Wilderness Blues- Ramblings from the Great Land

  It's hard to believe that 44 years has passed since that June day in 1976 when Jan and I drove our 72 Pinto up the ramp of the Hoonah ferry terminal into an adventure that would last for this long. Driving through the town I was wondering what I had gotten myself into. We left sunny Charleston South Carolina and came to this land of mountains and water and rain in amounts I'd never seen before. The main road was nothing more than a narrow, muddy, rut -filled lane that two cars could only pass on in select areas. Houses along the road were so covered with mud that the paint wasn't visible and if the sun did ever shine you'd never know because the windows were streaked brown with so much mud that light couldn't penetrate. People walking down the road were in no hurry to get out of your way, and stared at you like you were on display in a circus. The few cars I passed had slogans like Indian Power and Custer Had it Coming. A lot has changed in 44 years. Hoonah has be...

  I've finally got some time to do a blog post,and I was struggling about what to write. Part of me would like to speak out on the state of our country, how much trouble we're in at the moment and how tragically it could turn out if God doesn't intervene in this next election. However, I'm quite certain that most of the readers are sick to death of hearing about all the political rhetoric and the non stop speak of bad news, so I thought I would write about something that most of us like to do- eat. As I was writing this, I just finished a delicious  bowl of apple cobbler that my wife Jan brought to me. It had a dollop of Cool Whip on top.... mmmm... heavenly.  Some time back my daughter Autumn came for a visit. She frequently tells us of her culinary skills. She's the baker at a Greek restaurant up north, and I have to admit, she is a good cook. However, not wanting to be outdone, I decided that I would show off some of my own culinary skills and...

   Night after night I'm foolish enough to tune in to the nightly news. I don't know why. As the old saying goes, misery loves company so I guess I must get some bizarre pleasure out of hearing what is going on in the world and perhaps I'm secretly glad that I'm not going through some of what others are facing. There is no two ways about it though, we've all been impacted by this ridiculous virus. What I don't understand is why is there such a panic over something that impacts something like two percent of the population? Personally I think it's a complete overreaction and I'm paranoid enough to believe that it's a kind of social experiment to see how far we in America are willing to go to be "safe".  How many of our constitutional freedoms are we willing to part with?  Anyway, I don't want to get on my soapbox. We hear enough opinions and bad news every night without my two cents worth. What I wanted to mention was something that ...

   This past week my daughter Jen came home from work only to be greeted with a view of her beautiful Noble Fir tree decimated by IPEC, the local power company. Without warning or an opportunity to be on site when the cutting was happening, and without any input, she was totally caught off guard. She was both devastated and angry when she saw the destruction. The Noble Fir, which was totally on her property, was the only one in town. In a place where Sitka Spruce, Hemlock and Alder trees are as common as rocks on a beach, this tree stood out as a thing of beauty. Noble is an apt name for these firs, although as you can see from these pictures, it's anything but  now. She isn't the only one angry or disappointed in the short sided decision to eliminate one whole side of branches. The previous owner of the house had received the tree from her now deceased father and it was a lasting reminder of him whenever she passed by. I understand the need to trim branches...

  About a week ago my friends Mark and Sarah let us know that they were going to be moving to California. Of all the places that I wouldn't want to be right now, California would be near the top of the list, right behind Portland, Seattle, New York, Chicago, Minneapolis and any place in China. From what I can gather, there are a number of folks from California leaving and heading for the more sane places like Texas and Idaho. I just hope they leave their liberal ideas behind. One California is all this country can stand. In any event, the news hit me like a ton of bricks. I had no idea they were even thinking of going. I think there is a lot of sacrifice involved in the decision, and that's their business, but for my own selfish reasons, I really, really hate to see them go. Friends are hard to come by nowadays, true friends that is, and I've seen so many of my friends leave Hoonah over the years. I sometimes watch them go and wonder why I'm still he...

   I feel like I've sat back long enough and been quiet about what is going on in our country. I know it's not supposed to be a good thing to speak out on a blog about your personal political policies or feelings, but I can no longer be silent while my country is being torn apart by radical forces. The time for the silent majority to speak has come. In John 10:10,Jesus draws a parallel between him and Satan. He says, " The thief comes only to steal and to kill and to destroy, but I have come that you might have life, and have it more abundantly."  Every night the news is filled with stories of violent protests,unruly mobs torching cars and buildings and tearing down statues that for one reason or another they are offended by. How is the country any better by destroying what someone else has paid for? Aren't those protesting acting like the thief described in John 10:10? We recently witnessed a six block area of downtown Seattle being taken over b...

 The summer King Salmon season has arrived here in Southeast Alaska, and much like a kid who has waited for Christmas all year, I'm ecstatic that it is finally here. As a general rule I don't bother fishing for kings in the winter. There aren't many around where I am, most of them are located out on the coast, and I have no intention of traveling to Sitka in the winter to try my hand a catching a few, so I'm always happy to get the chance to fish close to home. In years past, there has been what became known as experimental openings, where trollers were allowed to catch kings in April through June, in part because of a three percent tax that is imposed on all commercial salmon fishers to supplement the fishery. However, for the past several years, the King Salmon runs haven't done well, for a variety of reasons, which no one is really sure of. That resulted in fisheries being shut down in order to preserve the species. I don't mind taking a loss for  a few ...