Mama don't let your babies grow up to be bush babes

One in a Gazillion:
There are few of the true rustic female versions around anymore. You know the type I'm talking about. The ones that can split wood, cook on a wood stove, haul water, run a dog team, drive a snowmachine and do their business in the outhouse without complaining. A true wilderness woman or as we refer to them..a bush babe. One that doesn't need all the daily foo-foo stuff to make her feel good inside (or mirrors in the house to remind her of what she looks like for that matter).

Making the Grade:
What we need is a sorority for those gals with grit in their britches and a method to wheedle out those that are unworthy. The first requirement for inclusion in the club would be can you squat and pee. Not can you use the outhouse complete with seat and paper service oh no, no, no. We're talking basics here. Can you enter the great outdoors, assume the position, do your business, resume your upright stance and leave your mark in the snow. In the land of the last frontier we've been known to have female bonding competitions of who can whip their pants down, pee, and get them back up and buttoned before the competition does. Hey, it's not like we're starved for cultured entertainment out here.

Make it work:
Bush babes must have a sense of humor and have the ability to make the most out of a moment. For instance, getting rid of the pee bucket contents from the night before we decided to throw it on the garden spot then covered with a six foot blanket of snow as fertilizer. Upon discovery our neighbor squealed, "eeeeewwwwwww, what's that!!", seizing the moment we told her it's where God took a pee.

What's that smell:
Bush babes have a high tolerance level. They can stand the smell of urine, body sweat, halitosis, and greasy body odor for days at a time (their own or fellow house dwellers). This aint a weekend stint at the camp enjoying the great outdoors, it's life, aint it sweet? A bath is a hallowed event and every hot shower that is driven miles to obtain is treated like the holy enlightened experience that it is.

Out of the box:
Bush babes have a high level of appreciation. They know that it's the little things in life that count. Like watching snow sift from the sky, time spent alone, Denali crowned in alpine glow, snowshoeing the creek, driving a sled dog team, a warm fire to back up too, and family. They don't have to yearn for the woods from the confines of a city 9-to-5 life. They opt to live life out of the box (even though it feels like one) with all that it entails.

Mama Don't let your babies grow up to be bush babes:
So young women if you yearn for an independent life off the grid in the wilds of Alaska remember this. In retrospect it will never be as bad as it seemed at the time and the stories you share will be of a life well lived.