Wilderness Blues- Ramblings from the Great Land

This past weekend I took my sons out to pursue my halibut quota. I usually don't fish for them this early in the year- finding them can be a little spotty and the weather is still a bit gnarly at times, but I guess the same thing can be said about the fishing and the weather whenever you go out. Anyway, both boys like to long line and since I needed the money I decided to go. In order to get a mor e accurate idea of the process, for anyone who might be reading this and may be unfamiliar with commercial halibut fishing, you need to look at the bottom picture first. It shows the boat under the ice chute at the cold storage dock. The guys are directing the ice into the bins which will be covered with thin foam ice blankets to try to keep it from melting too fast. In order to keep the fish fresh we have to have an ample supply of ice. My fish hold can carry six tons of ice/fish. Of course I've never caught that much fish in one trip, but it would sure be fun to try. The next pict...

This past Sunday Jan and I decided to pry ourselves from the couch and go out to join several of our kids and grandkids for a picnic out at Long Island. The weather was uncommonly warm and sunny that day and it was nice to get out and enjoy the sunshine. Jennifer and her family are regular visitors to this sand spit and by the time we arrived on the scene, Ben had a fire going and all the food was layed out on a blanket. That's just the way I like it. I show up just in time to eat and have fun and leave before the mess needs to be cleaned up. Jen is the master weenie- roaster today. She wisely chose to purchase a commercial hot dog roasting implement for just such occasions. It has a long steel rod with two spears on the one end and a wooden handle on the other. While it's better than most sticks that I've used, I think it should be more solidly built- perhaps out of stainless steel and another foot longer with an insulated glove built into the handle so you don't h...

I dropped down to the harbor yesterday to do a little work on the boat and I was amazed at the number of cockle shells that littered the loading ramp area. On minus tides, like the ones we're experiencing, the mud flats are exposed and the cockles that lay just under the suface are easy prey for the birds. Crows are the only ones I've seen probing the mud. Once they've located and dislodged one of the mollusks, they fly into the air and drop it on the concrete or pavement, thus breaking the shell and exposing the meat inside. Of course they don't bother cleaning up after themselves and it's almost impossible to keep from running over the shells. Several years ago I was pushing one of the two wheeled carts that the harbor keeps for the patrons to use. I wasn't paying too much attention I guess until I heard the familiar crunch of a shell being crushed and heard a Pssssssss as the air when whooshing out of the tire. I can't remember what I was hauling - pro...

Well, it's happened again. My daughter Camille called and let me know that she wasn't happy with my last blog entry. Apparently it wasn't entertaining enough for her. So now, I have to provide entertaining blogs on a frequent enough basis to satisfy her or I will be getting an unfavorable review. Oh, the pressure. I explained that there are only so many things to write about and she suggested I do a blog on cheese and crackers, one of my favorite snacks. Of course throwing a little Pace Picante Sauce into the mix livens it up considerably. As you can see, I have the large economy size. Several years ago I asked an artist friend of mine to paint a picture of me in my rainpants holding a king salmon in one hand and a bottle of Pace in the other. I love this stuff. I wanted it painted on the top house of the boat. Unfortunately, she left before she could get around to it. Bummer. Jan keeps telling me all the cheese I eat will clog my arteries. She's probably right. I'l...

There is a general feeling in the writing community that you should write about what you know. If I limited myself to that, I'd have very little to say indeed, so I'm kind of stepping off the deep end here and writing about something I know almost nothing about. The totem poles shown here are located in the Hoonah City Schools parking lot. I'm not sure how it is that they came to be there, except that it was a large enough public area to house them. I do know that they were carved by Rick and Mick Beasley, twin brothers who have a lot of ability when it comes to the art of carving. I can't really recall when these were put in place. I believe they are probably made out of red cedar, which of course lasts a long time. Several weeks ago I spoke to Gordy Greenwald about the totem poles, but unfortunately, he was either somewhat vague or I've forgotten most of what he told me. I suspect the latter. Gordy taught wood shop here at school and also taught a course in Nort...

As you can see, I have a bowl of macaroni salad on the counter. It may not look like macaroni salad, but it is. It actually looks better in real life- the picture isn't doing it justice. Every now and then I make a bowl of it to go along with the rest of some meal or another. Tonight we're going up to the church for a pot luck, so that's what I'm bringing. A few weeks ago, I was in Hoonah Trading when one of the single fellows who works at the forest service came in and was lamenting the fact that the store didn't carry any cold salads any more, like macaroni or potato salad. I said, "just make your own." Well, apparently he doesn't know how, so I said, "next time I make it,I'll bring you some." So that's what I did. He was all excited and thanked me and even gave me a "God bless you", so I left his office feeling all good about myself. As I was walking home the thought occured to me- what if for some reason he ate it and g...

Well, I've done it again. I had this post all done and was reading over it to correct any mistakes, when I made a mistake. I hit the wrong button and wiped out my previous post. I think I need a keyboard with keys the size of qauarters and a half inch space between them. Of course using the computer would be like playing the piano, the keyboard would stretch across the whole desk, but I bet I would make fewer mistakes and besides, I would kind of like to learn how to play the piano. This isn't what I really wanted to write about. I wanted to mention the fog we've been experiencing for about a week. The weather this February has been uncommonly warm, for which I am exceedingly grateful, as are the deer and other critters of the woods I'm sure. The down side, if you want to call it that, is that the fog sets in overnight and sometimes stays most of the day. It's fine if you don't have to leave the community for any reason or if you are in no rush to receive your...