Wilderness Blues- Ramblings from the Great Land

  When I was sixteen, I bought my first shotgun. It was an H&R single shot twelve gauge. I wasn't really a hunter, but I thought it would give me a chance to spend more time outdoors when the fishing had slowed down. Though I had originally bought the gun for hunting rabbits or pheasants, or possibly quail, I never thought I'd have to use it on a spider. When the World War II ship I was stationed on in Key West was decommissioned around 1973, I was assigned to a much newer guided missile destroyer in Charleston, South Carolina. I didn't know anything about Charleston, except that it was in a southern state, and I was under the impression that a fellow who hailed from Ohio might not be all that welcome. I'd heard rumors that even though the civil war had been over for more than a hundred years, there were still some tender feelings. My fears were somewhat influenced by having just watched the movie, Deliverance, a few weeks prior to having to make the move. For those...

No doubt you've heard of Forrest Gump, the movie that was so popular a number of years ago, starring Tom Hanks. Perhaps you also recall several movies starring  Walter Matthau. He was in Grumpy Old Men and Grumpier Old Men with Jack Lemon. Walter's love interest was Sophia Loren, a really hot Italian star from the sixties. Frankly, even though she must have been pushing 70 at least at the time of the movie, she still looked pretty appealing. Anyway, a few weeks back, my friends, Mark and Sarah took a trip to Anchorage, and while they were up there, they found this Grump Notebook and thought of me. Apparently I remind them more of Walter Matthau than I do of Tom Hanks, although not much separates grump and Gump. In the event that you can't read what the notebook says, I'll list the various complaints that are supposed to be logged in this fine notebook. things that annoy me enemies list stern letters of correction fresh rants and last but not least daily...

Holy Toledo, it's the last day of July! That's hard to fathom. I don't know where the month went. It kind of flew by on the one  hand, and yet on the other hand it seems as if it's been July for ages. Don't know how to explain that. In any event, I wanted to do a blog on our newest eating establishment here in Hoonah- The Chipper Fish. For those who haven't been to Hoonah for awhile, it will be a bit of a surprise to see. The building used to be located down at the harbor, across from Tideland Tackle Co. It was called Libby's then and offered the usual hamburgers and fries and if I remember correctly, Jo Jo's and soft ice cream. It was a nice place to go and very conveniently located, close to the boats,so visitors and fishermen frequented it, as well as many of the locals. It was a real bummer when it shut down. For a number of years the building sat vacant and was moved to an empty lot behind the building that houses the laundromat and thrift store. T...