Wilderness Blues- Ramblings from the Great Land

  I don't know about you, but frankly, I'm really tired of all the protesting, statue molesting, hate mongering and pundit speaking that's going on right now. I was thinking of writing a post with my own brilliant ideas concerning what's going on in this country right now, and indeed, even around the world, but I'm sure it would be controversial, and I don't know what good it would do. Those that agreed with my train of thought might applaud me, and those that didn't would think I was an ignorant dolt, and I don't really think that anyone's mind would be changed because of anything I said. So... I'm going to just air a few thoughts here that I think would be good to keep in mind while we're in the process of living. Not all of these thoughts are mine, some I've printed out from books that I've read. Most notably books by Robert Fulgham and Anne Lamott. I do have a few original thoughts though, brought about by the school of hard ...

Like most of the rest of the world, I've been watching this whole drama of the Coronavirus unfold. I don't know why it is that we've lived through the Ebola virus, the H1 N1 virus, the SARS virus without all the panic, but now the whole world is going spastic over this. I'm not saying that it isn't serious, but as of a few minutes ago, there had only been 72 deaths attributed to it in the United States. I can only assume that most of those deaths were of folks whose immune systems were already compromised. What worries me more than the virus, is the fear surrounding the virus. Fear makes it hard to make a good decision. A case in point is the rush to purchase mass quantities of toilet paper. Really? You're afraid that you won't have any toilet paper if the virus persists? Not only are folks buying toilet paper, but napkins and paper towels are flying off the shelf. A word of caution. DON'T use napkins or paper towels in your flush toilet. For that ma...

The other day my wife, Jan decided we needed a new toilet seat. I'm not sure why. The old one worked just fine, no splinters or anything, but nonetheless, she didn't like it, so we're now sporting a new one. With my arthritic back and knees, I was thinking that if it hasn't already been invented, a hydraulic toilet seat would really be nice. When you were done with your business, as soon as you flushed, the hydraulic rams would automatically kick in and lift your behind right off the potty. No doubt it's the next billion dollar idea.   I spent ten years at a farm here in Alaska where there were no indoor toilets. We all had some manner of honey bucket in our homes for use during the night. As I've mentioned before, I never really had to avail myself of those once we built our house out in the woods. My closest human neighbor was over a block away, and the squirrels, deer, martens, bears and other woodland creatures never lodged a complaint...

 I was down at Hoonah Trading shopping the other day. I'm usually there at least daily, sometimes multiple times per day. They have the only hardware store in town as well as groceries and fuel, plus Jan works there, and I often drop in when I'm picking her up for lunch.  I frequently end up buying something and of course automatically get a receipt, which I usually just put in my pocket.  It's not all that uncommon for me to have six or eight of the blasted things cluttering up  my pockets or the seat of the truck. Often they're scattered around the house, on the kitchen counter or the dining room table. When I received my mandatory receipt the other day, I happened to mention, wouldn't it be great if they made the receipts out of toilet paper? Then you would have something useful. If you went out hunting and the call of nature struck while  you were in the woods, you just reach right into your pocket and pull out a handful of receipts and you're good to g...

   I made a trip over to Juneau last week to go shopping. Sounds about as exciting as watching paint dry doesn't it? I believe most ladies like to shop, but I think that usually involves fun things like shoes or clothes or some such thing. I don't know what's so fun about those items. Now if they were shopping for hoochies or spoons or flashers and assorted other fishing gear, I could see where that would be fun. I think my heart skips a few beats every time I spot a new pack of hoochies that have the potential for catching fish. That's much more practical than a tenth pair of shoes or an extra blouse to squeeze into a closet. Unfortunately I wasn't shopping for fishing gear. I paid $132.00 to hop a ferry and go shopping for groceries. It seems like a lot of money, and it is, but the fact is, it costs so much for groceries here, that with the amount that I bought, I actually saved money. A case in point. I ran out of gum prior to my trip so I ...