Alaska Story from my Big-Bro Ben

"Yooooooeeeeee! All!

It was a cold night that night. I could tell it was at least -40 below by the sting in my lungs.

Exhaling, smoke drops straight to the ground, a testimony as to what might happen to a poor soul if he don't keep movin'. The cherry the only thing to keep the bare flesh on my fingers warm, becomes my solitary friend this night. Times are tough these days and the money don't come easy. You'd think in a climate like this some sort of backup heating system would be in place, but once again, greed, a lust for money, and no patience for trueness leaves me alone with a single Toyo. Outside two 50's effortlessly float on a makeshift gravity stand, bridged by an eight inch copper run right through the cabin wall into the back of the 'Yo. Like I said before, the money was not as green as the night was cold, and the tanks they were a hair from 'rigor'. A steady flow of exhaust puffed it's way out of the side of the cabin I called my home.

After about two more puffs of my ciggy, and the cherry says goodbye, the stove starts to cough and sputter, until it too puffs no more. What's a guys to do in a perdicamant like this you ask? Well below zero and no heatin' fuel to boot, just enough auto fuel to get there and buy the deisel, but not enough cash to buy more gas to put in the truck to get it home where it is so desparately needed.

"Well." I thought out loud, "Tonight is the night we separate the boys from the men!" Seein' as how my boys were gettin' so dern cold, it felt like they were going to separate from my man!

I stepped into the warm cabin, crawled into my warm cozy bed. It was about 70 above in the cabin at this point. But I knew that in just a few short hours, this would not be so. When I woke up the next morning it was -2 below zero in that cabin, and -55 below outside. Cold enough to know it because all of the water in my kitchen was frozen almost solid in thier 5 gallon jugs. The refridgerator had become a re-warmerator. Little did I know during the course of all of this scientific mumbo jumbo, phenominomal hooie, my mush puppies had knocked over thier only source of heat, a 125watt heat lamp, which in turn scared them out of thier kennel and into the cold.

I went to go open the front door and as I did, there they were, bundled up together like two little loaves of bread, covered from head to tail in inch thick ice which had formed on their fur from the moisture in thier tiny little bodies. This in effect created a moisture lock wich actually kept them relatively warm."


My brother lived up in Alaska for a little while. He loved it there but we are glad to have him home again. He is a real hoot! :)