Wilderness Blues- Ramblings from the Great Land

 For the past several months I've been watching In Touch ministries on TBN on Sunday mornings before church. Dr. Charles Stanley is the pastor who speaks,and what he says really hits home for me. When I decided to start supporting his ministry, he sent me a packet that included the above message, along with a book mark that had nine life principles to live by. One of the principles should have been, keep an orderly space so that you can find what you want when you want it, because I've misplaced the bookmark in all the rush of life and lack of discipline in my housekeeping chores.  I suppose I'll find it eventually, or I hope I do. Dr. Stanley speaks from years of experience walking with God, and I value his wisdom. Of course all the wisdom in the world doesn't do a person any good if he doesn't utilize it. King Solomon, the wisest man to ever live is a prime example of that. What the good king needed more than wisdom or riches, was a heart th...

Steve and Adam baiting squid on 16/0 circle hooks Adam unhooking a hook from the ground line. It's always fun to see what's coming up  Un-hooking a big skate  Measuring the fish. The tidebook gives estimated  weights according to length   Years ago I prayed for patience, and God in all His wisdom gave me what I wanted, or at least orchestrated the circumstances so that my prayer could be answered. I had seven children, I became a commercial fisherman, and I subscribe to Hughes Net. Waiting for the pictures to download is an exercise that could try even the patience of Job. I swear, if there were a contest between a sloth and Hughes Net, the sloth would win. Actually I'm surprised that I can even get on the internet. For the better part of a week I've been unable to. Oh well, patience my son, patience.  Last week I went out halibut fishing in an effort to catch my comme...

Over the last few months I've been experiencing chronic pain and a good deal of fatigue. I'm quite certain that it has primarily to do with the arthritis in my knees and back. I'm not sure what to make of the fatigue, except that I'm getting older and my body doesn't want to do what it used to. I do have hypothyroidism. For whatever reason my thyroid isn't producing enough juice or whatever it produces to keep things running in top shape. Frankly, I really hate the whole process of getting older. It just isn't fun. Whoever coined the term "golden years" probably wasn't there yet. In any event, I'm still alive and kicking, although the kicking is a little half- hearted anymore. Periodically I run across someone down at the dock or in the store who ask how I'm doing, and I usually reply something to the effect that I'm surviving another day. Not the most optimistic outlook, but I've never been an optimist in the best of times....

 I know that I've violated the first rule of blogging by not staying current on my blog posts. I suppose that at least once a week I should be posting something, hopefully entertaining or at least informative. However, I've found myself with nothing to say, or if I did have something to say, I don't have the time to say it; and if I did have the time to say it, the damn internet wasn't working anyway, so all that great commentary would be left to rot in my brain. I know that's not a very good excuse, but what the heck, it's not like I'm getting paid to do this thing. In fact it costs me money, which I don't mind so much. It provides me with an outlet to express myself, but like I mentioned, I really haven't had too much to say lately. I've been fishing more this year than I've done in ages. Unfortunately I don't get started too early anymore, so to escape feelings of extreme guilt, I stay out later, so that by the time I get home and...

A Pacific Halibut about 71 pounds before gutting and removing the head Three troll caught, ocean bright Alaskan King Salmon. The largest one was 22 pounds Locally caught Dungeness crabs. My son's caught these in two pots set overnight Fresh blueberries from the back yard. The kids picked about two gallons in a few hours Samonberries from around the house               One of the joys of living in Alaska is that there is so much to enjoy of nature's bounty. Many Alaskan's, especially those of us who are living outside of the larger towns, utilize the abundance of food sources that are prevalent here. Every season brings something that can be harvested. Right now salmon and halibut are abundant, and the wise person catches some for now and some for the long winter ahead. For many people, especially those out in the bush, smoking fish has been a way to preserve it for hundreds of years. Now we...

Like so many Americans this past Memorial Day weekend, my family, or at least my oldest daughter Jen, my wife Jan and myself took to the road. It was only a thirty mile trip out to False Bay, but nonetheless it took the better part of an hour and a half to cover the distance. To say that the road is rough would be the understatement of the year. Even the potholes had potholes. I was weaving around the road like a drunken sailor trying to find a spot that I could drive  without dislodging a kidney. In that short drive I think I had to stop at least twice, maybe three times to take a leak. All that bouncing kind of shakes down the juices. At least once I stopped because of Jen. Whenever we take her on a drive anywhere, we always make sure we have at least a half roll of toilet paper or some paper towels, because she will most certainly have to go before we get to the destination. The road to False Bay is littered with discarded TP from the various trips t...

  As you can see from the pictures, this blog post isn't about chess pieces, it's about a fish. A king salmon. A white king salmon to be more specific. Last Saturday I spent the day fishing and in an uncommon bit of good fortune, I managed to land five kings. I actually had eight on. Two of them took spoons, and for whatever reason, managed to get off. I always play the scenario over and over in my head trying to figure out what went wrong when I lose one. The first one I lost I figured maybe he was still too fiesty to bring in. The second one I let soak a little longer, but I still lost him. Go figure. The third one that got off I never even saw. He hit pretty hard, and I let him soak for what I thought was a proper amount of time- let him tow the fifty pound cannonball around for awhile to let off some steam. As it was though, he swam into the leader above him and managed to tangle the two lures and got off. I can't say I was very happy, but I wa...