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At night, after the dinner, when the dishes were done, and the 30 to 40 cats were fed, Bickel would light the Coleman lantern that hung over his table, shake a toothpick out of a bottle, and sit in his kitchen chair contentedly waiting for the inevitable Yahtzee game.
He'd bring down the flat rubber dish-draining pan used as a playing board from the wall where it hung, always ready, by the propane refrigerator. He'd arrange the dice, pencils, the shaking cups, and bring out his prized Bickel Camp Yahtzee score pads.
These pads were special made just for Bickel, and they were his pride and joy. A friend who owned or worked at a printing shop printed them. I think I met the man once, but I don't remember his name. Over the years, this man-made Walt several variations of these Yahtzee pads and would always bring him a new design. Walt always encouraged players to save their used pads, "so's you can remember the game."
I would always dutifully fold my score pads, put them in my pocket to be washed with the shirt when I got back home. I suppose a few remembrances of the hundreds of Yahtzee games I played with Bickel and friends made it to the junk drawers of my life. Eventually though, I eventually lost any of my famous Bickel score pads, but not the wonderful memories from all those hours playing around the kitchen table in his cabin.
When all was ready Walt would announce "Yahtzee!" like he was announcing desert. Folks would come with a bottle of wine or something good to share. They would come in from the trailers, their campers, or from the other mining camps in the canyon. All would gather around the table, the coffee would perk, and the games would begin. Bickel would take on all comers and play until the last visitors excused themselves and stumbled off to a sleeping bag.
I remember lying under the stars one crisp winter night on the old iron bed just outside the cabin. I had played Yahtzee so long, I'd close my eyes and see these Bickel scorecards and rolling dice. I was listening to those still trying beat Walt at his own game. There must have been a thousand stories told that night. These were good friends savoring the simple joys in life, warmed by camaraderie, a passed bottle, and Bickel's old wood stove. Warm yellow light filtered out the cabin's windows, and settled with human laughter on the hillsides around the camp.
I went to the cabin for a visit this weekend, (3-12-2005). It had been a long time since I had visited Last Chance memories. It was sad to see the changes in the place, things slowly falling apart as things do. Valuable things, having a way of walking off had walked. Yet there were still Bickel Yahtzee score pads sitting on the table, as if waiting for Bickel to start the game.
The new caretaker, Joel Nalley, told me there were boxes of used cards. All saved, I suppose, to remember the games. He rifled through boxes, and hoped somebody hadn't thrown them away. Finally, just before I packed up my family and moved on to new memories, Joel came out of the cabin announcing that he had found a couple of cards I could have.
I see on one card Sue won two Yahtzees. How could I explain to Joel that I knew Sue? I might have even been there the night she won that game. You see, Sue and Walt fell in love for a time, and, well, that's another story and another game. Suffice it to say that Sue and Walt's story began around Walt's kitchen table, and ended one starry desert night with good life having been lived.
