Wilderness Blues- Ramblings from the Great Land

    There have been a number of rather famous or infamous captains down through the years. There have been songs, stories and books written about them. A few come readily to mind. Good ol' Captain Bligh from the book Mutiny on the Bounty. He was a real captain and there really was a Bounty, it wasn't just a story someone made up. He served under the famous English captain, James Cook, who was credited with discovering the Hawaiian Islands. Of course the islands had been previously discovered by the natives who lived there.They just didn't blab about it- probably didn't want all the trouble that outsiders would bring; understandably so. Captain Bligh was quite a knowledgeable man. After the mutiny he and a  handful of his followers traveled some 3618 nautical miles across the open Pacific Ocean in a twenty foot boat. That in itself is quite a feat, but when you consider that a nautical mile is 2000 yards,6,000 feet versus a land mile at 5280, it...

\    Thank goodness the holidays are behind us. Now I can finally enjoy some of the gifts that I received at Christmas. I've worn my new Carhartts, and the insulated Xtra- Tuff boots. I'm listening to some music that I downloaded from I tunes, I've got my cards for medical and dental insurance, commercial fishing licenses, Fred Meyers Awards card, Costco card, NRA card and a few others I can't recall right now, all safely stored in my new billfold, and I've already watched several movies that I received for Christmas. I was the happy recipient of more than a few packs of hoochies, which I can't use right now, but will in the near future.  I do however have a lot of use for one of my favorite beverages, coffee.  When I was a young lad back in Ohio my best friend, Don, and I used to go up to the Big Boy  restaurant, plop our skinny behinds in a booth and order coffee. I think we were about twelve at the time and in our juvenile minds, drinking coffee was qui...

  Thunderation! Can you believe it's January 5th already? Time flies when you're having fun huh? I decided to start off my new year right by making a big pot of vegetable soup with venison roast. Actually, I made two pots. I had been bragging about my culinary abilities to several friends and there was quite a bit of interest in my soup. Rather than suffering the humiliation of promising something and then not delivering, I thought I'd better follow through, so I thawed out my last two venison roasts and proceeded to cook. Frankly, that soup came out great! I'd like my name to be mentioned in the same breath as Martha Stewart, Julia Child and Wolfgang Puck. I think I could give the Campbell's Soup company a run for their money. Tom's Soups and Stews- even if you're not hungry, you'll enjoy a bowl of Tom's. Actually I don't use anything special, four or five potatoes, a white onion, cabbage, a one pound bag of Western Family f...