Wilderness Blues- Ramblings from the Great Land

  This past Wednesday morning, I had to roust out of my bed early so that I could make a trip to the hospital for a scheduled knee replacement surgery. I've been through this procedure once before, on my left knee, now it was time to experience the joy on my right one. Part of the reason I haven't been on Fan Story much lately is because of the preparation involved prior to the operation. I wanted to get all my papers together to send down to the accountant so I wouldn't be trying to do tax papers while I was in a pleasant stupor brought on by the powerful drugs that the doctor prescribed for the post surgery operation. I also wanted to get all the bills paid up and had the oil changed in the car so Jan wouldn't have to think about it, not that changing the oil in the car would have occurred to her otherwise, but just as a precaution. I'd forgotten about how many tests I'd have to undergo in the week or so prior to visiting the hospital. I had an EKG, a blood te...

  One of the more distressing issues of getting older are the various physical changes that I've had to deal with as time marches on, and I get dragged along in its wake. I don't mind a few wrinkles, and having to spend less time in the barber chair doesn't distress me so much, but lately I've been dealing with an ever-expanding gut, and apparently a decrease in the amount of fat in my butt, or so it would seem. I can't really say for sure that my butt is getting bonier; I can't really see it, but it sure feels that way. It used to be that when I would spend an extended period of time in the car, I would have to remove my billfold to keep from causing an undue amount of pain over the long haul. Now it seems like a short trip to the grocery store, a mere fifteen minutes away, presents the same problem. Just now I removed the offending obstacle from my back pocket so I could write this short article in peace. At first I thought perhaps it was because my wallet was...

  While the title might sound like a category for the game of Jeopardy, it's not. It's just a reflection of some of what I find when I'm out picking up trash on the side of the road.   When we returned from church today, I was driving up a road close to home and noticed a Mike's Hard Lemonade bottle off to the side. I was afraid that if a car was coming in the opposite direction, it would be easy to run over. Of course I wasn't thinking about someone else running over it as much as I was thinking how mad I would be if I ran over it. Years ago, I would have just hoped that such a thing didn't happen, and I'd go home and forget about it. However, either because I've matured, or I've had enough experience to know that Murphy's law would certainly come into play and I'd be the unfortunate clown who destroyed his tires, I decided to come back with my grabber and a large plastic trash bag and pick it up.   Picking up trash is like eating Lays Potat...

About a month ago, I broke down and bought myself a new mattress. The last one I bought was shortly after we  moved in to Hoonah from the farm. I guess the one I had was roughly forty years old. I know, I know, who has a mattress for that long? Well, obviously, I did. About ten years ago I had bought a topper for it at Costco, and it made it fairly comfortable until just recently. I was waking up every day with back pain, and I tossed and turned all night trying to find a comfortable spot. Obviously, it was time to buy another one.  I had seen advertisements for the Purple mattress, and they were quite clever. One ad showed an egg on the mattress and over six hundred pounds of sheet glass being lowered onto it, without the egg breaking. That was impressive, but I'm not an egg, and I'm fairly certain I'll never have six hundred pounds forcing me down into the mattress. I had visions of trying to get myself out of bed in the morning and sinking into the waffle design. It migh...