My First Year In The Wilds

It all started in 1994 in the spring,as it was breakup 
and I was itching to get a plot of land.
Many years of saving and preparing I focused
on Willow Township,contacted a realtor and went
for a look...4 acres with existing power pole.
12,500...I offered 10,000 cash and she took it.

I paid the realtor right there and 30 days later I 
left Brother Francis and Beans Cafe forever.
The drive was long and Wasilla only had one light at 
the now McDonalds.

It was away from the big city out in the forest where I 
knew I would find solice and my inner entrepenuer.
It was risky but given the alternative.
I knew only what I had written in my notebook.

Willow is home to the finest weed in Alaska and that
was prevalent when i arrived...I even grew it a while
for personal use.
There are also a lot of undesirables here as well and
I crossed paths with many of them to my utter dismay.

Skies the limit I said and it did seem so .

  went to the bookstore and looked up hobbies and 
found candle making as an interest.
I melted wax in double boilers on my propane stove.
Not as easy as I thought though.
I purchased a varying amount of beeswax,wicking and 
colour blocks along with rather expensive silicone molds...

Xmas trees 65.00 each imported from Germany.
They had all the stuff....65 cents a pound for natural
95 cents for the white purified wax...good luck getting 
it at less than 10 bucks a pound now. I have 80 pounds
left that ill deal with next year maybe.

It was bitter cold that first winter with temps 
plummeting to minus 40 and 50 then minus 60 so i 
knew i was in trouble once the heat gives out.
We haven't had winters like that in 20 years.
Lets just hope we get tons of snow.

Going shopping meant Carrs in Wasilla or Costco
in Anchorage....Costco was awesome and I loved
getting pizza and ice cream before my shopping spree.
My freezer was a broke one from the dump and a 
working fridge with small freezer also from the dump.

I was young and dumb and hadn't a clue.
Hunting and fishing became my new creed and i 
got my first taste of moose and caribou.
Rabbits and grouse were plentiful ...got my first
taste of duck and geese...i wasn't paying attention.

That winter i got 14 feet and the cabin with a 14 ft peak
was completely buried along with everything else
i forgot to cover up.
When the snow finally all melted off i was greeted
by the Magick of Spring.

Magick is all around us...We can see the budding of 
trees,the foaling of calves and new life amongst us.

May 12 1994 was my liberation from a life almost 
impossible to get out of....I will never go back.

Peace,BigT