Wilderness Blues- Ramblings from the Great Land

  Before we took off on our trip to Idaho, we checked out places to stay. We needed to light somewhere every night for ten nights while we were away. Anyone who has traveled knows that choosing a good hotel can be a bit of a crap shoot. Fortunately there are web sites that give reviews that are for the most part helpful, but staying in an three star hotel doesn't always mean what you think its going to mean. For instance, the last hotel we stayed at had two dogs staying in several rooms on our floor. I love dogs, but I don't really want them as fellow guests. As it happened, both of them at different times did what dogs do, and started barking. Of course when one sounds off, the other responds. No matter how hard you may try, it can be difficult to silence them. I always think that I'm going to enjoy traveling when I'm sitting in my home fantasizing about a trip. It's not until the trip actually starts that I remember that it's not at all w...

At one time we had nine souls living in this small house. Nine. That's no small number even if you had a place as big as Michael Jackson's. Of course this home doesn't even remotely resemble a mansion, so as you can imagine, it got crowded. With nine people, you  have nine people's belongings. Some of them were treasures and some was junk, but somehow we made room for it all. What is truly amazing to me is that now that there is only Jan and I here, it still looks like we have nine people living here. There isn't a flat surface anywhere in the house that isn't cluttered with some manner of stuff... magazines, cooking utensils, plants and paperwork to name just some. Part of the reason we have so much stuff is that the kids, being the generous folks they are, periodically send us something they think we'll enjoy. The most recent gifts came from my youngest daughter Autumn. The coffee I love, and Jan really likes the candy. I...