Northern Exposure

Everyone has a favorite T.V. show. Michael and I, my brother, grew up watching and playing and always looking forward to watching SKY KING, one of the best T.V. shows of all time. Well, we only had four channels to chose from, but even today I like watching SKY KING, I have every episode if you want to come over and watch. It was about a rancher who flew a plane over his land, managing it, fighting off rustlers and evil, he was our hero. Mr. Kirby Grant, who played SKY KING, is still one of my heroes. In any case, in recent days, my favorite t.v. show is NORTHERN EXPOSURE. Well recent is relative, I think that my love of Norhern Exposure started in the 1990”s, but the year doesn’t matter much. In any case, I have every episode of that too, and watch it every now and then. However, my whole perspective on it has changed now that I am exposed to the ACTUAL Northern Exposure, the exposure to the Northern Woods.

In the t.v. show Norhtern Exposure, When Dr. Joel Fleischman first came to Alaska he was definitely a fish out of water, a New York City Boy placed into a small town where fishing and logging and dealing with cold and snow and winter were the life of everyday. This was not at all like catching the subway and going to the Met. Yes, here he was, thrust into the wilds of Alaska, a fish out of water. In the first episodes I saw I Identified with him. Afterall, I first moved up to Northern Michigan from the big city of Detroit. I was used to going to Tiger Stadium and Cobo Hall and seeing concerts and taking music lessons and generally being a big city boy. Then, here I was, cast into the wind of the Northern Michigan Winters and going from a junior high school of 600 (7th, 8th and 9th grades) to a High School in Pellston of 180. Yeah, that’s four classes, 9, 10, 11 and 12th grade about 180 at its peak. I think it’s much less than that now.

Yes, of course, I spent my summer vacations in Northern Michigan as a young boy, I stayed with my grandparents at the Lake. However, come August, I headed back to the Big City, I didn’t LIVE there, at the Lake. However, we moved up when I was in High School and LIVED there, but all I could think about then was getting out, and going to live in a Big City somewhere. Well, I did that, but the Big City caused me to seek to undo my wrongs and get back to the country of Northern Michigan. Yeah, you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone.

So now, I’ve finally come back and I definitely live here in everyway, I work here, fish here, have friends here, my family is here. This is now home. Now, tonight, as I watch the t.v. show Northern Exposure, I find I can’t identify with Dr. Fleischman anymore, he’s like a fish out of water to me. I now identify with the folks who have been in that little town all their lives, wondering about this stranger who came from some big city and can’t understand how great life is here. I’m quite perplexed that he can’t find happiness in the forests and along the streams and in knowing everybody in town. This is life for me, everybody knows me, everybody knows what I have done and what I am about to do. In fact, today I was in a grocery store in Newberry some 27 miles from where I live and I saw a man from our little town of Naubinway. He asked me how I was and I said “great” and I was looking forward to going fishing tomorrow. He said yeah, he heard, he knew I was going fishing with a mutual friend tomorrow and the mutual friend was equally excited about it, in fact, the whole town knew about the fact that me, “Doc”, was finally going to go do some fishing. They were all talking about it and approved of the fact that I was going fishing with one of the areas best fishermen. They are happy that he and I are becoming friends, and equally happy that I could find sometime to go fishing. Now, think about that. How many people care and hope about whether or not you can get out and go fishing? Well, here, there are a few hundred people who really want me to go fishing tomorrow and want me to catch fish. They want me to be happy and have some time to do such things as go fishing. You know, I don’t think Dr. Fleischmen ever had that, maybe even Kirby Grant didn’t have such love and admiration. I am overwhelmed by it, humbled by it, and wonderfully pleased to be exposed to the Northern Woods way of life. I am very exposed, I can’t drive down my road without somebody knowing about it, I am “Northern Exposed”, and so happy about it beyond belief. I cannot express how great it is to be HOME.

God Bless,
Jeff.