uneducated. The kind where one can pan or sluice the gold out of a creek or dig it without having to get into the bedrock. We took a tarp (as we didn’t have a tent), set up a lean-to to sleep under and keep our gear under (it rained just enough each day to keep things wet). The claim was an hour’s hike up hill so we really didn’t want to pack anymore than we had to. So, after getting the camp somewhat set up we cut enough trees to make planks for cribbing and firewood.

www.lwca.com • THE MUSE • February 2023 41 We proceeded to make our own planks by splitting black spruce trees with a sledgehammer and our own homemade wooden wedges. Then we started to do our mining the turn of the century way. We scraped the moss off the ground where we were going to start a tunnel into the side of the mountain. Immediately under the moss was permafrost so we built a fire.

When the fire died we’d muck the soft mud out and build another fire. That’s the way it went build a fire and then muck it out. This allowed enough time to make and stock the planks we needed to crib the sides of the tunnel until we’d get deep enough in so the permafrost wouldn’t melt. Then the plan was to turn the tunnel back down to go under the creek where the gold was. We spent about three weeks working the claim. There were times packing things up to the claim when I had to wear a bandanna around my nose and mouth (like a bandit) just to keep

from eating too many mosquitoes, and the bride could only see a dark cloud where my head should be because the mosquitoes were so thick.

After being back at the cabin long enough for most of the snow to melt the geezer decided it was time to show me his placer claim. This was another of his great adventures for my life. This is really another story, but suffice it to say it rained every day and we were living in a lean to, so everything was always wet. It got to be a joke while we were waiting for the rain to stop he would point out a little clear spot in the sky and yell, “look it’s clearing up, see the blue sky?”

The work was hard but we managed to survive that episode for a couple of weeks.

By the time we headed back to the cabin the spring break-up on the North Klondike River had taken out one end of the Bailey bridge, so we had to park on the road side of the river and

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then walk across a slanted bridge to get to the cabin. We continued to enjoy the area and go into Dawson every so often participating in their festivities until about July.

What was just as bad was when we got back to the bridge we had to cross to get to the cabin. Spring breakup of the river had washed the bank out from under the other end of the bridge, so it was twisted with one side in the river. This meant no driving across and it was even really difficult trying to walk or better yet crawl across. Needless to say, it was the geezer’s job to warm up the cabin, unload and haul everything to the cabin and he even got the pleasure of fixing supper – I was not in any mood for anything by then. In fact, as soon as the bridge was fixed it was time for another trip to town.

The summer started out pretty good, as it was just the two of us learning and enjoying the primitive life, going to town once-in-a-while and even a little partying. But our finances (my tax return) was quickly running out, so the geezer made a deal with a guy named Bob to cut trees to haul into town for firewood.

By then we had made a deal with a guy in town (Bob Durham) to work a woodlot for him. He would furnish a wall tent and all the equipment (except the chainsaw) we would need. He also set it up for the bride to sign for all the food and supplies at the general store, as she was going to be our camp cook. So, she missed her rose garden that summer as we set up our wall tent on a woodlot on the Pelly River. The woodlot was an area that had been burned years previously.

We went down to Pelly River and found the woodlot. We then proceeded to do a whole lot of firsts for us. We had never set up a canvas wall tent so that was one of our first firsts. Actually, it was kind of a nice set up. We put plywood down for the floor, and built a rack up off the floor for our sleeping bags. We even had a small wood stove for the tent as the tent was designed for a stove stack to go through the roof. The bride even had the use of a Coleman stove, but we didn’t use it very much as we only had one 20 lb propane tank and we would have spent too much

time driving the 4 hours one-way to town for refills.

We were supposed to live in a wall tent on a woodlot down near Pelly River. Bob was going to pay all the expenses and pay us to cut the trees. He set up an account at the Farmer’s Market and one of the local gas stations, so I could take care of getting whatever we needed. Now, I didn’t think this would be too bad.

After all I had been living in this little cabin for several months and besides I used to go camping once in awhile. Of course, my idea of camping was one of those little pop-up trailers, a camp stove, and all the amenities. I had no idea of what a wall tent was.

Besides camping for a few days in a campground was one thing, but living in a tent in the middle of a burned-up forest for several months was another.

Life with the geezer was just one adventure after another.

Actually, the tent was set up pretty good. We had plywood for the floor, the bed was on a raised platform, and even had a wood stove with a chimney inside to keep warm with. We also had a camp stove, but only one propane bottle, so we didn’t use it except for quick warm-ups.

The trick was learning to bake using a Coleman oven on an open fire (actually I got pretty proficient baking cakes, cookies, and bread this way). I also had to play camp cook whenever Bob showed up or he hired someone else to help (usually for about a week only).

Another one of our firsts was using and maintaining a chainsaw. I had managed to buy a brand-spanking-new Stihl Farm Boss chainsaw on credit (big sister vouched for me). I had the foresight enough to get 4 extra chains and an extra bar. After reading the book I got started.

The bride decided to watch from a safe distance like at the bottom of the hill when I was near the top. I would go through and cut and limb trees like mad until it was quitting time. I usually managed to make the chains last for about 6 days and then on Sunday I would spend the day sharpening chains, cleaning, and maintaining the saw.

Most of the time it was just the two of us on the woodlot. About three different times though we had another woodcutter working with us for about a week at a time with his own tent. It was during those times that the bride showed

www.lwca.com • THE MUSE • February 2023 43 she liked challenges. Try baking bread, cakes, or cookies over an open fire using a metal box for an oven! She got pretty proficient at it even to the point that one of the guys was always sneaking cookies or cake. It was amazing what she could whip up for a meal over an open fire.

Naturally those guys would talk about other wood cutting jobs and people. Being the kind of guy, I am I would have to try some of the things I heard. The most challenging was to notch 11 trees so they were ready to fall and then cut the twelfth tree so that all of them would fall in a semi-circle. That was really neat.

One time when we needed to go to town for supplies the battery was dead on the truck, so I got into it and had the bride push it over the edge of the hill it was on. With the ignition on I popped the clutch about ½ way down and the truck started with no problem. Rather than letting the battery get recharged at the bottom I started to turn around among the stumps to drive back up the hill. I backed into a stump and stalled the engine. So, we finished turning the truck by jacking the front up and then kicking it

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off the jack. Then repeat until the truck is pointed uphill. By using rope, chain, a come-a-long and the stumps the bride and I got the truck back up the hill. We then got the truck turned around again and started all over. This time I was a little more careful as the bride was getting tired and she still had to load the truck.

We continued on having fun on the woodlot for a few months. Keeping bears away from the camp and keeping an eye on Cat, she loved to hunt. One of the nice things about the woodlot in the summer was that whenever it rained it was warm and since it was just the two of us we would just strip and grab a bar of soap and enjoy our shower. We continued to enjoy the honeymoon on the woodlot until October when there was about 3” of snow on the ground. Since we hadn’t gotten any money yet and was owed about $6,000 we decided to restock our cabin on his account and move back there until he paid us. He never did.

It was also a little unnerving knowing there were bears and other wild animals in the area and we were living in a tent. I even learned to use the rain

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for a shower. After a while this started to get old, especially when Bob hadn’t hauled out any of the 40-foot trees the geezer had cut and stacked, and we hadn’t gotten any pay. After the second snow with several inches on the ground, still no pay, and the geezer told me about chasing a black bear off, I said that’s it, we’re leaving.

Since Bob hadn’t paid us anything and owed the geezer several thousand dollars I suggested we restock the cabin and everything we needed one last time on his account before going back to the honeymoon cabin. We did just that and then I really wondered what we were going to do as winter was setting in and we were broke with no income (in a foreign country no less).

We were broke but continued looking forward to winter. While we were relaxing and enjoying the cabin we found out the guy who owned the Lee Creek cabin wanted us to move out there as Barry and Dianne were now living down on Strickland Lake where they had bought some land – it had great duck hunting.

We were asked to move into the Lee Creek cabin for the winter, but the geezer wouldn’t move that far away from the highway without a snow machine for transportation.

Also, there was a guy driving to a woodlot that was on a creek between Lee Creek and us every day.

The 66 Ford Custom that I had driven up the first time (yes, another story) was still parked on the ditch road above the cabin and being covered with snow again. Since we were broke I had a brilliant idea. I made this sign:

WOODCUTTER WITH SAW NEEDS WORK HONK OR INQUIRE and would put it on the front windshield in the mornings. After they had gone by I would move the sign to the back window so they would have to see it when they drove out. After about the third day of this, a guy came down and knocked

on the cabin door, said his conscience bothered him every time he went by the sign.

Turns out it was a guy named Art Christianson.

He’s a native guy who had opened up a woodlot on a hill down the ditch road. He had another guy named Glenn working with him to help set up the woodlot and start cutting firewood to sell in Dawson City, since Bob wasn’t bringing any wood into town. They had set up a wall tent for Glenn and another prospector (John Cramp) to stay in while they were cutting for Art. Art paid $30 per cord for me to cut the trees, limb, buck them to 8 foot, and stack them for pick up. After a few days I got my saw paid off, and even found an old Skiddoo Elan snowmachine to buy. With the Elan I felt safe enough to move out to Lee Creek knowing we would be able to get out even with a deep snow. So, the bride and I moved majority of our stuff out to Lee creek, leaving just enough at the Northfork cabin for emergencies or a warm-up stop. She felt like she’d moved into a mansion and almost stopped grumbling.

Within a couple of weeks, he started cutting wood for another guy. This time it was on a woodlot right down the road and he got $30 for every cord of wood he cut and stacked in 8-foot lengths. After about a week he even got an old Skiddoo élan snow machine. So, we moved out to Lee Creek for the winter. I was kind of glad of that as the Lee Creek cabin was so much nicer (it wasn’t a trapper’s cabin).

Even though it was much bigger it seemed easier to heat – the geezer said that was due to the bigger logs it was built out of. Anyway, I almost got to enjoying it.

So, my daily routine settled into riding the Elan pulling a homemade sled carrying my chainsaw, lunch, etc. up to the woodlot at daylight (didn’t have a light on the Elan). Cat would usually run with me unless the bride was cooking up something that smelled good to her. I’d cut trees all day until the sun started to go down, then jump on the Elan and high-tail it back to the cabin – hopefully before dark. Remember this was in winter, so there was only about 6 hours of daylight.

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to go start staking some new placer claims. By then we had gotten pretty well settled in at Lee Creek and figured Glenn could go ahead and move in for little while instead of staying in the tent on the woodlot.

Dawson City. When I heard of this I let the geezer know in no uncertain terms he was going to make sure Glenn got away from the cabin for a while. It wasn’t too long after that, Glenn moved back down south to the lower 48.

Now Glenn was one of those really persistent Bible thumpers. He would wake up in the morning, light a lantern and do about 4 hours of study and devotionals before we went to the woodlot. It didn’t bother me very much; in fact, if I got up early we would get into some interesting discussions. I had claimed Jesus Christ when I was a kid and just had never learned anymore.

The bride on the other hand wouldn’t come down from the loft until he had gone. He kept asking me to go to a Bible study on Wednesday night with him and I wouldn’t make such a commitment. Well, one day the bride heard this invitation and she immediately pulled me outside to talk. She told me I was going to go with him so she could have some peace from his thumpin or I would regret it. Plus, I heard this other voice in my head saying, “I’ve cared for you till now, and this could be your last chance. Are you going to commit to me?”

Once again, the bride and I settled into a nice comfortable routine. I took a day to bring in a couple cords of wood to the cabin and buck it up to stove length. By then it had cooled off enough (-350 F.), so I taught the bride how to split it when she needed to. Cat and I would go up to the woodlot – it was about 6 miles. I’d start the stove in the tent so I would have a warm place for lunch. Then I’d strip down to my T-shirt and Levi’s and go to work. I would be working by myself, and about twice a week Art would come out with his 5-ton truck to get a load to deliver.

I’d quit with just enough time to get home before dark.

Now I don’t know which voice scared me more, but I decided it would probably wise for me to go the Bible study with Glenn. That was the beginning of my getting straight with the Lord.

It’s kind of neat looking back and seeing how the Lord orchestrated everything to get me to that point (but again, that’s another story for another time). It wasn’t long after that Glenn decided he would have to go see his family in Minnesota The problems began again when the geezer said the guy he was cutting wood with could stay with us instead of living alone in a wall tent on the woodlot.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I had ho problems with letting him move in out of the cold. I didn’t even have a problem cooking for the extra guy. But this guy had no life! The only things he could talk about were woodcutting and religion. That was okay for the first day and a half, but then it really got to be annoying. On top of that even though the cabin was bigger there was still no place to get away from hearing him, even in the loft. And in his mind, everyone wanted to hear it so whenever he read the Bible he would read aloud. I thought I would go nuts, or to prison after I killed him. He tried to get the geezer to go with him to a Bible study in

Most of the time the bride had everything hunkydory, including a nice hot meal. But once in a while I’d have to go to the creek to get water.

This required using the axe to cut a hole in the ice and dipping a bucket about 3 feet down to get to the water level. Until the snow got too deep we would drive into town every couple of weeks to go to church and pick up supplies.

After the snow got too deep we would park the truck by the Northfork cabin and use the Elan to get to Lee Creek. Now those trips were a whole lot of fun – but they are a story all by themselves.

By our trips in and out and Art bringing his family out a few times we made ruts in the snow that I could use like a track for the Elan. This allowed me to work until dark as I could use the ruts like a slot car track to guide me home in the dark.

As this life style was new to us (both having lived in the cities) we never really got bored. Plus, every so often we would create some excitement of our own – like the chimney fire. One day I had really stoked up the barrel stove as I was using it like a blacksmith’s forge. I needed to heat up a piece of heavy metal to bend and attach to the sled. After getting the job done I didn’t think much about it and just let the stove cool off to normal temps. About 12 hours later we were lying in the loft trying to go to sleep and when I looked out over the main room I saw these little red lights flitting around. I thought, “we don’t have fireflies up here, what the heck is that.”

www.lwca.com • THE MUSE • February 2023 47

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When I went back down & found most of them around the stove I looked up by the chimney and saw a red glow above the ceiling logs.

Something told me then I had a problem.

I jumped into my Levis, gumboots, and shirt.

Grabbed the hammer and crowbar and ran outside. It was a beautiful November night with a clear sky and a full moon with a temp of about –400 F. While I climbed the ladder to the roof I hollered at the bride to bring all the buckets of water she could gather. After I ripped the roofing tin off around the chimney I found that we had started the sod between the ceiling logs and the tin smoldering.

I would then climb down the ladder and haul up a bucket of water while telling the bride to keep an eye on the burning sod from below. That way she would be able to tell me when the fire was put out, while I poured the water onto the sod. Within a couple of buckets of water, she realized it was better to watch the fire from an angle instead of directly underneath. At any rate we got the fire out and I put the tin back in place and we sat up on the roof watching one of the best displays of Northern lights that we have ever seen. Her in her wet head and me in my wet Levis.

We settled down to a comfortable routine most of the time. The geezer would take Cat to the woodlot for the day leaving me to enjoy the day. I got to do some reading, which I never seemed to have time for before. Had plenty of time to learn to cook and bake on the wood stove. We actually had some pretty nice meals for not having any money. Once in a while the Geezer would create some excitement like when he started a chimney fire in the roof. I really didn’t appreciate getting soaked in sooty mud, but the northern lights that night were absolutely beautiful.

We continued on in this life-style enjoying every day, getting to know each other, and even starting to fall in love until about December. We had been making new friends and getting pretty close to Art and his wife Eldria. In December the pastor of the church we had been attending asked the bride to house sit until an interim pastor came in. So, she went into town leaving Cat and I out at Lee creek. Just about Christmas one evening in the parsonage she met and

claimed Christ as her Saviour. That is why we both love and claim Dawson City as our home.

When Barry R. (the interim pastor – and a whole other story) came in, the bride was asked to house sit another home – which she did. So, I guess one could say that was the end of the honeymoon.

Art would bring his family out for an evening once in a while and I got to know his wife Eldria. We became lifelong friends and she taught me how to make moccasins and do bead work. I’ll never get as good as her at it, but for a while it was fun. That winter was kind of fun as it was relaxing and we would go into town every so often. After the Geezer went to the Bible study with Glenn we even started attending a church in town. The Geezer wasn’t as pushy as Glenn about religion so I guess I got a little curious listening to him and the others at church.

I started reading the Bible a little and when the pastor and his wife were leaving on furlough, (they were missionaries and needed to obtain future promises of funding) they asked me if I would stay in the parsonage until the temporary pastor got into town.

I thought that would be okay as it would be a nice change and besides all the parties are in town since most of our friends had moved into town for the winter. This was in December and you know how many parties there are at that time of the year. Well, I started hitting the parties, but one night the Lord seemed to tell me He didn’t want me there, so I left.

I went back to the parsonage and started reading the Bible and decided to ask Jesus Christ to be my Lord and Savior. Afterward I was feeling great, but from then on when I went to a party with our slug friends (a slug was one of those “lower class” people who were hard working and hard partying people – which included lots of alcohol and drugs) they tended to shy away from me as I had “found religion” in their eyes. I had always enjoyed their company and that kind of hurt, but that was one of the first things the Lord taught me.

By the time the interim pastor got into town another couple had asked me to housesit their place for several months as the were going to go south for the rest of the winter. This was actually a nice two-story home in the middle of town. I ended up spending the rest of the winter there. As the Geezer and Cat stayed at Lee Creek cutting wood most of the time and only came into town every couple of weeks, I

www.lwca.com • THE MUSE • February 2023 49 guess one could say the honeymoon really was over, but the fun and adventures still haven’t come to and end. Now, I’ll leave you with just a couple of thoughts to mull over. First, it’s really awesome to look back over your life and see how the Lord in His sovereignty directs your path to a point of making a decision of life or death for eternity. Secondly, be very careful of what you set yourself up for.

Now, some would ask, “so what’s the moral to the story?” At this I would have to say, if you are getting married, don’t – do not plan some fancy

expensive honeymoon. Take your bride to a trapper’s cabin in the bush somewhere and live there for six months to a year. After that she will appreciate whatever you can provide for her. It doesn’t matter if it is a cabin in the woods or a mansion on a hill.

Yes, Grandpa has a whole lot more wisdom to pass on, but not now, those are stories for other times.

THE END