Wilderness Blues- Ramblings from the Great Land

   I heard from a friend of mine just the other day. He lives up near Syracuse, New York and had been out shoveling snow. He and his wife were using both the snow blower and the shovel, and had to remove the fine white  stuff both before and after work. Sounds like fun doesn't it? Anyway, he was lamenting the fact that he had hurt his back in the process of all that shoveling. He was already dealing with a knee that was hammered and had just returned from having two teeth crowned. Ouch! That puts a dent in the ol' pocket book. To say nothing of the obvious pain that back or knee problems bring. I got to thinking then about some of the old guys in the bible. The early fellows, just after men started living on the earth, were pretty long lived. Adam lived 930 years, his son Seth lived 912; Kenan 910 years. Enoch only lived 365 years, but it says he walked with God then he was no more because God took him away. His son, Methuselah, was the oldest living man; he lived to...

   I was in church today and the pastor happened to mention several times the phrase In God We Trust. Apparently there is another lawsuit going on by some atheists who are offended by the phrase and the fact that it is on our currency. From what I can gather, a California attorney by the name of Michael Newdow is bringing suit on behalf of something like 41 atheists in Ohio. It appears he also tried to get the phrase Under God in the pledge of allegiance removed unsuccessfully. I guess you can't blame a guy for trying, although I rather doubt that he would be pursuing this at all strictly on principle. No doubt he feels there is some money to be made or notoriety at least. Frankly, I think with all the problems that this country is facing that pursuing such a frivolous lawsuit would be near the bottom of the list of important things to do. If anything, my personal feeling is that we should call on God all the more. I believe it is because we have turned ou...

Hoonah Cold Storage Dock The Alaskan Bush People boat - Integrity Elephant Mountain Frozen Mud Flats at the Airport Airport Stream     After weeks of hiding behind both rain and snow clouds, the sun finally decided to make an appearance yesterday. As often happens in Southeast Alaska, the burst of sunshine immediately lifts one's spirits. I was like a new born bunny yesterday when I saw the sun, ready to go out and prance around the woods. Unfortunately, although the sun was indeed out, the heat was missing, so any prancing on the frozen ground would have rendered me with a twisted back or knee. I opted to go take a few pictures instead. Around here, especially at this time of year, when the sun comes out, you want to capture it on film, just in case you don't see it again for another extended period of time and you start to believe that you  had perhaps ima...