The perks of a small-town childhood

In September 2000, a few months after my 4th birthday, my family loaded up the U-Haul and left Anchorage. We drove with our entire life in the backseat to Talkeetna, about 100 miles north of Anchorage. The whole family bunked with my grandfather throughout the process of building our soon-to-be house up the hill. After a few months, we moved into our new home.

Since the property surrounding my house is owned by family members, my brother and I had a lot of space to explore. At a young age, we cruised the hillside on our Z-120 snowmachines, breaking new trails and, of course, getting stuck in the process. The memory of my mom pulling my machine out of the ditch with her car will trump going to the movies any day.

My small-town upbringing taught me many valuable lessons. I know how to build sled jumps out of snow that will rock your socks off, I learned to entertain myself using nature and my imagination and, of course, I taught myself to solve my own problems, such as digging my little Z-120 out of a snow berm.

On hot summer days, the kind where you are just dying for some ice cream, my dad would give me a couple dollars and I would ride my bicycle the four miles into town. My first stop was always Tanner’s Trading Post to get my daily dose of Jolly Rancher candy, and as soon as I finished that blue raspberry treat, I would make my way over to Nagley’s General Store, where I spent the remains of my money on two scoops of caramel caribou in a waffle cone, which was quickly consumed sitting in the park with a friend.

I occasionally wonder how my life would be different if my parents had not decided to move out of the city. The childhood experiences are drastically different in rural areas compared to those in urban areas.

Talkeetna is a small town with a widely dispersed population of 876. It’s quaint and friendly; however, the city life has always appealed to me. I would love to be close to malls, movie theaters and bowling alleys, but on the contrary, movies could not have overridden my love for snowmachining at age 5.

Growing up in Talkeetna, I was free for adventures. Whether it was climbing trees, biking into town for candy or building an igloo, I was always eager for new experiences. I grew up in a place that encouraged exploration and rewarded responsibility. These incredible childhood memories of growing up in a magical little town shape the person I have become and are embedded in my soul.

Dana Hogan is a senior at Susitna Valley High School.