Wilderness Blues- Ramblings from the Great Land

There is a lot of coverage on the news about the price of gas lately. While our president would like to blame it on the Russians, the fact is, as soon as he took office he shut down the pipeline, and the price of gas went through the roof. I wonder what Air force One runs on. Anyone heard of an electric plane? Let me know how that works.   Actually its not the price of gas that this post is about, it's that other gas that causes bloating and intestinal discomfort that I'm referring to. When it comes to gas, I've got it in abundance. Unfortunately, no one wants it.  I made a pot of bean and ham soup yesterday. I put all the ingredients in the crock pot before church, and by dinner time, it was ready. Frankly, it's delicious. As mentioned, the problem with the beans is that they do affect me in a most unpleasant manner. I blow up like a hot air balloon and for the rest of the night the pressure relief valve is working overtime. I wonder if I were to put a camera in my ro...

   When I was fifteen, I got a job working down the street at Mac's Trading Post. It was the only sporting goods store in town. The work wasn't hard, but the pay was pathetic. The minimum wage at the time was $1.60 an hour, and yet somehow Mac and his wife got away with paying me only half that. My friend, Don, got a job a year later at Super Duper, a local supermarket located at the Southland Shopping Mall. He was pulling in the required minimum wage bagging groceries. After awhile I came to my senses and decided to join him. We got to spend time together at the front counter, bagging groceries and helping ladies out to their cars. Afterwards we would compare tips and make comments about the customers we'd helped. In time we both went to work at the store next door, Twin Fair. It was similar to Wal-Mart, only not as large. It had all the normal departments that you would expect, including hardware, paint, sporting goods and toys. Don worked in the paint department and I e...

 School was out for the Thanksgiving weekend, and I had four days with no obligations. I was visiting my best friend, Don, the day after Thanksgiving. Gadabout Gaddis, the Flying Fisherman, was on TV. He was down in Florida catching Largemouth Bass on a fly rod. We were sitting in Don's living room in Ohio filled with desire; not for girls, we both knew that wasn't going to happen. We were overcome with an overpowering longing to go fishing. It was Gadabout's fault. He was having so much fun that it was contagious. It didn't seem to matter to our juvenile brains that the temperature was hovering in the thirties outside, fishing seemed like a smashing idea at the moment. I ran home and put on a sweater and a winter coat, grabbed some gloves and a long stocking cap called a toboggan. It was red and black striped, about three feet long and had a fuzzy ball at the end. I scarfed up my fishing rod and tackle box and walked back to Don's house. He met me with a winter co...

 If I may be so bold, I would like to comment here on something I have to believe we're all familiar with. I suppose that if you have a computer, you probably have indoor plumbing as well, and if you have indoor plumbing, you use toilet paper. It's known by several names - toilet paper, TP, tissue paper and several others that are a little more crass that I won't mention here. When I worked at the L. Kane Store, Ol' Swede, the manager of the ferry terminal, used to come in from time to time and mention that he needed "bung-fodder". It wasn't until he made his way to the paper aisle that I realized what he wanted. When I moved to the "end-time" farm, we used outhouses, and since we were supposed to be "denying the flesh man", someone felt like we should forgo toilet paper. At least that's the impression I got. Perhaps there just wasn't enough money to buy it. In any event, we used newspapers and magazines that were cut into lit...

  My daughter Autumn came by today. She and Jan had gone to do a little shopping after church and when she dropped her mom off, she came inside and stayed for a bit. Somehow we got on the subject of funny U-tube videos or memes and she found one that got a lot of attention last year. I think the title was something like Sharon's Pie or some such thing. Anyway, when I saw it, I knew I had to comment, so I'm writing this post. The crux of the matter was that this gal Sharon, a grandmother from Georgia,  had obviously overbaked her pie and then had the audacity to get on the Marie Callendar Facebook page and send them a picture of the black pie disaster and was blaming them. The comments that ensued were worthy of a comedy act. Her original post said something like - Thanks Marie Callendar for ruining my Thanksgiving Day dessert! Marie Callendar offered to replace the pie, but before that could happen, the picture had gone viral and a whole set of memes were born. It was hilariou...

  I used to be strong, now I'm weak as a kitten Kitten Man I suppose I'll never be a hero, at least not to anyone outside of my family. There will most likely never be any comic books, radio shows or movies in which I would be the star. After all, what kind of a super hero would Kitten Man be? What little kid points at me in the supermarket and excitedly tells his mom, " When I grow up, that's who I want to be like!?" It's not gonna happen. I can't even fool myself into pretending it could. When I was young I watched Superman on TV. It was kind of hokie I guess, but when you're a kid, you want to believe anything. When I got older I used to go to Meister's drug store and buy the latest editions of Superman, Batman, The Flash and Sgt. Rock comic books. They were only twelve cents each at the time, so a dollar would buy a whole slug of them. Superman could fly, he was super strong and was always rescuing Lois Lane from some kind of trouble. I can...

  Recently the company that makes exceptional work wear was in the news. Carhartts, a brand that is well known in America for it's durability, opted to require vaccines for it's employees, even though the supreme court ruled government mandates for private businesses unlawful. That's their business I suppose, though I don't agree with them. It won't keep me from buying their clothes; the stuff they make is tough as nails and is popular with people who make a living with their hands. The article reminded me of my younger brother, Brett. Many years ago, he had gotten a job shortly after he graduated from high school. It wasn't what he wanted to do, but he needed to work somewhere and while perusing the help wanted ads in the local paper, he saw an ad for a laborer at the Marion Bronze Company. He applied and got the job, though I believe he found that it wasn't a good fit for him. The men who worked at the foundry were tough; bristling with muscles. Tattooed b...