Maxine

A 1966, orange, slant-six Dodge carryall crawled up the old North Hill. Three people and four dogs jockeyed for space. More than 3000 miles behind them; another 15 and they would collide with their day dreams. Mountains and trees pressed the road.  I wondered what I was doing. Did I really need this adventure? Wasn’t there something important that I should be doing somewhere else?

The Dodge turned off the highway. It climbed and scrambled up an almost visible path. In a small clearing, two friends who had come before awaited us. Good cheer and joyous greetings burgeoned. Dogs circled and played. The Dodge…the Dodge slowly slipped downhill backwards coming to rest against a compliant tree. We immediate realized that we weren’t in flat land any longer.

The next day, the trusty Dodge took us to Safeway for weekly provisions. Cart full, a cheerful voice called “ I’ll help you over here”. Her name tag read “Maxine”.  We said hi, and without a blink she looked at us and said “ Oh, you’re those new hippies that live out past Moyie. ”  We were shocked that she knew where we lived and equally shocked that we were considered “hippies.” I wondered how it was possible to be so nosy and friendly at the same time.

Days crashed into days. The foundation took form. A garden took root. The Dodge returned to Safeway the next week and we looked for Maxine.  Potatoes… rice… “ Well, where are you kids from?”  Beans… margarine… “How did you get all the way here?” One six pack of generic beer and a chocolate bar. “ Do you have family around here? “  I wondered all the same things. Specifically, how HAD  I gotten here?

Subfloor, first floor framing. Requested construction electricity denied. We  cut everything by hand. The Dodge returned to Safeway as if it was a second home. Maxine! “Whatever do you kids do all day long out there?” “Have you found any huckleberries? ” I was too tired to answer. I DID wonder though, what huckleberries were.

Second floor, hand split shakes, roof trusses…. Maxine: ” Well I just don’t understand where you get the money to build a house. You don’t have jobs. And honestly, you’d have to go to the barber before you should try looking.” I  wondered and worried about money and a job. I also  just wondered about Maxine.

A cabin/tent fire burned one night.  Flames torched the trees. The tools were in the garden, the saw was out of gas, a neighbor was reluctant to let us use the phone.  Finally, the call for help,  and a bored, bureaucratic voice asked: “ Is this a controlled burn?” Silence .  Finding voice,  our friend responded, “ If this was in any manner controlled, we wouldn’t be calling you!”

Morning smoldered. Clean laundry gone. Weekly groceries gone. Sleeping bags, pads, and tent gone. But the people were good. The kitties were good. The dog buddies were  good. A grateful smile encircled us. Back to Safeway. We were going to move into the house just a little early.

Maxine: “Well you’re back early. Did you forget something?” Exhausted and sooty,  I  wondered if I had forgotten all reason and sanity.

The roof was completed, the siding went up, and the windows were set. Still no water or septic. The days lost sunlight and the mornings held frost. Two friends left claiming amicably that there were no women in Bonners Ferry.  Three remained. As fall deepened,  we huddled around a borrowed wood stove. We  were broke. We were bottle collecting, fair bartering, squash eating every night, broke. Thanksgiving and a visiting friend were both coming.  We emptied our jeans pockets, took odd jobs and sold huckleberries. We pooled our money.

The week before Thanksgiving, the Dodge pulled into the Safeway parking lot.  We collected a chicken to roast, a six pack of generic beer and a chocolate bar. Maxine was at her till. “Well how are you kids doing? What do you have going on for Thanksgiving?” We proudly held up the chicken and the beer.  “What? That’s what you’re doing for Thanksgiving? Oh no you’re not. You kids are coming to my house for Thanksgiving.” But there were four of us. Maxine sternly explained that she had plenty of chairs and plates for everyone and that no one was going to spend their first Thanksgiving in Bonners Ferry with a chicken and generic beer if she had anything to say about it.

That was 1972. We  celebrated our first Thanksgiving with kind hearted strangers.  Maxine and many friends have come and gone. I  remained.  Over the years I have wondered about a lot of things. I have wondered how it is that time moves so fast.  I wonder how it is that I am the lucky one to stay. I wonder how a place could mean so much. But I never ever wonder why I stayed.  Here, kind hearted people open their doors to strangers and make them feel welcome.

I am celebrating my 53rd year in this house on the hill. I still set my handbrake.  I like huckleberries. I still have a cat and a dog. I still go to Safeway. Life is very, very good.