Wilderness Blues- Ramblings from the Great Land

 Without fail, whenever I answer the phone and my daughter Jen is on the line, her first words are "Hi Dad," and the second phrase is "What are you doing?" I don't know what her response would be if I  told her that I had installed a telephone in the bathroom and was talking to her while I was sitting on the john. I kind of doubt that she would even hang up-she would probably be silent for a minute while she thought of how to respond to that situation and then I think she would ask if I wanted to go on a walk later. It could be blowing a gale with sleet and tree branches being torn from their mooring and she would want to go on a walk. As you can see, on this particular day, I think it may have been January 1 of this  year, the sun happened to be shining. I think it was the last time I saw it until today- eighteen days later. Anyway, it was too nice of a day to stay inside so I decided to go with Autumn and Jen out to the cann...

Today is the winter solstice; I'm kind of glad. From here on out until June 21, we're going to be gaining daylight. I always look forward to that happening, although it's not really noticeable until about mid- February up here. I went out for a walk yesterday with my eldest daughter, Jennifer, or Jen as she prefers to go by. The sun was out full force when we started out, even though it was being really stingy with the heat. That's one of the problems with sunny days at this latitude. They look beautiful and they always entice me to step out, even though I know better, but once outside, their true nature comes to light so to speak. At first it's not so noticeable. You still feel toasty, having just left the warm comfort of your home, but about half way through our walk I start to feel the cold on my cheeks and forehead and the first chill from the frozen ground starts to penetrate my boots. I wear my X-tra tuff neoprene boots year round, even though they don't ...