The Big Slow Down

Im not from Alaska but I have been fortunate enough to have worked here since 2002 when I first came here to instruct for Adventure Treks  I had been in the state the year before on a N.O.L.S. course in the Brooks range and that was the first time I had laid eyes on the big land.  Over the years I have been guiding for Alaska Alpine Adventures  I have explored much of the state on foot, boat, kayak and plane and have discovered no boundaries to its vast empty space.  I have spent winters in cabins for months at a time alone and endured the crowds of mosquitos on still warm days in June.  It is and will always be a true love of my life.  I first came to Lake Clark National Park in April of 2003 as an assistant guide.  I had never been someplace as raw and beautiful as that country.  Over the years I came to know its residents and the lifestyle of living in the bush. 
  The Alaska bush is a place born of endless space, hard work, fortitude and resourcefulness that could be matched by any culture that lives in the big wild places of the world.  The people here reflect that.  I have always found it interesting that the quality of life matches the biology of the place so closely.  By that I mean that things have such a short time to advance themselves, procreate, build and better within the narrow window that summer allows.  The work ethics of the people here are no different. 
  June is a frantic time.  Bugs are flying, flowers are blooming and people are buzzing in the long hours of daylight.  There seems to be no end to what must be done.  In a word it is frantic!  July ramps up to a new level.  Now the Summer is in full swing and there is no time for sleep.  Fish to be caught buildings to build, money to be made.  August is tired,  You see it in the eyes of everyone you work with.  Effort is made for the final push as the days get shorter.  September brings the beginnings of "The Big Slow Down" days are short, there is noticeable darkness and the weather has turned cold.  The leaves have all but fallen and there is a sigh of relief.  Time to rest.  October is the peak of fall in Alaska.  Nights are cold with snow in the high country and winds that blow for days.  A beautiful quiet time of year, the deep breath before the winter truly sets in. 
   It was then in October I found myself in the midst of the slow down.  Cutting firewood for Bella Hammond the elderly widow of former Alaska State governor Jay Hammond.  Chugging along under the falling gold and yellow leaves of autumn I pulled a trailer full of freshly cut wood through the forest on a tractor and thought how lucky I was.  Evenings were quiet, sitting in the homestead kitchen with Bella delighting in her stories of homesteading on Lake Clark and her eventful life, from Yupik Eskimo to first lady of Alaska. Dining on hot food from cast iron and fresh baked bread and butter.  A simple life and one that is perhaps falling by the wayside these days in favor of the mass transit, cell phones and clutter.  I will always treasure the time I have spent here and the people I have come to know and care for.  I have never met as many characters and been fascinated by as many stories as I have found heard and learned here in Alaska.  Perhaps we could all learn from the simplicity, dedication and hard work that the land requires of those that live here.  It will always continue to shape those that are here and perhaps those that are only passing through.