No Impulse Buying for Super Cub Shoppers
Steve Kahn
Alaska Dispatch News
May 1, 2016
LAKE CLARK — People who meet me for the first time often ask about my Bush lifestyle and how often Anne and I make trips to town for supplies. When I tell them I fly my own Super Cub, they’re fascinated. Little do they know that these trips are nobody’s idea of a good time. Usually, a trip to town is synonymous with a lengthy list of to-dos and to-buys. When months go between supply runs, an extensive blueprint of where and how to shop is imperative. And there’s always the nagging question of what to leave in town if we have no space left in the Cub.
Before departing Lake Clark, we inventory what we have on hand. Usually Anne volunteers to climb into the loft or slip under the cabin to shout through the ceiling or floor, “Three coffees, two bags raisins, one olive oil,” as I recline in my zero-gravity chair and scribble feverishly. There is no question about quantity of fresh fruit, as apples and oranges are normally long since digested.
When the inventory is done, a debate ensues: I lobby for more Pilot Bread; Anne for less. I give up my hope for peanut butter and agree to up the number of sour creams from three to four. And so it goes, through cracked wheat, cheese and toothpaste.