Wilderness Blues- Ramblings from the Great Land

   When I was in the navy, first stationed in Key West and then later in Charleston, I was always in need of money. Being an enlisted sailor at the time wasn't something you did if you desired a large salary.  I didn't join the navy to make money, I joined because I was number 52 in the draft and had no desire to walk through the swamps of Vietnam and get shot at. The navy seemed the lesser of two evils at the time. Anyway, because we were living on about $5,000.00  a year, and because getting a part time job to supplement my income wasn't really an option, I used to go to the local blood banks and sell blood, a pint at a time. These were private blood banks, not the Red Cross I should add.  They used to pay me a whopping $10.00 for each pint, and if I could have done it twice a week, I might have. As it was, it takes the body a little time to reproduce what was drained out, so I could only donate every six weeks; providing of course, that I was in port. I can't...

      If you are anything like me, you're sick to death of hearing all about the politics in this country. I turn on the news hoping to hear about something else going on in the world, but the vast majority of what is covered is political. There doesn't appear to be any real news anymore, it's all political opinion. Depending on which side of the isle you're on, you're either ecstatic and dancing in the streets or you're outraged and ready to throw the bums out. I've never lived through a time of such unrest in this country. I lived through the Cuban missile crisis, the  hippie movement, the Vietnam War, the gas rationing of the seventies, multiple presidential elections, the Ebola virus, the N1 whatever it was virus, Y2K and in the past year, the Corona virus and a toilet paper shortage. There have been many disasters to endure, but by far the one that scares me the most is what is happening in this country now, where the people are so divided that we can...

  Well, Christmas has come and gone and we're starting a new year, which I hope will be much better than the one we just experienced, although if the news is any indication of what the future holds, it may be more of the same. If last year left you with a bad taste in your mouth, please do yourself a favor and look up the Washington Post magazine article by humorist Dave Barry. I believe it's titled A Review of 2020. It was one of the funniest things I've read in quite awhile. He totally captured the year, describing it as "one long, howling Category 5 crapstorm." Honestly, if you're feeling down, having a bad day, mad at your spouse, your boss, your kids, the government, the neighbors or just life in general, please look it up. You'll be glad you did. OK. Now that that's out of the way, I'll continue on. Like many other Americans, I left Dr. Fauci flapping his gums behind an N95 mask and enjoyed a pleasant time with my family over the Christmas ho...