Wilderness Blues- Ramblings from the Great Land

 Here's a picture of me from a few weeks ago, coming to the top of the ladder at the cold storage. I had just unloaded my catch of cohos and had to climb up the ladder to get my fish ticket and check. Like so much else lately, the trip up the ladder was a workout. I try not to do it much any more. I get winded, in part because I'm packing a lot more pounds than I should be. No discipline I guess. It's also part of the aging process though I think. As we get older we have less energy and slow down. We need more time to rest and we're less active. Lately I've taken to having an afternoon nap... or several. Sometimes they're planned, and sometimes they just sneak up on me while I'm in my chair watching the TV for a few minutes. I was up at the post office today and my friend John Murray, who is always outspoken was talking to a lady. When he saw me, he said-"Botts! Pull up  your pants!" He was right, they were starting to sag a little. I'

  The fishing season is winding down, as is normal for this time of year, and with the end of the season comes the foul weather that fall brings. For the past few days we've experienced some thirty knot winds in Icy Strait, with higher gusts. A lot of the boats that were fishing the outside coast have come in to fish Homeshore, but with almost no protection from the winds, everyone was forced to seek shelter in town. There are boats tied up to the floats from Petersburg and Wrangell, Juneau and Angoon and Sitka and of course Hoonah and I don't know where all else. Boats with names like the Trisha Marie, Loretta Ann, Corvus, and Sea Fire. They're all shapes and sizes, and most of the ones that came in from the weather are trollers, like myself. It's interesting to see the different shapes, especially on the old wooden ones. They're all unique. I happened to be listening to some music the other night on U tube and came across a song titled Away From the

    Last week I was fishing at Homeshore for cohos, along with a number of other boats. Fortunately it's a big area so it doesn't get too crowded, unless the fish are all being caught at one end or the other, in which case it's like throwing a single lifesaver on the floor in an old folks home and watching the elderly people scramble for it. On the night that I took these pictures, it was calm and relaxing. It's the kind of weather that you long for. This year has been uncommonly windy, with day after day of westerly winds blowing. Finally, as we approach the end of the season there's  been a stretch of calm weather, which is greatly appreciated. Unfortunately I was lulled into believing the National Weather Service was going to be correct after they correctly predicted good weather for about a week. Several nights after these photos were taken I anchored in the same spot. I was a little surprised that no other boats were around me, but that was fin

   As I sit here writing this post, I'm listening to the hauntingly beautiful sounds of the flute and synthesizer that were used in the song La Folie 2  by New Age artist Deuter. It's one of several songs I've downloaded by this artist. He's so incredibly talented. I was looking on my Ipod and see that I have 686 songs downloaded onto it. Frankly, there have been a few that I wish I hadn't downloaded, but for the most part I'm delighted by them all. I was thinking of how much a part of our every day lives music is, and I wondered, where would we be without it? It would be like strolling through  a garden without color or scent. My musical tastes are quite diverse.  In the past six months I've downloaded songs ranging from the deep twangy voice of Johnny Cash to the mellow Charlie Rich in the country venue, new age music from John Adorney, Deuter, and the husband, wife and daughter team that make up the group 2002.I've got a song titled Release