Life

My first week in Haines Mon. Aug. 15, 2011

Hi Everyone,

Here is mom’s take on our recent transfer to Haines. We arrive about noon and the Schindlers are here cleaning. I am so grateful for Sister Schindler’s efforts to clean the 12 inch yellow stain from the toilet area, and the three coats of soap scum remover she used in the tub/shower. We can use the bathroom. They wanted to help us move in but we decided to go to lunch and we assured them we would be ok without their help. Mostly there just wasn’t room for 4 of us in the house. The Schindlers are large people, meaning tall and big.

They pointed out the bear scat (isn’t that a nice polite way to refer to the crap) that was a few days old by the side of the house. This made me feel really safe and happy. The bear stories are beginning to be more credible. We are told to be careful going out in the evenings because that is when the bears come out. Also, we should get some bells to wear so the bears can hear us coming. One lady told Sister Schindler that she would never cook in the cabin because it would attract the bears. President Lehman, the branch president, told me not to worry and go ahead and cook. Yeah, like he is in the cabin. I have cooked and we haven’t had any bears, but when he was taking us to the dump, he did say, “Oh yes the bears do come through there. We had to get rid of our garbage dumpster because the bears came and knocked it all over for the garbage.” So now they keep the garbage in the garage. Like I hope the bears aren’t really hungry because if they want to get in anywhere, they sure as heck can. I just hope they don’t think we, the people, are garbage. We have a lovely, back door to escape from which drops down a hill side where, of course, the bears will go. Well so much for bears, I will keep you posted, but in the event you don’t hear from us for awhile, maybe we have disappeared. Oh, by the way, people disappear here and are never found. One of the branch president’s here went fishing and just disappeared and was never found. I guess when they fish if they lose their balance in the 10 mile an hour river current, their waders will fill with water and off they go. At least they think that is what happens. If bears eat you, they eat even your bones so good luck finding the body. Anyway, we are here now and safe and happy. Oh one last bear tale we plan on going to observe tonight, is the men fish for salmon, and when they get the fish, the bears show up. So the men take off to their cars and the bears come in and eat the fish, then they leave and wait for the fishermen to catch them more fish. Smart bears huh!

Ok, so back to the moving in. Sorry for that long tirade. I was trying to empty some of our blue tubs of things I thought we would need immediately and Dad was getting help to move our queen size bed into our teeny bedroom. I thought we should leave it in the living room, but am glad he persuaded me to try the bedroom. It did fit. We have a whole 10-12 inches on each side of the bed. I can barely move my body through the space by the bathroom facing front, but dad has to turn sideways to fit through. If you have to hurry to the bathroom, it challenging condition. We took the closet doors off so we could fit two white plastic sets of drawers along the wall at the foot of the bed. The closet is 2 feet by 3 feet. The missionaries had put up random shelves all over the cabin, (excuse me, they call it the cottage). We took most down and made a bookcase on one wall in the living room. We redid all the light fixtures with fluorescent lights so it looks more uniform and is lighter. We do have carpet in the living room and bedroom so the floors are much warmer there than they were in Whitehorse. The little ladies informed me they had cleaned the bedroom and the living room, but hadn’t got to the kitchen and bath. Obviously! I cleaned dirt and mold out of the frig and behind it, moved the stove and did the same. Oh, the stove didn’t work, but they bought a new one for the church, so dad installed that and moved the old one over here. Then I attack the bathtub. This amounted to sanding the scum off with a green scratchy and took most of one day. It looks better but could use another round of scum remover in the tub.

Dad in the meantime, cleaned out the storage shed. Wow did they have a ton of old boxes the missionaries had packed up and intended to return and get, but didn’t. Some was 5 years old. So we got permission to get rid of them. It was fun to go through the stuff. We got some reading material for the winter, but most we hauled to the dump or gave to the thrift store. Clothes get moldy and smelly here because of the humidity.

Oh, humidity is doing wonderful things for my hair! It is getting curly. I don’t know what to do with curly hair—I hate curly hair on me. Especially, since I have a terrible hair cut from my friend in Whitehorse, who left it so short I can hardly get it around the curling iron to straighten it. I have burns all over.

Back to the shop. Dad built a work bench, installed lights, fixed the weed eater, mowed the lawn and moved every little shelf, hook, nail that I wanted moved—sometimes 2-3 times. He was wonderful, patient and long suffering. So both of us were dead and I had to cook every night but one. Food here is extremely expensive, and I think you need to shop when the ship comes in because if you wait too long everything good is gone. Like avocados are $2.00 a piece, apples $4 a lb. I think we may give up veggies and fruit and take vitamins.

First nations here are more Indian like we know, while in Whitehorse, there was a stronger Asian quality. They eat more American, less rice here. I find I miss the rice. We went to dinner one night at President Lehman’s house and I felt I was eating at my Aunt Daphne’s ranch. We had “scalloped tomatoes” which were actually really good, and I haven’t eaten those since I was a kid. She apologized for not making biscuits, which was an everyday custom in my mom’s day. They cook veggies here and in Whitehorse in an interesting way. They use the pressure cooker a lot. They just put in whole, long carrots and serve them that way. In Whitehorse, they made soup with chicken legs which are just in the soup, rather than picked off the bone. You get used to it and it makes me feel very removed, like I am from another world somehow. Many don’t have TV. People appear to read a lot here. The Lehman’s play games. We learned a new game called protect your assets that dad even seemed to enjoy. We will teach it to you when we get home.

Oh one of the nice things is we have lots of scalding hot water. Problem is it comes from over at the church and you have to wait about 5 minutes for it to warm up enough to do dishes, shower, or wash your face at night. But when it gets here it is really nice. (I wonder how long it will take to warm up when it gets winter?) Oh, it is fall here. The leaves are beginning to turn colors. It is looking more like late September. They do get snow here—20 feet and it is wet, not dry like Whitehorse and Rexburg. I hope dad doesn’t have a heart attack shoveling this winter because I am sure we will inherit that job. It is also rainy this week. They say they have had a drought, but it doesn’t look dry to me.

We spoke in church yesterday and there were 13 of us there. Three priesthood. I’m feeling young. One lady is 50 with a 10 year old son she adopted. Lucy is 87 and has a schooner license, broke her neck at 75 , but had it fixed and she is very alert and spiffy. I like her. She weighs everyday and if the scale goes over 130 is get it right off! I didn’t enjoy that conversation. There is a grandmother in her 80’s, a daughter in her 70’s, and a daughter-in-law in late 70’s, and a granddaughter probably 40’s. This family is the Wild’s and they are sharp. There is Lemme, who is taking temple preparation lessons from us and is 72 and looking for another man. Her husband died 2 years ago. She is interesting and a little strange. She is into connecting with the universe and nature. She is trying to build some kind of cistern so the water can circulate through her house. I don’t quite understand it and am a bit reluctant to go look because I don’t think dad should start helping there with that project. There is one lady in her 50’s, Patty Perkins who is sharp and teaches gospel doctrine. I don’t dare complain about any aches and pains because they are all so hardy and independent. There are lots of inactive, and part member people here. We were told to take things really slow here. I guess the people haven’t related well to have the missionaries move in and out every six weeks. We understand the Baptist minister dislikes Mormons and comes out in force once he knows you are here. We have been met with friendliness though we haven’t been out and around much.

Well that is about all for now. Besides you probably won’t read all of this anyway. Pray the bears don’t eat us.

Love ya tons,

Mom