A Call, A Tank Top, and A Case of Beer: Life Lessons

Add shrieking wind and then imagine yourself in a purple tank top.

 I tucked my chin to my chest to deflect the wind as I trudged down my path toward my warming truck.  I’d plugged it in about 2 hours earlier and then had let it run for about 15 minutes before getting in, giving the heater a slim chance to stave off the worst of the negative 15 degrees outside. It is a beautiful, bright, sunshiney day, but the wind has been whipping for two days and to say it’s brisk outside might be a bit of an understatement. Before my little jaunt into town today I hadn’t driven anywhere in…well,…I’m not sure how long. I’ve been majorly nesting at my cabin and puttering around the neighborhood either on skis or with a chainsaw in my hand.  It’s a luxury to not have to drive anywhere.  But today I was eager to make the four-mile trip into Cantwell to check my post office box and get a little gas.  Realistically, neither of these were imperative, but I wanted to see beyond the forest of my neighborhood, enjoy the open views of Broad Pass, and catch a glimpse of Denali. I put my truck into 4x4 and punched through the lingering snow drifts then turned south into the bright sunshine and the ice covered highway.

To say Cantwell is a one-horse town might be crediting it with one too many horses.  There is no town square, no shops, not much of anything.  It is an intersection with one gas station, a post office, and a few shells of buildings.  Sure, if you look deeper or know where to go you’ll find our one bar but even that is off the beaten path of the George Parks Highway.  So I had no expectations of running into people in “town” and I just enjoyed the fact that I needed to use my sunglasses for the first time in months while driving into the southern sun. 

I pulled into the Post Office and left the truck running while I popped in and picked up my scant spoils.  Having forgotten that it is Saturday, I was out of luck at the window as it was already closed and I was not able to pick up the package I’m expecting. [insert sad trombone sound here] I shuffled back to my truck and thought to check the voice mails on my cell phone which does not get reception at my cabin.  Believe me when I tell you that I almost never have messages waiting for me, so when I saw 3 messages I could hardly believe it.  All of them from unknown numbers as well.  One was a computer call, one was about a job interview, and one was from someone I’ve never met.  The first two were deleted immediately, but the last one had me sitting in my truck with a stupid grin on my face.  It was so out of the blue, so unexpected, so random, so thoughtful…I was simply dumbstruck.  I’ve got some decisions to make about my future and a few days ago had thrown something out on the tide that is Facebook that it would be nice to have someone to bounce ideas off of.  I had some hen pecks online, but it really surprised me that someone had earnestly taken it upon themselves to actually call me up and even more surprised that it was someone I’ve not met in person.  I received a weather report, amount of daylight hours, and an activity update from another part of the country and that was all.  For some reason just the simple gesture of a random phone call left me grinning.

I turned into the blinding sun and drove the hundred yards to the gas station.  There was one other car at the pumps, a red sedan of some sort.  With the wind grabbing my door and throwing it open, I braced myself for the frigid act of putting gas in my tank.  As I squinted into the sun, a silhouette came out of the station and toward the red car.  It unhooked the gas pump and inserted it into the car.  Because of the sun I couldn’t see anything properly so I made a visor with my hand so I could see if I knew who this figure was.  I could not have been more surprised. My jaw dropped open a little and icy wind filled my gaping mouth.  In front of me, hair whipping in the fierce north wind, was a heavyset black woman.  Wearing a purple tank top.  A tank top!!!! She is squeezed into a pair of large black jeans not quite zipped all the way up, is wearing silver-rimmed sunglasses with a silver chain draping down below her chin across her ample, visible cleavage, and she’s wearing a freaking tank top. It only took me a split second to assess the situation as I stood there in my bunny boots, wool long underwear, crotchless wool britches (not sexy crotchless, but practical, well-loved, worn every single winter day for work and play since 1997 crotchless), capilene shirt, huge poofy down coat, neck gaiter, beanie, and lined leather gloves.  I smiled at her and said, “Girl, you’re CRAZY!!” I saw a huge set of pearly whites smiling at me out of her dark face and she said, “I’ve been driving for 20 hours and it’s hot in there!” indicating her car.  She exclaimed how freezing it was outside and reached into her car for another layer.  She emerges with an over-sized, black hooded sweatshirt that zipped up the front.  Again I couldn’t have been more taken aback when I saw that printed in white on the front and back of the garment were the bones of a human skeleton torso.  Like a large, animated anatomy lesson.  She pulled the black hood up on her head and we chatted about her trip from Anchorage to Fairbanks and road conditions.  She was very nice and as we both finished at the same time, I headed inside to pay and she got in her car to leave. We wished each other safe driving.  I stepped in to the warmth of the gas station and shook my head in disbelief.  A tank top!!  The cashier and another old man were watching her drive away.  It was a “she’s not from these parts” moment, but for some reason exhilarated me.  Her well-meaning carelessness, her huge smile and friendly demeanor, her excitement over her first winter road trip, her easy laugh… she was a breath of fresh air.

I enjoyed some banter with the men at the store and drove home to my ‘hood feeling light and enjoying the beauty surrounding me.  As I pulled off the highway and onto my driveway I could see that my neighbor who has been away for a week was home, snowblowing the road.  So happy to see him, I parked my rig and walked down to say hello and welcome home.  After chatting for a bit I mentioned that I might drive up to Healy to grab a few staples and some beer and he just looked at me and said, “I’ve got two cases of High Life in my truck for you.”  I could not believe it!! Hallelujah and pass the snakes! He just saved me 75 miles of driving!

Gentle Reader, you may be asking yourself why the heck I’m telling you about any of this and why my knickers are in a twist and I’ve got a goofy grin on my face.  The reality of today was that I got a random phone call, saw an inappropriately dressed stranger, and my neighbor knew I would be out of beer.  Is my life so tiny and boring that this is all it takes for me to get excited?  Have I become so hermitic and isolated that I’ve gone a little loopy? Do I need to get out more?  Well, that could be one interpretation.  But I’m here to tell you that I am content in my life.  I’m happy on a daily basis.  My cluttered little cabin is cozy and it’s all mine.  I recreate for free, in my backyard, in one of the most beautiful places on earth.  I can go for a week at a time without driving my truck.  I haven’t been in civilization for over three weeks and I don’t desire it. Simple things make me happy and perhaps I just don’t ask too much of myself.  Maybe I should.  But I love being surprised by an unexpected phone call, bonding with a new friend who I’ll only ever know for those 4 minutes this afternoon, but who I’ll remember with a laugh, and knowing that a neighbor was thinking of me after not seeing each other for a week.  These are truly simple joys that a lot of people in this busy world might overlook or take for granted or not even notice.

I appreciate that my life is simple and slow enough to make joyous mountains out of molehills.  It’s winter in Alaska for Pete’s sake!  I’m in hibernation mode! As the light returns I feel my energy returning and I know the busy season is around the corner.  Soon I will have days full of skiing, working, hiking, visiting, biking, and being constantly on-the-go.  But I have deliberately created this room in my life to breathe; to kowtow to the season and be still and contemplate and simplify.  Perhaps at another time of year I would have listened to those same messages while driving somewhere with other things on my mind and briefly wondered why someone I’ve never met left me a message. Or come across a kind-hearted woman at a gas pump that I paid no mind to because I didn’t want to lift my head to notice the tourists.  It happens.  I am just grateful at this time, in this place, that my life is so slow that these simple occurrences made my day.  Life can be busy and full-on all the time and I appreciate the chance to absorb the ebb and flow.  That being said, I anticipate the energy and action of the already returning daylight.  Opportunities are presenting themselves.  Decisions are being contemplated and mulled over….soon again I’ll be on the run, but hopefully not passing up these unique occasions to laugh out loud and be grateful over the small, random golden chestnuts life offers up to us.  It makes for happier living to be easily pleased.