Wilderness Blues- Ramblings from the Great Land

 Twice this past week I went to the post office and discovered boxes from long time friends. I wasn't expecting them, and I guess that's what makes them so much more special. Earlier in the week I received a package from my friends, the Pinards. We have a special bond that people often share when they've gone through hard times together. For a number of years we lived at Game Creek with other families, raising our children, working on various projects, eating together, worshipping together and laughing together. We both ended up leaving and moving to Hoonah, where we continued to socialize, frequently getting together on Saturday nights to play cards or having dinner on a Sunday evening or special occasion. When they left Hoonah we felt like a part of ourselves was missing. We still keep in touch and Jan and I were fortunate enough to share a dinner with them on their fiftieth wedding anniversary. Nonetheless, it was a surprise to receive a package from them. When I got hom

   No doubt most of you have heard of that fine organization that is run by the marine corps reserve every year around Christmas- Toys For Tots. They collect and distribute toys for children who are less fortunate and who might go through Christmas without any toys without the generous help of Toys For Tots and the people who donate to them. While I know that it's not a high priority for some folks, it can nonetheless impact a child who sees other kids with toys while they have nothing at a time of year when so many people talk about good will and Christmas cheer. This year in particular is going to hit a lot of families hard. So many folks are without a job and are struggling just to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table. I hope that if you have been blessed with all of life's necessities that you will consider donating a toy or two or more. You don't know how you might bless some child, and no gift goes unrewarded- you'll be blessed in return. I looked in

    Shortly after Jan and I moved to Wasilla, my daughter Autumn suggested we take a small road trip north to Talkeetna. Actually I think she wanted to go much further north, but as enticing as it sounded, I find that I get tired after a few hours of driving, also I frequently have to pee, so a two hour trip can stretch out to three or more hours by the time I've made multiple stops, so we opted to go to Talkeetna. It's off the Parks Highway, which if you stay on it will eventually take you to Fairbanks. Anyway, we went as far as Talkeetna. It's definitely a tourist town  with a lot of character. When we were there the tourist season was over, not that there was much of one this year. If the government doesn't knock off all the oppressive regulations, there won't be a small business left in America, which may be part of the plan, I don't know for sure. Anyway, we were there at what would normally be the end of the tourist season, so most of the shops were shut d

     As I mentioned in my last post, I've got a picture of our new home. It's just the one photo, but it gives you an idea of what the place looks like. It's got a heated garage which is really nice. I've never had a garage before in my life, so I'm getting spoiled already. I've never had to pay property tax in my life before either, which is something I could do without, but since Jan and are considered "elderly" we get a break on our tax bill next year. This year we'll still pay through the nose though. Oh well. As you can see, I've got a rather long driveway, and we got some snow, which means a lot to shovel, but since I haven't done much other physical labor, keeping the driveway shoveled will provide me a little exercise. It will either make me stronger or kill me. I've included a picture of our good friend Marti Lee. This was taken back in Hoonah before we left. As you can see, there is a glow around her, which is not unexpected.

    It's been a long haul, but we've finally gotten the internet set up, so I can fill you in a little bit about the relocation to our new home. I don't have any pictures of it just yet, but perhaps on the next post, I'll get some. Anyway, as you might expect the move from Hoonah to Wasilla wasn't as smooth as we had hoped it would be. I imagine that it doesn't matter who you are, moving is going to involve the unexpected as well as the unwanted and the unpleasant. I have to say, it was one of the most traumatic experiences of my life. While Jan and I were both in agreement that it was time to move on, nothing could really prepare us for what was ahead. Initially we had planned on moving to Lewiston Idaho. We'd been down there three times looking around. It was entirely different than Southeast Alaska. It's very dry; I think they get 12-16 inches of rain a year. It's wheat growing country. Not much in the way of big trees and certainly no large bodie

  It's hard to believe that 44 years has passed since that June day in 1976 when Jan and I drove our 72 Pinto up the ramp of the Hoonah ferry terminal into an adventure that would last for this long. Driving through the town I was wondering what I had gotten myself into. We left sunny Charleston South Carolina and came to this land of mountains and water and rain in amounts I'd never seen before. The main road was nothing more than a narrow, muddy, rut -filled lane that two cars could only pass on in select areas. Houses along the road were so covered with mud that the paint wasn't visible and if the sun did ever shine you'd never know because the windows were streaked brown with so much mud that light couldn't penetrate. People walking down the road were in no hurry to get out of your way, and stared at you like you were on display in a circus. The few cars I passed had slogans like Indian Power and Custer Had it Coming. A lot has changed in 44 years. Hoonah has be

  I've finally got some time to do a blog post,and I was struggling about what to write. Part of me would like to speak out on the state of our country, how much trouble we're in at the moment and how tragically it could turn out if God doesn't intervene in this next election. However, I'm quite certain that most of the readers are sick to death of hearing about all the political rhetoric and the non stop speak of bad news, so I thought I would write about something that most of us like to do- eat. As I was writing this, I just finished a delicious  bowl of apple cobbler that my wife Jan brought to me. It had a dollop of Cool Whip on top.... mmmm... heavenly.  Some time back my daughter Autumn came for a visit. She frequently tells us of her culinary skills. She's the baker at a Greek restaurant up north, and I have to admit, she is a good cook. However, not wanting to be outdone, I decided that I would show off some of my own culinary skills and

   Night after night I'm foolish enough to tune in to the nightly news. I don't know why. As the old saying goes, misery loves company so I guess I must get some bizarre pleasure out of hearing what is going on in the world and perhaps I'm secretly glad that I'm not going through some of what others are facing. There is no two ways about it though, we've all been impacted by this ridiculous virus. What I don't understand is why is there such a panic over something that impacts something like two percent of the population? Personally I think it's a complete overreaction and I'm paranoid enough to believe that it's a kind of social experiment to see how far we in America are willing to go to be "safe".  How many of our constitutional freedoms are we willing to part with?  Anyway, I don't want to get on my soapbox. We hear enough opinions and bad news every night without my two cents worth. What I wanted to mention was something that

   This past week my daughter Jen came home from work only to be greeted with a view of her beautiful Noble Fir tree decimated by IPEC, the local power company. Without warning or an opportunity to be on site when the cutting was happening, and without any input, she was totally caught off guard. She was both devastated and angry when she saw the destruction. The Noble Fir, which was totally on her property, was the only one in town. In a place where Sitka Spruce, Hemlock and Alder trees are as common as rocks on a beach, this tree stood out as a thing of beauty. Noble is an apt name for these firs, although as you can see from these pictures, it's anything but  now. She isn't the only one angry or disappointed in the short sided decision to eliminate one whole side of branches. The previous owner of the house had received the tree from her now deceased father and it was a lasting reminder of him whenever she passed by. I understand the need to trim branches from

  About a week ago my friends Mark and Sarah let us know that they were going to be moving to California. Of all the places that I wouldn't want to be right now, California would be near the top of the list, right behind Portland, Seattle, New York, Chicago, Minneapolis and any place in China. From what I can gather, there are a number of folks from California leaving and heading for the more sane places like Texas and Idaho. I just hope they leave their liberal ideas behind. One California is all this country can stand. In any event, the news hit me like a ton of bricks. I had no idea they were even thinking of going. I think there is a lot of sacrifice involved in the decision, and that's their business, but for my own selfish reasons, I really, really hate to see them go. Friends are hard to come by nowadays, true friends that is, and I've seen so many of my friends leave Hoonah over the years. I sometimes watch them go and wonder why I'm still he

   I feel like I've sat back long enough and been quiet about what is going on in our country. I know it's not supposed to be a good thing to speak out on a blog about your personal political policies or feelings, but I can no longer be silent while my country is being torn apart by radical forces. The time for the silent majority to speak has come. In John 10:10,Jesus draws a parallel between him and Satan. He says, " The thief comes only to steal and to kill and to destroy, but I have come that you might have life, and have it more abundantly."  Every night the news is filled with stories of violent protests,unruly mobs torching cars and buildings and tearing down statues that for one reason or another they are offended by. How is the country any better by destroying what someone else has paid for? Aren't those protesting acting like the thief described in John 10:10? We recently witnessed a six block area of downtown Seattle being taken over b

 The summer King Salmon season has arrived here in Southeast Alaska, and much like a kid who has waited for Christmas all year, I'm ecstatic that it is finally here. As a general rule I don't bother fishing for kings in the winter. There aren't many around where I am, most of them are located out on the coast, and I have no intention of traveling to Sitka in the winter to try my hand a catching a few, so I'm always happy to get the chance to fish close to home. In years past, there has been what became known as experimental openings, where trollers were allowed to catch kings in April through June, in part because of a three percent tax that is imposed on all commercial salmon fishers to supplement the fishery. However, for the past several years, the King Salmon runs haven't done well, for a variety of reasons, which no one is really sure of. That resulted in fisheries being shut down in order to preserve the species. I don't mind taking a loss for  a few

  I don't know about you, but frankly, I'm really tired of all the protesting, statue molesting, hate mongering and pundit speaking that's going on right now. I was thinking of writing a post with my own brilliant ideas concerning what's going on in this country right now, and indeed, even around the world, but I'm sure it would be controversial, and I don't know what good it would do. Those that agreed with my train of thought might applaud me, and those that didn't would think I was an ignorant dolt, and I don't really think that anyone's mind would be changed because of anything I said. So... I'm going to just air a few thoughts here that I think would be good to keep in mind while we're in the process of living. Not all of these thoughts are mine, some I've printed out from books that I've read. Most notably books by Robert Fulgham and Anne Lamott. I do have a few original thoughts though, brought about by the school of hard

A few weeks ago I helped my friends Mark and Sarah load their treadmill into the back of my truck and deliver it to the dump. Actually I wasn't much help at all- the thing was really heavy and awkward to grasp, so I pretty much let them deal with it. However, I did provide the truck, so I wasn't totally useless. There's a section up at the dump where all the old appliances are discarded, so if you happen to need a refrigerator door, or perhaps a switch for your broken microwave, I guess you could always take your chances with what you could find there. Years ago the dump was more like a department store. You could find a bike without a chain or a jacket without a zipper that otherwise was perfectly good. I imagine there were a number of flashlights that ended up there because the batteries were dead. In the years before computers, if you wanted porn you had to go to some sleazy place and buy it. Since we didn't really have any sleazy places in Hoonah, I guess the ne