Wilderness Blues- Ramblings from the Great Land

About a month ago, I broke down and bought myself a new mattress. The last one I bought was shortly after we  moved in to Hoonah from the farm. I guess the one I had was roughly forty years old. I know, I know, who has a mattress for that long? Well, obviously, I did. About ten years ago I had bought a topper for it at Costco, and it made it fairly comfortable until just recently. I was waking up every day with back pain, and I tossed and turned all night trying to find a comfortable spot. Obviously, it was time to buy another one.  I had seen advertisements for the Purple mattress, and they were quite clever. One ad showed an egg on the mattress and over six hundred pounds of sheet glass being lowered onto it, without the egg breaking. That was impressive, but I'm not an egg, and I'm fairly certain I'll never have six hundred pounds forcing me down into the mattress. I had visions of trying to get myself out of bed in the morning and sinking into the waffle design. It migh...

  Last week our family experienced a great loss when Jan's mom passed away. Her health had been on a down hill slide since last October when she'd had a heart attack. Unlike some fellows I know, I had been blessed with a mother-in-law that who couldn't have been better if I'd ordered her from a catalog. In the almost fifty two years that I knew her, I can't recall ever having harsh words with her.I'm not even sure we ever had an argument. She always treated me with respect and kindness, even as a sixteen year old punk hanging around her daughter. When Jan and I got married in 1972, I was at a loss of what to call her. I already had a lady I called mom, so we settled on Helen, her first name, and yet in every way she was a mother to me. When Jan and I left the farm and decided to settle in Hoonah, she helped put together the down payment for the house. Her life was one of sacrifice and service. After her husband died she made semi-annual trips to Al...