Wilderness Blues- Ramblings from the Great Land

It's almost the end of November- thank God. This one was brutal, weather-wise. I can't remember having this much snow in November before, but then again,I can't remember the names of people I've known for years either. When I see them at a distance on the street I go through the agonizing process of sorting through all the names in the English language trying to figure out if one of them sounds familiar, then hope it's the right one before I meet up with the person.  I decided to do a blog on something other than the snow that we've been surrounded with. Here we have a picture of snow on the mountain, and here's some snow on the trees, next is snow on the street. Here I am shoveling more snow out of the driveway... I find flowers much more colorful than snow.  Back in October we had rain by the bucket full. Every day-rain, rain, rain. Of course I complained about it so it got cold and then it was snow, snow, snow. Tell me God doesn't have a...

Today is Black Friday, as it's known; the official beginning of the Christmas shopping season. I believe the name is supposed to imply the day that retailers go from being in the red to crossing over to the black-making a profit. As I watch some of the madness unfold on TV of people camping out for a week on a sidewalk so they can be the first person inside to buy a $200.00 flat screen television, or folks getting trampled as they all try to squeeze inside the store at once, or as I saw this morning some lady spraying pepper spray on her fellow shoppers,  I wonder if Black Friday wouldn't describe the condition of some of the hearts of the folks who are rushing to celebrate a season that is supposed to be about good will towards men. How ironic.    Anyone who knows me, knows that I'm terribly cynical, a real pessimist; the male version of a Debbie Downer if you will. I almost always seem to see the glass half empty. No matter how good the situation I'm facing, I have a...

  It's been snowing and cold for the past several weeks ; in fact it's been setting records for both snow and cold all around Alaska. It's kind of  scary to think that it's not even winter yet. I didn't really want to post any pictures of snow blowing and trees bent with the force of the wind.  Instead I decided to post pictures of Rigby. He's got the right idea- hide under the sleeping bag or if you have to leave the warm comfort of bed, find a place in the sun to relax. While I was talking to my daughter Camille the other day, he hopped up on the back of the couch to look out the window. Apparently he saw something that didn't meet with his approval and started barking to beat the band. He's got a really shrill bark, about what you would expect from a small dog. It's really irritating to listen to and especially so if you happen to be talking on the phone or listening to something on TV. I happened to glance down at the remote control on my chair ...

As promised , here is the second half of my blog post on the latest Thanksgiving get together at Game Creek. The top two pictures show the kitchen; its located in the tabernacle. I remember working in there on the new cabinets with Uncle Bill. I was sanding one of the cabinets when I drove a huge splinter right through my index finger. In one side and out the other. Bill didn't flinch, he just got out his pocket knife and pulled it through. He was always kind of a hero to me. Back when the farm was at it's peak there used to be a number of women in the kitchen cutting vegetables, baking bread  and cooking meals It was a pretty busy place. There was a trap door in the floor and underneath there were cases of jarred fish and maybe even some dried vegetables. For some reason there was a number ten can of Hershey's chocolate syrup too. I remember David Carver telling me about sneaking in there one night and opening it up and drinking it out of the can. In the early days ...

Hi folks- Muffin Man here with my sincere apologies to the masses who follow this blog. I know that I've let down the people who come here looking for free entertainment and expect more regular blog posts, but I  have an excuse- I really do. I had to go to Juneau for my annual doctor's visit, which actually went very well. As I've mentioned before, I love this doctor. When he asked about the ol' finger up the bung routine to check the prostate I mentioned that my feelings about the procedure haven't  changed and it's not going to happen- at least not while I'm conscious. So then he says  "well how about my fist then?"  That's what I like about this guy. He can look at you in your birthday suit and not burst out laughing and yet we can joke around about serious matters and have a good time. If I wasn't so self conscious and scared of speaking in public, I think we could go on the road and do a comedy routine. Anyway, I was gone from Monday t...

There's something about water that seems to attract human beings to it like moths to a flame. Perhaps it's because Earth is the only planet in the known universe that has water. At least that's what I think I read or heard somewhere. I'm not sure where I picked that up. I once read the back of a Bazooka Joe bubble gum comic that stated that all white cats are deaf too. I don't know if that's true or not, but if you can't believe Bazooka Joe, who can you believe? There are a lot of songs and movies and I would assume books that mention water in their title. My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean, A River Runs Through it, On Golden Pond, Yellow River ( I think there have been a few jokes about that)  Over the River and Through the Woods, and Bridge on the River Kwai to mention just a few. The top picture is the bridge on the river Spasski. I doubt that there will ever be a movie about it, it doesn't have the same catchy wording, but what do I know about anything? ...