Wilderness Blues- Ramblings from the Great Land

    I was walking with my daughter and granddaughter down at the cannery a few weeks ago. It was cold but sunny  and a little exercise was just what the doctor ordered to shake off the feeling of cabin fever. I looked down at the gravel on the beach and noticed splashes of color scattered along the shoreline by the water's edge. Kaylahni also noticed it and started picking up flowers that had washed ashore. I'm not sure where they came from. Obviously someone had tossed them into the water- I assume after the flowers had pretty much already wilted. However, that didn't stop my granddaughter from gathering them up. I wasn't sure that it was a good idea to do that. What if the flowers were from a memorial service somewhere? However, Jen didn't seem to have a problem with it, so for the remainder of the walk the mostly dead flowers made the rounds with us. I assumed that they would get tossed once we got to the car, but no, they were transporte...

          I'm still trying to get used to this new computer, so I don't know how this is going to turn out. For a change I really don't have much to say either, which is kind of odd since I can be such a windbag at times. Perhaps I should take up the bagpipes I'm so long winded on occasion. I like the way they sound, but I don't relish the idea of having to wear a skirt when I'm playing, especially if it happens to be a windy day.Can you imagine having to stand outside in the summer with all the gnats and mosquitoes flying up your kilt? I guess you wouldn't mind a little breath of wind then. I suppose it's probably unheard of for a bagpipe man to wear panty hose if it's too cold out. I imagine leotards would be looked down upon too.  I'm not all that fond of funerals, which is where I usually hear bagpipes being played. I might be popular at a St. Patricks day parade, but if the route was too long I'd have to stop and find...

Well, here I am again, in my usual state of confusion and uncommon frustration. I'm using a new laptop that I had purchased, or more accurately will purchase when I get the bill from my son-in-law. I needed the laptop for the boat so I can download a GPS program that is more up to date than what I have now. Anyway, not only am I trying to get used to this new computer, I'm having issues with  the internet. I know, I know, it's shocking. Somehow I managed to get one picture downloaded for this blog post. I don't know what I did to download it, and I don't know where the other ones are that I took. I'm sure they're floating around inside this black  box, but I don't know the magic words to make them come out. Kind of like my brain when I'm searching for a word. Having a dictionary or thesaurus won't help at all if you don't know what word you want to use to begin with.   Some years back there was a movie called The Prince of Tides. I remem...

 For the better part of thirty seven years I've been blessed to live in one of the most beautiful places on earth. I know that every area has it's own brand of beauty, but for me, this area of Alaska, the Tongass National Forest has no equal. It has the best of all worlds for me- forests, streams, bays, mountains all things that I love. Because of the remoteness of the area and the difficulty of getting around, there isn't a large population inhabiting the surrounding towns. The whole 17,000,000 acres is only home to roughly 70,000 people, and those are spread out over a handful of towns up and down the Southeast Panhandle. At thirty some thousand souls, Juneau, the state capital, is the largest town. Some of the other towns with relatively large populations are Ketchikan, Sitka, Petersburg and Wrangell. Then we have Craig, Hydaburg, Tenekee, Angoon, Hoonah, Kake, Metlakatla, Thorne Bay, Gustavus, Elfin Cove and Pelican. I'm sure there are othe...