Wilderness Blues- Ramblings from the Great Land

Years ago, when the L.Kane Store still sold groceries and fuel, there was a sign prominently displayed on the back wall of the office. You couldn't miss it if you entered. It said simply,  "Those requesting credit in this establishment will be pummeled repeatedly with punishing blows about the head and shoulders!"  I loved that sign. Unfortunately it was more humorous than factual because everyone and his brother would come in, give the manager a sob story and walk out with hundreds of dollars worth of goods or fuel which only occasionally was paid back. As you can imagine, the store eventually closed down; however, I'm not here to write about credit or Kane's or humorous signs,I'm here to write about this blasted snow. I've been shoveling massive quantities for days- so much so that I have almost nowhere else to pile it. The bottom picture shows the scene on my front porch. The snow that has slid off the roof is piled so high we almost don't have an...

It's November 2, and although it's election day, and that in itself is pretty scary given the condition of the country, I'm not referring to the political landscape; I'm speaking about the changes happening in the natural one. Winter is on the way and as much as I might like to deny it, I can't avoid it. As you can see the snow on Ears is much lower than it was just several days ago. Most of the plants in the garden have died or are in the process of dying, with the exception of the Rhododendron and the Dusty Miller. It poured buckets last night and most of today and when I took the dog out a little bit ago to do his thing I darn near froze. Of course he doesn't care about how I feel, he's too busy smelling pee and other gifts that the neighborhood dogs have left, to worry about me- the selfish little brat. Sometimes I feel like Rodney Dangerfield, I don't get no respect. Soon I'll be forced to go out and shovel little paths in the snow so the dog wo...