Wilderness Blues- Ramblings from the Great Land

When I was growing up in Ohio, almost every Sunday for a number of years, my dad would load up the family and we'd go for a Sunday drive. At the time gas was fairly cheap- less than thirty cents a gallon. I remember my grandmother once pulled into a Sohio filling station and when she saw that gas was going to cost almost twenty five cents a gallon, she sped off in a huff. She'd pass a blue brick if she saw gas prices now. I paid $5.09 a gallon last week. Anyway, as I was saying, we went on quite a few Sunday drives. The most memorable would be to places like Mohican State Park near Mansfield, or Kingwood Center to look at the acres of flowers. When I was younger I kind of liked the short jaunts, as long as we were able to stop and look around. Without fail though I would have to pee about ten minutes after I stepped into the car. It didn't matter that I went before we ever left the house. I would stand over the toilet almost breaking out in a sweat trying to squeeze every ...

Perhaps you've heard of the Birdman of Alcatraz? Well, I should like to be known as the Muffin Man of Hill Street. A short time back a friend gave me a bag of dried blueberries. They are supposed to be full of anti-oxidents, which I guess is good. God forbid that you should have oxidents in your body, for whatever reason. When I had  reduced the bag (with the help of the dog) to less than half full, I got the brilliant idea of making some muffins with the remainder. This past year our neighbor blessed us with this Taste of home Cookbook. If you never get another cookbook in your life, I would like to highly recommend that you have this one. It is so complete from start to finish, covering everything from making hard boiled eggs (only boil them for one minute- then let them stand in the water for fifteen minutes before cooling them off) to buying and storing fruit, to baking bread. I LOVE this cook book. Twice I've made twice baked potatoes with the recipes from this book.  I ...

Down through the years I've watched countless people pass through Hoonah. They come, stay for awhile and move on. I've watched, sometimes with envy, as they packed their belongings and continued on with their lives elsewhere.Some of the families who had called Mt. Bether home moved to Hoonah for a season, had jobs and businesses and children. Then, whether listening to a still, small voice like Elijah, or answering a longing deep down, they pulled up stakes and left. If there is a downfall to making friends with people, it's that when they're gone they leave a hole in your heart. It's always great to get a Christmas card or letter from them or better yet a phone call, but it's not the same as sharing a meal or a game of cards. The latest passer through was this young gal pictured here, Renee. When she came to Hoonah several years ago to take on the job of school counselor, I don't think she was fully prepared for what she encountered. The first place she re...

This is a picture of the brown bear my granddaughter Ashia killed this morning. Her boyfriend Kole wanted her to get a bear before he left for college on Monday, so he outfitted her with some camouflage clothing and took her up the bay towards Humpback Creek. If I understood the story correctly, they weren't gone even an hour when they spotted it walking on the flats. She laid down on a rock and fired, hitting it in the head with the first shot and then striking it further back in the body with the second. It was pretty remarkable shooting, considering it was a .300 rifle made for a left handed person and she shot from a prone position. Somehow the head shot didn't kill it right away and it ran off into the woods, so they had to go in after it. It's always dangerous to go after a wounded Grizzly and especially in the woods. I believe Kole shot it once also, but I could be mistaken. In any event, he got it skinned out and and she packed it back to the boat and by early this...

It's hard to believe, but fall is here already. Actually it was starting to feel like fall several weeks ago when it was still August. I didn't really want to acknowledge it then, but it can't be denied. You wake up one morning and it just feels different. There is a chill in the air and the cottonwood trees start to show yellow in the leaves. The wind blows and you have to reach for a jacket when just days ago you were peeling off the layers because of the heat. I'm not sure I'm ready for summer to end. I'd like to catch more fish, maybe sit out on the lounge chairs on the front porch and talk to folks walking up and down the street and barbeque a few more salmon. I want to grab for the summer as it slips away and plead with it to stay just a little longer, but the days are getting shorter, the fish are getting fewer as they make their way up the creeks and rivers and my internal clock is saying its time to slow down. I wouldn't mind the fall if I knew tha...

What you have before you,as you can see, is an empty package of Lofthouse Delicious  Cookies. This package once housed ten frosted lemon sugar cookies. When I came in from fishing several nights ago, two of my daughters, my wife and a family friend were all sitting around the dining room table playing cards and raving about these delicious lemon cookies. I'm not a big fan of lemon flavored things, but I do like cookies... quite a bit. While I ate my supper, they repeatedly reached into the package and imbibed, obviously savoring each delectable bite. At one point our friend,Candy, opened the lid and rearranged the cookies so they wouldn't be out of order. Apparently these cookies were so indescibably delightful, that they had to be treated with the utmost of respect. If you look closely, you can see that the package has special little indentations for each individual cookie to reside in, presumably so that they won't get crushed in handling. It won't be long at this ...