Wilderness Blues- Ramblings from the Great Land

  I was looking through the various contests at Fan Story, the writing site that I belong to, when I came across a writing prompt about what it would be like if the residents at a nursing home went off their meds and there was no one around to assist them. This is the story I came up with. It garnered my third place in the contest. I hope you enjoy it. I was about to enter the front door to the Morning Glory nursing facility when I saw Mrs. Culpepper sitting on the bench in the foyer with her Depends around her ankles. Thank God she had on her nightgown and was covered  from her shoulders to the top of her knees. I couldn't see if the floor underneath her was wet, or worse, but I was hoping she hadn't relieved herself yet or I'd be dealing with the mess once I got inside.   I tried the front door, but it wouldn't budge. I could see the red lights on a panel on the wall of the foyer, indicating the door was locked, but I didn't see any nurse or assistant around to un...

    I find myself in a constant state of uproar lately, primarily concerning the state of the country and the apparent willingness of so many people to sit back and let the government that they are supposed to control take the reigns and drive us to destruction. That being said, I can only be agitated so many hours a day before I need some comic relief. For some reason, this chicken card provides that relief for me. You kind of have to assume that this chicken or rooster has been around the block a few times, at least in chicken years, because he obviously doesn't care what he looks like. This is a birthday card and I believe the caption inside is "The older you get, the less you care." How true. Time marches on and there is only so much that you can do to hide what the years have wrought. Hair plugs, coloring and makeup can only do so much. The more desperate among us opt for plastic surgery or botox. That's fine, although you run the risk of screwing up what you had...

 Here's a picture of me from a few weeks ago, coming to the top of the ladder at the cold storage. I had just unloaded my catch of cohos and had to climb up the ladder to get my fish ticket and check. Like so much else lately, the trip up the ladder was a workout. I try not to do it much any more. I get winded, in part because I'm packing a lot more pounds than I should be. No discipline I guess. It's also part of the aging process though I think. As we get older we have less energy and slow down. We need more time to rest and we're less active. Lately I've taken to having an afternoon nap... or several. Sometimes they're planned, and sometimes they just sneak up on me while I'm in my chair watching the TV for a few minutes. I was up at the post office today and my friend John Murray, who is always outspoken was talking to a lady. When he saw me, he said-"Botts! Pull up  your pants!" He was right, they were starting to sag a little. I'...

    There are certain things in life that are indicators that perhaps you've entered the "golden years". One is when you have a cupboard specifically designated for holding all of your medicines. I'm not talking about the medicine cabinet in the bathroom where the tweezers, band-aids and Neosporin are located. I'm talking about all the pills you need just to keep life at some semblance of normal. Things like blood pressure meds, prostate pills, thyroid medicine, calcium supplements, Vitamin D tablets and assorted and sundry other things. The container  that separates all of my pills into daily doses is so full that I can hardly close the lid anymore. Between my wife and I, we could probably open a pharmacy. We have pills, ointments and creams for everything from hemorrhoids to shingles; high blood pressure to Padget's disease. Holy cats! When we order our medicine from Juneau it comes in a bag the size of a small suitcase. One of...