Today I remembered that when I was little, we lived in a cabin in the woods by a russian village in Anchor Point, Alaska. My dad built the cabin. We had lots of cool forts in the woods. And we didn’t have running water. So we washed dishes in these little plastic bins, we bathed every so often in a galvanized tub thing, and we had an outhouse.
I realized that this is somewhat atypical, and I’m really grateful I was blessed with some time of life in the woods with an outhouse. What a dream.
My Doctrine and Covenants teacher, Elder Wright, was talking in class today about his days with an outhouse, and it invited me to reminisce on many good memories at the cabin.
What a really great time of life.
I do remember watching Jurassic Park on VHS in our little living room. It was dark, windy, and rainy outside and I remember not wanting to go out to the outhouse after watching that movie! I was afraid a big T-Rex would come get me.
When my parents first got married in 1981 (California boy + Idaho girl) my dad took my mom back up to Alaska to this cabin, where they lived. A year later my sister was born, then another sister, and a brother. And somewhere before I was born they moved to a house with running water, also in the town of Anchor Point, Alaska.
I was born and around 5 years later, we moved back to the cabin for a year or so. I was in kindergarten and have many many fond memories of life at the cabin. We had a ton of cool forts in the forest. We’d pick blueberries in the summer, go sledding in the winter. We had chickens and a rooster named James, and I think we had a couple bunnies. Of course we had some birds and our trusty chocolate lab Bosco too.
Life at the cabin was great.
Even with scary, dark trips to the outhouse after watching Jurassic Park.
I remember learning to read at the cabin. My first book was Dick and Jane, not sure if it was Mom or Dad’s old book, but we still have it around! And I have a memory of reading the picture scripture stories, and reading the word resurrection and my dad being really impressed and that made me feel good.
I’m really grateful for how my life has gone so far. Lots of great and unexpected things, and many more to come.
