Wilderness Blues- Ramblings from the Great Land

 Well, here it is, almost the end of another year, and what a year it's been. I suppose that  a lot of people would like to forget this year all together. It's been a rough one. I won't go into all the problems that we've faced, we all know what they are. I'll let Dave Barry, the humorist, give us his take on the year. The one he did for 2020 was worthy of a prize. It was incredibly long, but I had tears streaming down my face as I read it. Actually, I was at a loss as to what to write. Since the economy seems to be heading down the toilet, what better way to protect ourselves than a toilet seat cover? I didn't see any that had pictures of hundred dollar bills on them, but perhaps I didn't look far enough. I clicked on Amazon and was a little surprised to see all the ones that are available. As you can see, there are fluffy ones, which I guess would feel good if the toilet seat has a tendency to be cold. I remember my dad complaining about using the toilet a...

  Today when I logged on to my favorite writing site, I saw a poem written by a friend of mine on Fan Story. Her name is Susan Newell, and she has a  lot of talent. What I especially appreciate about her is her willingness to delve into different things and discover the truth about them. She's really against the whole forced vaccination process, hates Comrade Fauci, and can't stand the way the government is being run. We have a lot in common. She wrote a very entertaining poem that she put to the old Christmas tune, It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas. I found it hilarious. I'm re-printing it with her permission. Enjoy. It's beginning to look a lot like China, everywhere you go Take a look at the local store, people masking up once more With vaccine cards their social virtue to show It's beginning to look a lot like China Gaps in every store But the scariest sight to see is the market that will be  On your own front door A pair of Moderna boosts for a vi...

 About a month or so ago, my good friends, Mark and Sarah Smith sent up a delightful assortment of snacks for me to try. I think they were hoping to see my reaction. I'm not sure if they expected me to eat them all in one fell swoop or what, but in the best of times I wouldn't be able to do that. My daughter, Autumn took some video to send to them. I had an ongoing commentary about each snack, trying to pronounce them the best I could. I wish I had hung on to the empty packages of the snacks that I've already tried. The first to go were some Mexican knock-offs of some Hostess products. There was a package of Snow balls, I can't remember what they were called- Snowso Ballistos or some such thing- actually that's not true, I just can't remember and want to fill in the blank. Then I of course had to try the Mexi-cupcake. It was good, but it wasn't as big as the American counterpart, and they only put one in the package. What is that about? Maybe south of the bo...

  I know it's been awhile since I've last posted anything here, but I truly do have a legitimate reason. About twelve days ago I went to the Mat-Su Regional Hospital here in Wasilla and got a knee replacement. I guess I didn't really understand the severity of the operation since it seems like everyone and his brother has had replacement surgery. Frankly, I'm still waiting to be happy about the decision. As of now, it still hurts quite a bit. I'm much more mobile than I was a few days ago, but there is quite a bit of pain associated with this surgery. I chose Dr. Greggory Strohmeyer, an orthopedic surgeon at Pioneer Peak Orthopedics to do the work. I had been in getting a hair cut at Great Clips a few months back and was talking to the gal cutting my hair. She was working 8 hour days, on her feet all day long and had mentioned she'd had both knees done, and recommended the good doctor. It was a good enough testimony for me. From what I can gather the surgery wen...

 In all my sixty nine years on this earth, I've never lived anywhere that had a septic system until we moved to Wasilla last year. I've lived on an end-time farm where we crapped in a fifty five gallon barrel and some unfortunate shmuck had to haul it away on a heavy metal sled driven by horses or tractor. Sometimes that schmuck was me. Not my favorite job. When I was in the navy, all the toilets flushed right into the very water that the ship was floating in. Fortunately the crap sank, unless someone had been eating a lot of really greasy food, but I don't even want to think about that. Everywhere else I lived, Ohio, Key West, Charleston, Hoonah, you went in, sat on the toilet, got relief and flushed all your troubles away, never to be seen or thought about again. However, in Wasilla, its a different story. I believe if you live in the city proper, you have a sewer system that flows through pipes and ultimately to a building where it's dealt with. However, we live on t...

 Years ago, actually, many years ago, when I was in my early teens, my best friend Don and I used to spend countless hours hanging out. Through no fault of our own, just the fact that we were teen boys, we seemed to find ourselves in unusual situations. Once we got punched in the ear down by a railroad round house by a couple of hillbillies, I guess just because we spent too much time staring at how many were packed in an old Buick. The fact that it was the day after Thanksgiving and there was snow on the ground and we were dressed like a couple of idiots, complete with tackle boxes and Fishing rods probably didn't help any. We had watched an episode of Gadabout Gaddis the flying fisherman and had an overwhelming desire to go fishing.  That's a story for another time though. On the particular day that this story is about, we were in our home town of Marion Ohio, underneath an overpass waiting on a train. I don't know why we were there, but we were. It was winter and there w...

  I recently submitted this poem to Fan Story. The writing prompt was What a Mess! I'm always surprised at what comes out of my mind. Apparently I've got dog crap on my mind because this is the second time I've written a poem about it. It seemed to fit the bill though. We went out for the day, my Mom, Dad and me My brother and sister, us kids we made three Dad wanted to drive, to get out of the house He wore his old shoes, Mom wore her new blouse Put Sparky on down in the basement" Dad said, "He can't come here with us, it's something I'd dread" So off to the basement with Sparky I went The floor down there's chilly, it's made of cement The washer's down there and the dryer as well It's cool, damp and musty and the room has a smell There are spiders down there and other bugs too When I have to go down there I get kind of blue I felt really bad for taking Sparky down there But he went down the stairs, with nary a care Maybe dogs are...

   Jan and I and our daughter Autumn had planned on going on a road trip up to Fairbanks last weekend, but as things would go, it snowed on Friday. It was the second time it snowed in a week, which was a surprise to me, and I suppose to a lot of other folks. It's my understanding that it usually doesn't snow this early here. Go figure. In any event, we cancelled the trip to Fairbanks, which really disappointed me. However on Sunday, Autumn suggested that we take a shorter road trip to Glennallen, still about 175 miles away. We left late Monday morning and it was obvious that there had been two snow storms by the amount of the white stuff covering the surrounding mountains. Fortunately the roads were clear and most of the snow was confined to the mountains and the high passes the road goes through. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and you couldn't have ordered a more perfect day for traveling. I always like to see new things, and it's even better when traveling by car...

 I just got back from fishing down in Southeast on Saturday. I stopped in down in Ketchikan to visit my son Ben and his family and had a delightful time. The first day was sunny and beautiful and we got to see some great sites. The second day was horrible, windy and rainy, but it didn't stop us from going out. We dropped in to Creek Street where renown artist Ray Troll has a shop, the Soho Coho. I bought a couple of shirts and some cards that I'll probably do a post on at a later date.  When I left Ketchikan on Saturday the weather was getting nicer and made for some pleasant flying, although I had to make three stops before we got to Anchorage, so the flight lasted about seven hours. It was not my favorite thing to do, but it sure beats what this fellow had to face. I was in Hoonah and had just left the boat when I heard a helicopter flying overhead. It sounded like it was flying kind of low, so I looked up and was startled to see an airplane dangling from a cable under the h...

I'm well aware of the fact that I haven't posted anything on this blog for the past several months, but there is a good reason for that. I've been down in Hoonah working on the boat and fishing and wishing that I was fishing instead of working on the boat and wishing I was home instead of in Hoonah working on the boat and well... I wish I could troll here in Wasilla. Anyway, I don't have the internet in Hoonah. I've been staying on the boat and it's less than ideal living conditions. In fact people living in dryer boxes on the street might be considered living high on the hog by comparison. Well, perhaps I'm exaggerating just a tad, but not much. I had already planned to be here in Wasilla during this time span. It was somewhat fortunate I guess that the transmission on the boat decided to give up the ghost during this time. I'm hopeful that by the time I get back to Hoonah it will have been fixed and will have only cost me my left arm. As it is, I just ...

   One of the problems of getting old, aside from everything hurting and having to get up multiple times in the night to pee, is the fact that my memory is going. I'm not full blown dementia or anything- yet, but I have a time remembering when things happen. I think I went to Seward with my daughter Autumn and my wife Jan last Saturday or maybe it was the Saturday before. I can't remember. I know I went there though, and I have the pictures to prove it. We started our time at the Sea Life Center outside in the parking lot. Someone had a Basset hound. Who can resist petting such a delightful creature?  The guy told us his name, the dog's, not his. I really didn't care about the man's name, but again I can't remember what it was. I just asked Jan and fortunately she remembered it. His name was Rutherford. As his owner said-"long dog, long name." It was a good way to start our trip. Once inside we walked around to all the various sites. Of course they had...

  I was doing my exercises this morning. I haven't done them for about a week because we had some guests visiting, some long time friends, and it's hard to maintain a schedule. Anyway, I was listening to my Ipod while I pedaled my flabby body. I've got almost a thousand songs on it, so I don't have to listen to the same tune for days if I don't want to. I was bee-bopping to  Crosby, Stills and Nash and Cat Stevens and Lily Kershaw, just totally enjoying myself, as much as I could while gasping for air, when a song I've written about not too long ago came on. It's called The Blessing, by Kari Jobe. I so wish that everyone would just listen to it, at least once. Right now there are a lot of people hurting. Some folks have lost loved ones to sickness, some to suicide because of the foolish restrictions that were put in place; a lot of people have lost their jobs and livelihoods. Many folks are wondering what to expect next. May I suggest that you just listen to...

Although I 've only been on the writing web site, Fan Story for a few weeks, I'm already feeling inspired. I was walking my daughter's dog last week when I noticed that just like in Hoonah, people here don't always clean up after their dogs. Perhaps they think the snow will cover it up. What they fail to realize is that the snow eventually melts, and all that crap is in the streets where people are trying to walk. It's really quite gross, and so I thought I would attempt to write a poem about it. Here it is.                                             I'm out in my yard, reading verse from the bard,                                             When I see that you're walking your dog            ...

Another Day Closer by Mrs. K T                                               morning skies bring more grey clouds and spitting rain-                       filthy windows Her kitchen counter is covered with friends' good  intentions: covered casseroles and sugar-laden desserts. No more room for anything. Refrigerator is full, and so is the freezer. No desire to eat. Someone chipped one of her favorite rooster dishes. Perhaps  tomorrow she will walk to the post office and mail thank-you notes. Even sweep the front porch. Maybe fill the birdfeeders. But today, she remains inside, listening for echoes of his laughter. She picks at a  slice of cold lasagna. Needs more sauce. Her eyes are heavy, but no sleep comes. She wanders throughout empty rooms, clutching a cup of stale coffee she has...

   Recently I've had reason to search back through my digital pictures. I've been writing some stories for a writing web site and sometimes find myself looking for a picture that would enhance the story I'm doing. With few exceptions, each picture brings back a pleasant memory. I've got a few in the digital library of things like the back of the computer or the wiring of the boat that have no sentimental value. They're so that when I take it all apart I won't be relying on my faulty memory to get it back together correctly. I've got pictures of fishing trips and crew hands, of family gatherings and friends who have moved away. I took photos of places that were a part of my every day life like the store where we shopped. There are deer pictures and fish pictures and pictures of eagles. I see one of a car we used to own and the house we lived in for over thirty years, both before and after we remodeled it. While you're in the process of living life, you do...

           This past Wednesday was March 17, Saint Patricks Day. It just so happens to be the day that my dad passed away fourteen years ago as well. When Jan told me how long ago it had been I was reminded of how quickly  time passes, whether you're having fun or not.       My daughter Autumn happens to work at Sophia's Cafe'  here in Wasilla. It's a Greek restaurant and she is the manager as well as the baker. She decided to make some cupcakes for St. Paddy's. Even though it's not a Greek holiday. The top picture isn't very accurate. For some unknown reason  the icing looks pink, but it wasn't. Pink is for Valentines Day or some such thing or a little girl's birthday or whatever. Actually the top cupcakes were the same color as the bottom one, a kind of creamy light white/yellow color with the green sprinkles and florets or whatever you call them.  The cupcakes themselves were a most delicious chocolate and the icin...

           I love taking showers. I take one every day, unless I'm on the boat. I've even considered buying a different boat just because I could take a shower at the end of a long day. Not only do they get me clean, but the hot water seems to offer some relief from my aching joints. I take rather long showers, and while in there I spend a fair amount of time thinking; often of what I've just heard on what passes for news nowadays. I was going back over the news in my mind and thinking of Lord knows what all else, when  a thought struck me from out of the blue. I don't know if it was a question from God, or just a random thought that found it's way into my brain as the result of something that I'd recently heard or read or possibly what I was feeling. Anyway, a question formed in my mind- HOW LONG DO YOU WANT TO LIVE? It made me wonder, do I really have a choice? I mean outside of suicide, which isn't an option for me, and I hope that it wouldn't reall...