Wilderness Blues- Ramblings from the Great Land

  Today is Labor Day- September 2. It's hard for me to believe that it's upon us already. Back in May, at the beginning of the fishing season, this day seemed so far away. The days of summer were almost twenty four hours long, with some semblance of darkness occurring in the wee hours of the morning. Now I have to rush home to beat the dark, lest I be caught in the middle of Icy Strait in the pitch blackness. I guess Labor Day is considered the official end of summer, although ours ended several weeks ago. That old familiar chill in the air followed by the first brown leaves falling from the alders were a sure sign; that and the white, shriveled tops of the Fireweed. Oh we still had some gorgeous days, warm, even hot, but they are coming to end. In the thirty six years that I've been here I can't remember a finer summer though. I hope we don't have to pay for our unexpected pleasure this winter. Well, I have a houseful of family visiting and I...

It seems that every day there is a new tragedy on the news- either the tsunami in Japan or the floods in the Midwest or tornadoes down south.  There is no place on earth exempt from some calamity or another. Though it won't make the national or even the state news we had our own disaster yesterday in the form of a fire. I was sitting down having a cup of coffee after lunch when Jan called to tell me that the Sportsman's Bed and Breakfast had flames coming out of the roof. The building is located just around the corner from my place and I'm surprised that I didn't notice the smoke right away.  I believe that the owners had just returned from Nebraska where they spend the winters and had lit the wood stove. I'm not sure what the cause of the blaze is exactly, you hear rumors, but I haven't heard anything definitive. I hate to see anyone lose their home and business. I'm not sure if the building can be salvaged or not, there was a lot of water poured on the f...

I tried unsuccessfully over the past two weeks to get these pictures to download. I finally had to bring in the big guns to get the job done. Our family friend, Candy, a Stanford grad suggested that I try only downloading one picture at a time. Obviously it worked. I'm so glad that there are assets of such value here, even in tiny Hoonah Alaska. Several weeks ago I took the dog down to the cannery. Periodically I mention going in the truck to the beach. His little tail wags like it's going to fly off and he can barely wait until I open the door and lift him on to the seat. It's at that point that he abruptly changes his mind about going anywhere in a vehicle and the crying starts. It's only a five minute drive to the cannery from my house, but it seems like an eternity for both of us. Once we're at our destination though, he's happy as a clam at high tide, sniffing the abundance of new smells and having acres of area in which to do his duty. It was during our l...