“In an effort to make up for my lackluster performance at chopping kindling, I’ll go,” said Gerald.
“Great!” said George.
“Let’s hear it,” said John.
“That’s the spirit,” said Lee.
And this is the story Gerald told:
Continue readingTag Archives: Alaska
Stories from an Alaskan Cabin: Chapter Five
Part of the morning cabin routine is to restart the fire. This responsibility falls to the person who first wakes up and can no longer stand the cold. The disadvantage of being the first one out of bed in the cold is that it is a sure way to wake up. The person who starts the fire won’t, generally speaking, go back to the sleeping bag, especially since starting a fire is more complicated than pushing a button. There’s paper to crinkle, smaller wood to put in and larger wood to follow after that. Anyone who is able to stay in bed through the morning chill will be able to wake up to a warm cabin. As a bonus, since the person who started the fire is up anyway, he or she will probably start on making coffee and breakfast. That’s just etiquette and hunger working together to create motivation.
Continue readingStories from an Alaskan Cabin: Chapter Four
Start with the Introduction.
“It must be my turn.” George looked up at the Moon, closed his eyes, and began speaking, “The Moon is tidally locked to the Earth in its orbit. It circles the Earth and shows the same face to us with little variation. The side we don’t see, the so-called dark side, was first revealed to us in 1959 when the Soviet Union’s Luna 3 passed around the Moon and took photos. Unfortunately, the photos showed something that didn’t make any sense to the scientists who saw them. They assumed that they had seen some defect in the film and only released the images that made sense with their understanding of what was up there. The rest they discarded.
Continue readingStories from an Alaskan Cabin: Chapter Three
Read the introduction, prologue, chapter one, and chapter two.
Lee took a second to gather his thoughts. He looked into the cabin and noticed the unlit lantern. Moonlight flowed through the small window and onto the table where the lantern was. The stove was glowing orange but with much less intensity than before. Then he began:
Continue readingStories from an Alaskan Cabin: Chapter Two
Read the introduction, prologue, and chapter one.
George and Lee looked at John, who shrugged and said, “That’s probably fair.” He took a breath, and this is the story John told:
Continue readingStories from an Alaskan Cabin: Chapter One
You can read the preface here and the prologue here if you would like a better orientation to what this is about. Be sure to subscribe to our Patreon to continue the story beyond the first chapter.
Day One
Chapter One: The First Story
When they arrived at the cabin, they set their bags on the porch and opened the door. Inside, the last people who were there had left some firewood. Otherwise, everything was clean. The men claimed their bunks, lit a fire in the stove, and started preparing dinner. After dinner, there was card game, jokes, and beverages. It had been a long day for everyone, and the short trip to the cabin was enough to tire them out. They decided to call it a night.
Continue reading‘Stories from an Alaskan Cabin’ Prologue
If you haven’t read the introduction yet, you can do so here. The first chapter to the story will be posted on Friday Sep. 6, 2019. I’ll add a link when it comes on line. The series will then become a Patreon exclusive weekly story until it becomes a book. Join our Patreon, and don’t miss a story, get access to other great content, and find your favorite penguins.
Continue readingIntroduction to ‘Stories from an Alaskan Cabin’
Preface
As Boccaccio’s “Decameron,” Malory’s “Le Morte d’Arthur,” and Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales” can attest, our forebears were, much as they were in everything, better at telling stories. For what else was there to do in times before the Internet, television, movies, and radio? While modern man finds the need and the capacity to tell stories, the ability and opportunity is much diminished.
Continue readingWhat would America’s ‘The Calling’ look like?
After watching “The Calling” on Netflix, I wondered what the show would look like in the U.S. First, I think there would be a lot more game playing and strategizing than there has been through the first seven episodes of the Indian incarnation of the show. That would take away from the appeal of the show because “The Calling” is at its best when the three contestants are helping each other and taking their individual strengths into consideration, rather than just focusing on winning.
Continue readingKindness takes a trip on “The Kindness Diaries” Season 2, Episode 1
In “The Kindness Diaries,” Leon Logothetis is traveling from Alaska to Argentina relying on the kindness of strangers to feed him and give him lodging. He’s driving a Volkswagen Beetle without a heater in the winter over the Al-Can through Canada.
We were just into the first part of the show, before he made it to Canada, when my wife asked me if people in Alaska were really that kind. I got teary-eyed remembering my time there because yes, they are.
Alaska is a harsh and lonely country. I once traveled on a highway for three hours, and no other car passed me. If you get in trouble, you need the very next person who passes by to stop and assist you. Alaskans, in general, are more than happy to do so because they know what they would want if they were in trouble.
Most of the kindnesses I received while in Alaska were from friends. My first camping trip with a couple of people I barely knew set the stage for the next six years. I received freshly caught salmon on more than one occasion. Even a couple of my rooming situations sprang up because I had a friend who needed a renter, and he was willing to rent to me (at a price I could afford even when I was a student).
I don’t know if I paid back all the kindnesses. I gave my fair share of unexpected gifts. I stopped at traffic accidents in town (because of my Red Cross training and that same friend who rented me a room on more than one occasion).
One time we stopped to see what the vehicle at the top of a hill just outside of Valdez was doing – maybe he was parked, maybe he was taking a break. The truck was broken. My friend and I didn’t know how to fix his vehicle, so we drove back toward Valdez to a phone that the guy could use. (Cell phones were out of range at the time.) When he made the call, we drove him back to the truck though we would have driven him into Valdez if he needed. He gave us fresh caught prawns. I would have refused, but again, my friend was there to accept the gift, and we turned it into one of the best meals I had in Alaska.
Alaskans aren’t friendly because of guns or out of fear. They’re friendly because they know the value of life. They know the value of kindness. They know how hard it is to survive on the frontier. As much as many of them move to get away from people, I always felt like I could count on them to help me out before I experienced any real trouble.
We need more kindness in our lives. Alaska taught me that, and this program has brought back memories.
Penguinate! Positive Creativity 