Wilderness Blues- Ramblings from the Great Land

    Several weeks back, perhaps more like three weeks ago, Jan, Liz and Autumn went to one of the local farms to pick strawberries.  Actually, it wasn't all that local, the farm was located probably twenty or more miles away, outside of Palmer. It was one of those U-pick places, where you go in and pay to pick your own produce, I suppose with the understanding that either the food you harvest yourself will be healthier and hopefully it will cost less. In the case of the strawberries, I believe they paid the handsome price of about ten dollars a quart. Not exactly a bargain. Add to the cost the gas it took to get there and back, and the bending down to root through the berries that others have already picked over, traipsing through the mud and dealing with mosquitos and other hungry vermin, those are some pretty expensive strawberries. I guess its the adventure of the whole process that is supposed to be memorable. I can't really relate. As far as being healthy goes, that'...

  Several weeks ago here in the Mat-Su valley, we were hit with a wind storm of such a magnitude that it was considered to qualify as a hurricane in terms of wind velocity. For several days the area was buffeted by winds that at times exceeded eighty miles per hour. It was NOT fun. The trees were shedding limbs by the armload. As I was laying in bed at night listening to the wind, every now and then a limb would strike the house with a loud bang. I was praying that the windows and door would be spared any damage. About nine in the morning on that Saturday I had just come down to the office and turned on the computer when we lost power. I wasn't overly concerned. I had spoken to my neighbor who has lived in Wasilla for years, and he mentioned that at the most the power in the past was only out for about three hours. No big deal. The outdoor temperature was hovering around zero with a wind chill of about thirty below. With the wind blowing steady at between forty and fifty miles per ...