While there in this remote part of Alaska, I came to feel as if I had gone back fifty years in time. For example, wherever we went when outdoors we often carried firearms...sometimes both rifles and holstered handguns. That was definitely not the case anywhere else I had lived. We did not have television. In fact, we did not even have radio. We did not have paved streets and roads. Nor, did we have shopping centers, bowling alleys, golf courses, fast food outlets, or the such. However, in many ways I enjoyed the lifestyle. Because of the multitude of outdoor activities that were available, I did not really miss those trappings of more populated areas. I was not disappointed. In fact, I was thrilled. I had spent my boyhood hiking the woods on the bluffs high above the Mississippi River and imagining that I was an explorer. Now I was living the dream.

Perhaps the best example of how life was different for me is a certain story of a bear attacking a townsperson. During my year there, one of the Cold Bay residents had encountered one of those giants at his home. Apparently, he heard a scream from outside his house, and upon looking out of the kitchen window, he saw his daughter being chased by a huge brown bear. She was running as fast as she could to get to the house. When she arrived at the door, the father opened it for her, quickly closing it just before the bear got there. Surprisingly, the bear didn't break down the door, but loitered outside of the house for quite some time. Considering the bruin to be a threat to his family's safety, the father eventually shot it.

I heard later that there was an ongoing investigation because the bears in the area were protected wildlife. Being vigilant with regard to those bears was one of the most significant differences from life back home. I was not accustomed to feeling like potential prey to an attacker that considered itself the top of the food chain!