Wilderness Blues- Ramblings from the Great Land

  The leaves have finally made an appearance here in Southcentral Alaska, and they are certainly welcome. It wasn't a very harsh winter, as winters go, but it was nonetheless painfully long, as most winters in the north are. Along with the leaves, the annual ritual known as spring cleaning has started. Actually Jan was working diligently a few weeks ago, wiping down the walls and going through the closets, sorting out things she didn't feel she needed anymore. Inevitably, she'll run out of her things, and start looking at mine. I never like it when that happens. I'm not a hoarder, but I can't see getting rid of something that I might need in the future just because it might be a little bit old, or even very old. We have a bookshelf full of books that we've already read, and while I seldom re-read most books, some of them I do. The others I can hardly stand the thought of parting with. When I look at some of Jan's books, I can see where getting rid of them wo...

 From time to time I like to do a little review of a book that I 've read that has made an impression on me for one reason or another. I've mentioned everything from River Jordon's  Praying for Strangers to Gary Larson's The Far Side: Gallery Five . The most recent book I read was recommended to me by my good friend Buffalo Bob Holden. He's a voracious reader and when we talk on the phone we usually discuss books that each one has read. I believe he's on the library board in his hometown of Townshend, Vermont, so he gets to see the good stuff when it comes in. The last book he recommended was Mitch Albom's Have a Little Faith .  With the coming of fall and a slower pace, I'm left with either watching the TV or reading at the end of the day. Sometimes I do both, although there are times when I'm reading a really good book that it transfixes me so totally that I can block out all other distractions, except of course the need to pee. That takes...

I spoke to my daughter Autumn the other day,and like her sister, she too felt that I was slacking off on the blog posts. The fact that I posted a record eight times last month seemed to have no impact on her at all. Perhaps I should give up trying to do any kind of work that pays and spend my entire time trying to entertain my family members. Lord knows what will happen when I die. I should probably buy a cell phone and a computer to take to the grave with me.  I had all manner of witty thoughts passing through my brain earlier in the day, but when I sat down to do the post, the pictures wouldn't upload. The Blogger site decided to do a different format or some such thing and it threw a wrench in things. Now I'm left with whatever I can wring out of my tired brain at ten P.M.- sorry about that.  This is a picture of the table next to my overstuffed chair that Rigby occasionally lets me sit in. As you can see it's piled high with an assortment of books and magazines as well...