Wilderness Blues- Ramblings from the Great Land

  I think we could all pretty much agree that human beings have the ability to be world class jerks at times. It doesn't mean we're that way all the time, but when something doesn't go our way, we sometimes exhibit behavior that is less than stellar. A perfect example is when we get behind the wheel of our cars. The mild mannered neighbor down the street can turn into a jackass when he's sitting in a two thousand pound machine rocketing down the road at sixty five miles per hour. If someone pulls out in front of him or isn't going fast enough, or perhaps is tailgating, the transformation is akin to Dr. Jekyll, Mr. Hyde. Would it surprise you though that humans aren't the only animals that behave badly? When I was living down south, I had a neighbor who kept a dog, a mongrel, that would bark uncontrollably whenever someone walked down the street past its yard. Fortunately it was fenced in. One day a fishing friend of mine named Bunny was walking down the road wit...

  I took this picture last month before we got any snow- obviously.  It's been a kind of slow time as far as writing a post goes. Nothing too exciting happening in my life, which I guess I should be glad about. We did have the power go out four times in the past few weeks. Once because of heavy snow, once because of a transformer catching fire and once because of the wind I suppose. The last time I have no idea why it went out, it just did. Unfortunately, all that power surging and fluctuation caused my garage door opener to quit working. I tried to reset it, following the directions on the back, but that didn't work. Then I watched a video that showed the same things that the back of the opener said, but that didn't work either, so now I have no recourse but to call someone and pay big bucks to either get it fixed or buy a new one. What a hassle. Of course none of that has anything to do with the moose that came to visit last month. My friends Patty and Butch had just come...

  Prior to moving to Wasilla, I'd never had too many dealings with moose. When I was living at the farm many years ago, we were all outside on the beach doing a "family" project. That was where most of the people came out to do something that would benefit the whole camp, in this case chopping firewood. Of course, there were always those who had some reason or another not to be doing the lowly manual labor that the rest of us were required to do, but it's a moot point. While were were all out there sawing the logs  and chopping the rounds, one of the fellows named Wayne Bender suddenly stopped what he was doing and pointed across the mud flats to the wooded area. "A moose! A moose! " he declared. Sure enough, there was a moose, hightailing it on the edge of the flats, headed to the point. Moose don't live on Chichagof Island as a rule. They periodically would swim across from the mainland. They are really good swimmers apparently, because its at least fo...

There is a moose on the loose And he's in my front yard  He's eating my branches, The big tub of lard  He's come down from the mountains Searching for food Eating twigs, leaves and bushes  It's really quite rude All summer long I take care of my plants I keep out the dogs, with loud, vile rants  Now that it's winter, and there's lots of snow The moose leave the mountains, they know where to go Let's head down to Tom's place, we'll have us a feast So they come to my yard, the great hairy beasts They feed on the willows, they break off the trees With no one to stop them, they do as they please  I don't really begrudge them,  a small branch or two If I were a moose, I know what I'd do  I'd head into town, where the snow isn't too deep I'd eat some dry branches and then go to sleep Here in Alaska, we've learned how to share  With all the wild animals, deer, moose and bear Mutual respect, we must endeavor to pay And so every mornin...

    It's been a long haul, but we've finally gotten the internet set up, so I can fill you in a little bit about the relocation to our new home. I don't have any pictures of it just yet, but perhaps on the next post, I'll get some. Anyway, as you might expect the move from Hoonah to Wasilla wasn't as smooth as we had hoped it would be. I imagine that it doesn't matter who you are, moving is going to involve the unexpected as well as the unwanted and the unpleasant. I have to say, it was one of the most traumatic experiences of my life. While Jan and I were both in agreement that it was time to move on, nothing could really prepare us for what was ahead. Initially we had planned on moving to Lewiston Idaho. We'd been down there three times looking around. It was entirely different than Southeast Alaska. It's very dry; I think they get 12-16 inches of rain a year. It's wheat growing country. Not much in the way of big trees and certainly no large bodie...

A Pacific Halibut about 71 pounds before gutting and removing the head Three troll caught, ocean bright Alaskan King Salmon. The largest one was 22 pounds Locally caught Dungeness crabs. My son's caught these in two pots set overnight Fresh blueberries from the back yard. The kids picked about two gallons in a few hours Samonberries from around the house               One of the joys of living in Alaska is that there is so much to enjoy of nature's bounty. Many Alaskan's, especially those of us who are living outside of the larger towns, utilize the abundance of food sources that are prevalent here. Every season brings something that can be harvested. Right now salmon and halibut are abundant, and the wise person catches some for now and some for the long winter ahead. For many people, especially those out in the bush, smoking fish has been a way to preserve it for hundreds of years. Now we...