Without much to do, alone in an abandoned school on Thanksgiving, I decided that I needed to take a walk. The town of Aniak is basically a larger oval that surrounds the airstrip. It is next to the Kuskokwim River and acts as the Chicago of bush village flying for this part of Alaska. It is immensely larger than Holy Cross. I knew heading out the door that I was not going to be “walking around town” because the town is a few miles away on the other side of the airstrip. I am guessing the round-trip would be somewhere around eight miles. That’s a good day of hiking and I knew I only had a few hours of daylight left. So I geared up and set out.
I didn’t travel far. I walked across the parking lot, which is full of unused vehicles, and gandered out over the emptiness of the airstrip. This place is quiet. Quieter than Holy Cross on most days. That is because everything is so far spread out. I couldn’t hear a gang of dogs barking or the roar of any snowmobiles. It was nice. The school, it appears, was built on a hill. Surrounding the back half of the school is a large area of brush that was at one time used to throw away unwanted desks and other equipment. That is when I notice the abandoned bus sitting out in the middle of the brush, waiting to be devoured by the earth. It was a no brainer that I had to check it out.
The door was open. The seats were empty. I was happy. There is something about old anonymous places or things that gets me excited. It is like exploring ancient ruins. I wonder about its past and I wonder how long it will sit here before it sinks into the ground. And I wonder about the people that will discover the bus after me and enjoy it the same way I did. I took pictures. I took one video of me reenacting a scene from Into the Wild. I found old pop cans of Diet Coke, Diet Pepsi, and Dr. Pepper. Someone had come in and sliced the leather in a couple of seats. Many of the seats were ripped from their bolts and tossed around haphazardly. The glass out the back window was shattered and scattered across the floor.
I sat down at the back of the short bus. I stared out at the airstrip. The air smelled cold and pure. I realized that I was living my own version of Into the Wild. I am having my own Alaskan experience. And it has been a wonderful one. I have witnessed and participated in a moose hunt, went fishing on the Yukon River, saw a herd of bison, fileted salmon and hung them in a smokehouse, helped put on the fall festival at the school, saw a couple foxes and a weasel, hiked the hills of Holy Cross, stood face to face with a bull moose, met a collection of wonderful people that have changed my life, and now I was in my own Magic Bus.
Life is wonderful. And if you let it, it will show you. I could have sat around town mad that I wasn’t where I planned on being, mad that the Lions lost again, and mad that I can’t be with people on Thanksgiving. But I didn’t. When life throws me a curveball, I know it is probably for a good reason. This has been a fun day so far and I plan on enjoying the evening with a Jack’s Pizza and a tall bottle of Coca-Cola. I plan on watching a few episodes of Detroiters, reading Flowers for Algernon, and learning some Spanish. Life is good.
Author’s Note #1: Yo necesito usar el baño.
Author’s Note #2: ¿Hablas español?