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I was saddened to wake up this morning and read that 47 people were killed in tornados that ravaged the south yesterday. The victims included 24 people in Tennessee, 13 in Arkansas, seven in Kentucky and three in Alabama. I'm sure we have boomers who saw this devastation first hand and we should all take a minute and say a prayer for those who died and to the families who have lost homes and are without power this morning. We take life for granted and horrific instances like this tell us just how fragile life and death is. God bless these people....

I saw a lone deer uesterday before dark trudging his way across the knee deep snow on the lake and I felt sorry for him. I think it is a male because they do travel alone and I feel an affinity for his situation during this brutal winter we are having. I went grocery shopping with Burner yesterday and had to bring the supplies in on a sled from the mailbox. I took numerous stops to take a break because I haven't been feeling that great lately but I did have to laugh when I realized the bag of potatos had a hole in it. Today, when I take my walk I will pick up those not so hot frozen spuds.....

The results of the pet scan my dad had last week shows no serious problems with his heart and they are again scheduling an operation to open up some arteries in his good leg. Again, I pray the surgury will go on as planned and he can get back on his feet. My mom says he is the worst back seat riding shotgun driver and I can appreciate that. I am the second worst back seat driver which Janet can confirm quite coinvincingly....

Speaking of Chicago, I see they are due to get up to nine inches of snow this afternoon. I'm not sure why I smile hearing this. I guess misery loves company....

In about three weeks I will be heading to Chicago with a new friend I've met here in Republic. It looks like I will be offline for most of March as my ride back home will not be until the middle to the end of March. With the conditions here I have no problem with that and will get a chance to see Janet, send home some of my clothes and stuff and it will be nice to see my family. When I do get back April is on the horizon and spring will hopefully be just around the corner......

Have a great Wednesday and keep a positive attitude and a smile.....Easy

I woke up yesterday to a foot of new snow and the wind blowing a blizzard not often seen here and wanted even less. The drifting on the Lake left it shaped like one of those extra padded mattresses with tornado like wisps of snow dancing in the wind. It was a snow day at school and a stay inside day for sure. For me, it lasted until about three in the afternoon when I couldn’t take these four walls anymore. Only a fool and an itinerant traveling salesman would go out on a day like this but I am neither. I put on two pairs of long johns, heavy socks and boots, full-face mask, wool cap, gloves and my new heavy winter jacket and set out hearing that music from Dr. Zhivago while he wrote Lara a poem in the winter palace…..

Hold on just a minute…I’m not writing this so you will think I have it so tough up here three miles from nowhere and that I am so brave. Ney…. I am smart and know when to go out and when not to. Hopefully, I can put you in my boots as they hit the ground and feel the cold and harsh conditions I live in. I choose to be here and it is my home and I love it more then life itself. I have found this out in a hurting kind of way and realize the grass is greener on this side of the fence…..

First off, I shiver inside and realize that no one is driving up my driveway until April month. The ‘children at play’ flag in the driveway Janet brought is partly covered but still flapping away. The free rides from now on start and end at the mailbox. The snow is up to my knees in the drifted open spots and I can barely see the ruts left by Burners truck. The wind burns the exposed area of my face and I turn away from it and walk half sideways while I pull my plastic sled to leave by the road to bring in my supplies. That will mean two or three trips on payday. The wind is right in my face at the culvert and the cold finds its way to the exposed parts of my neck and I shake it off. My gloves are touted to keep me warm but my fingers tingle and I flex my hands to stay warm. I try not to walk with my hands in my pockets because it is a sure way to slip and do a face flop into the snow. A long way from doing the angel sweep on my back. It’s one step in front of each other with head down as I move pass the Island camp that looks cold and fragile to the elements…..

I trudge to the top of the hill, turn the corner and now the wind is buffeted among the line of pine trees and I see my first deer tracks. These deer use the same trail daily from my neighbors where they feed and travel through the woods and border the swamps to my right. They can eat all they want but they also need to drink water and that is not so easy to find. I always feel sorry for the deer that have nowhere to go to truly get warm and how only the strong ones survive such vicious conditions. I swear I don’t know how they do it and realize they all don’t. It’s why I see so many coyotes around ..…..

I’m winded when I reach the Fence River Road but the energy exerted has warmed me up inside. I open the mailbox and there is no mail. I hate it when that happens. Not really….It wasn’t a wasted walk…It was getting out for a little exercise and some time away from the computer. I do my best thinking when walking and I know I have my hands full from here on in. I’m thinking of who I know that has a snow mobile, where I can get warmer gloves, what my next blog will say, and most importantly how much I like being back home. The words are flowing again. I feel like writing another book and the cupboards are full with food, it smells of freshly baked bread, and the furnace is humming like it should. Life is good and it is a good walk….

Have a great Thursday and if you go out… be prepared……Easy

I stopped for a break at the culvert on my afternoon walk yesterday to watch the water flow into Beaver Creek and then wind its way into the woods. I have a spot where I sit on a downed limb of a dead pine tree until my butt gets wet. It is a hot spot to see all sorts of animals that drink from the water, swim in it or cross it. Today, I spy a bluejay in the water flapping his wings and actually looks like he is having fun. As much fun as one can have playing in ice cold water. Not many birds stay the whole winter but there are a few. Chickadees, Blue jays, Grey jays (Lumberjacks), an assortment of woodpeckers...and oh yea, can't forget the crows even though I would like to....

I love the sound of running water traversing its way over and around rocks, fallen trees and other debris. It is music to my ears and better then any therapy or happy pills. A woodpecker pounds on a nearby tree and if you see one you usually see three and my mind drifts to thoughts of spring. Were halfway home in the tough months and overall it has been an easy winter if easy means not ao bad. Missing is the gollywhopper no cheese snowstorm that stops us like a red light at a busy intersection. We just don't get those types of storms like we had with any regularity and it personally bums me out because it gives me something to brag on to the citified folks. A badge of honor if you will. We call it Sisu....

I checked the weather this morning and the high will be 35 and the low -1. At 7 AM we have the 35 and waiting on the -1. Here tell of -40 wind chills late today and tomorrow. I'm ready, willing, chilling and up to baking a couple loaves of bread with maybe one coming out ok. Believe me it will be no Wonder bread even though I have the wondering to spare. It is a fine art this baking stuff; with my white hat falling off, flour everywhere like at a Betty Crocker convention, and a stack of dirty bowls higher then the kitchen window......

Take a good attitude, Buckle up and take a ride on the sunny side of life today....Easy

The Wisconsin boys were in the Grove dressed in their neon green and black snowmobile outfits that kept them warm but fit in like a clown suit at a funeral home. The Green Bay Packer gear was hid in the closets back home after Favre threw that interception last Sunday. It was cribbage tournament time for the locals and we tolerated the Artic Cat antics of spinning the bar, flashing lots of green and ordering vast amounts of food from the 'Summer Place' next door. Burner and I were pumped, primed and prepared to win the big bucks and personaly I was just happy to be anywhere it was warm. It had been a miserable week and my heater had come on once for about 10 seconds earlier Saturday morning but then went out and let me down again like a jilted bride at the alter. It's hard to concentrate on having fun when life is so lousy at home but I sucked it up and we sat down at tables 'ready to rumble'......

We won our first match 3-0 as Burner was on fire and I was not making any mistakes. Bob Seger was singing "Like a Rock" from the juke box, patrons were feeling the alcohol and laughing loudly over something silly; while cards were slapping the table with fifteen two and fifteen fours. Snowmobile helmets were laying everywhere and you'd think it was a crash dummy convention. The Grove was filling up and it always amazes me how good the locals get along with the trunk slammers (people who aren't from Republic and live out of their trunk while visiting). Outside, the fancy snowmobiles were lined up looking like a Skidoo dealership lot minus those statuatory red, white and blue flags flapping. We need the money tourism brings and were just good ole boys but don't underestimate us because if it gets nasty we pull together like velcro to carpet......

We won the second match in a breeze with only two matches to go and our prospects were so bright Burner and I put on shades. Metaphorically, of course. I asked Ticky if he could see his $10 entry fee with wings flying away? He didn't laugh. Ticky and I go back to Kindergarten days and we've always competed against each other no mattter whether it was basketball, softball or pool. Ticky handed me a picture taken years ago of me dressed in a Packers green and gold jersey after I'd lost a bet one hunting season long ago. Looking at myself, I have changed quite a bit. I was much thinner then, more confused, and caught up in trying to make a living in an area that had no jobs. I had my eyesight, I drove a car and was cancer free. That seems like eons ago. One thing in the picture didn't surprise me and that was my smile. Inside, I may have been hurting and I was but I kept it to myself and always hoped for a better day. I paid off my bet like a man, albeit a Detroit Lions fan. I stuffed the picture into my back pocket of my jeans and sat down for match three against Ticky and Charley who were chomping at the bit to get after us. I played Bush...Bring it on.....

Charlie owns the restaurant and is quite the guy. A great bud. I've probably sold fifty books in the Summer Place and he hasn't taken a penny of the cut saying he was happy I could make a few bucks on the 'fine depiction of life in a small town'. I don't hear this enough and what author does this side on Steven King? Ticky sat to my left complaining again about falling out of the boat twice on our epic fishing adventure in the story 'Two Forked River'. Another burr in his saddle is having his brother Moose hit a monster home run in another story called 'Play ball'. While Burner was shuffling the ink off the cards I told Ticky that I was the writer and I could do whatever I wanted and if he wasn't careful I'd have him shoot a German Shepaerd he'd mistaken for a whitetail. He groaned lust like Pete does in my book and sometimes I can't separate fiction from fact. Trout Falls.....Republic.......

We won two out of three close games and tied on total points in a well played match and unless we fell apart in the final match first place was ours. Ticky and Charlie slithered away like a garter snake into the rocks licking there wounds. Next up was my neighbor Mary and she'd brought along her Dad who happened to be a Marine which set the tone for the final game. Semper Fi new buddy. We talked of duty stations, MOS's. pogey bait stores, rotations, drill instuctors and a few other salty tales. Marines have this special bond unlike anything I've ever seen and when I was humming the shores of Tripoli Burner brought nme back to the game telling me to get my head out of the clouds and concentrate. I did and we smoked our good friends from up the Fence River Road like a cheap cigar. Burner and I high fived, strutted around like red roosters, collected our money, and and got our stuff together to head home. Hail to the victors valiant...hail...hail to Upper Michigan......

Ok.....It was just a crib tournament. Reality bites and on the way home I thought of my furnace and how cold it would be inside the Penthouse Cabin. I onsoled myself knowing the money would help get it fixed one way or another and money gained is money gone...eh? After we got everything inside, I hit the ignitor on the furnace and the flame came on and my fuurnace roared to life. I turned it up on high and it wasn't long before heat filled the cabin and I felt like a squirrel bundled up in a hole of a dead tree. It turns out it was the regulator just outside where the gas comes through the copper tubing into the cabin. It had probably frozen with the -18 weather the other night and Burner suggested I cover it from the elements. All in all, it was a double header Saturday for me and why I keep going no matter the setbacks and backsliding. It's not about how far we fall it is about getting up, dusting off the sandals, and going forward. And, when all the stars are lined up and when we are worthy we have one of those days to remember and smile about. I thank God for prayers answered and blessings received.....

A gang of us are meeting on Island Lake this afternoon for some ice fishing and it should be a fun day and I can already taste the Pike baking in the oven sprinkled with that nifty lemon powder. Have a great Sunday and keep in mind that the good days are here for the taking. Take a chance....Easy

Dang did it get cold last night. -16 here and I woke up this morning and realized two things; my mustache was almost frozen and my furnace went out again. Kris was here last time it went out during hunting season and he pulled out his tool box and fixed it. The tool box is here but he isn't. It is a good thing I have a backup electric heater which is now sitting in the middle of the room almost letting me know what warmth is like. I've put in a text message to him to call me when he can and hopefully get my mechanic buddy Burner over here to help me fix it again. Life is just a bowl of cherries and mine are frozen....

Anyone else having problems with Yahoo? My Yahoo page works half the time and sometimes reverts back to news of 3-4 days ago. I know they are having financial trouble and laying off employees. I don't care for Google home page and wondering if anyone else has a default no fault page I might like. A side bar: I was checking the weather for Republic this morning and Yahoo weather had this to say. 'For rush hour traffic reports for Republic, Michigan click here'. Rush hour, traffic jams? Now that is funny......

I have lots to do but wanted to say hey and hope your day is going better then mine. It's ok. I'll get by and I will stay upbeat and get through this too. Happy Thursday and stay warm....Easy

The long, lonely days here in the winter really get me down and I swear I am going to go back to Florida next winter. Cabin fever is real and does take its toll. The last time I decided to go leave for Florida I was diagnosed with Leukemia and it took me two years to get back here. I am at such a disadvantage not being able to drive and get showers and do shopping and laundry. If it wasn't for my friend Burner I would be gone yesterday. I take my 3 mile walk across the frozen lake every day after lunch for exercise and fresh air and it is the highlight of my day. Believe me, I'm not complaining but just being realistic.....

I saw a coyote running across the ice from the Island to the woods to my left this morning and he was flying after something. It was probably a deer he was after because there are many in my neighborhood. Four of the deer were in my yard yesterday eating some scraps I threw out and the winter is taking its toll on them. One young doe was eating from cedar tree branches and when they do that I know they are struggling and that makes me sad. They are my buddies too.....

Hope springs eternal thinking of spring, my favorite time of year. I'll be 59 in April when white gives way to green and the rebirth of the wild flowers and green grass. I try not to think of the future at the expense of today but I am human. I make plans, I think of new hobbies, how to be a better me, and I write and write more. It passes the time and on boomer I never feel alone. All I need is one good comment to keep me going and for that I thank you. So many of us are battling cancer or other physical ailments that come with age and we are scared but try not to show it. Talking about it is as good as a cure that may never come.....

I want to get a dog like Pippen to keep me company but the thought of loving a dog and then getting sick and giving him up holds me back. It doesn't seem fair. I wish we had rent a dogs....

I tell you my life and you tell me yours and we both are the better for it. Holding it inside tears us up and takes its toll and now that I've said hey I feel better and it's time to get my chores done. Thank you for that and I sure am glad to be back on the boomer block.....Easy

My little brother Jimmy and I would build an igloo out in the snow every winter at my Grandmothers house and it was our fort. We had a transistor radio, a blanket, hot chocolate and it was kind of a refuge from the adults. One day my uncle John turned into the driveway after a snowfall, skidded on the ice and wiped out our igloo and for a few seconds he thought he had taken us out too. Fortunately, we had left it a few minutes before but it was only after he had dug away the snow and found our radio and the blanket that he breathed a sigh of relief we didn't get smucked. After that, we had to find a spot away from the road and my Uncle. Alcohol may have been involved.....

The driveway to the house came down a long hill and many times cars would get stuck trying to go up it and out. When someone would get stuck all of the adults would come out and push the car to get it righted. They would huff and puff, swear like a sailor and I was amazed that most of my uncles wouldn't even have gloves or a coat on for this task. I couldn't wait to be an adult, swear and go outside without being bundled up like a the little brother in that Christmas story about the kid wanting a BB gun for christmas. I didn't get one either, might put an eye out don't ya know...

Everything is bigger then life when you are 5 and I swear we had a tunnel under the snow to the barn in the first home I remember. My Dad tells me now that the sides of the trail were just banked so high it felt like we were in a tunnel. Big people love dispelling myths of my youth and I choose to remember it was a tunnel.....

A school bus would pick us up on the corner when I started school and I remember being inside the bus was like being put into a freezer. One time my buddy Ticky stuck his tongue to the metal on the seat in front of us and he cried all the way to school until he could get help. This is why that same movie is a classic. It happened often to kids but only once for each of us....

Santa Claus would come to Republic on Christmas Eve and us kids would wait on the corner for candy when he would show up on a sleigh pulled by huge work horses. Wasn't quite reindeer but it worked....

Winter is tougher as an adult. It just seems colder and more of a chore to go outside. When we were kids it was all a game. A game we loved playing. Sometimes it is just no fun growing up, eh?

Happy Monday my friends....Easy

Today is my parents celebration of 59 years of wedding bliss. They've been married longer then I've lived. Err...wait...that is the way it should be, eh? My favorite memory of my parents is when I went out on my first date with Karen and we had a splendid time watching the "Sound of Music" at the movie house and I brought her home to meet my parents. I opened the front door, I still lived there too, and we caught them making out on the couch. Too much too handle since we had spent an hour making out in my car before going in. Hmmmmmmmm....

Ever heard of a 'sundog'? May be a regional saying. Burner and I saw one this morning. It's like a rainbow but just part of it and it stood up llike a skyscraper. Happens when the temp is so cold and a clear sky morning. I took it as a good omen....

Chicago is getting hit hard with the cold too and I asked Janet to put Pippen's coat on to keep him warm. All things said, I sure miss Pippen.....

Happy Saturday and put another log on the fire...Easy

It's time to pick myself up and get back to the living or the cabin fever will eat me alive. The road to the mailbox is pretty much closed to traffic now and it's humping supplies in on my tobaggan. I am feeling better and the antibiotic seems to be finally working. The snow has been falling for the last 24 hours and the temp is dropping fast but now the sun has come out. We may not get above zero for most of the weekend. Republic schools are on a two hour delay to get the roads cleared and the buses warm. Just another Friday in Upper Michigan....

My Dad is going back into surgery this coming week with more circulation problems in his good leg. He is wore out and cranky and who wouldn't be. I don't know where he gets his strength. Please keep him and my Mother in your prayers....

A couple of my buds stopped by yesterday and I was talking about my love for coin collecting and one of them said I could use his metal detector this spring and try my luck. He is going for back surgery next week in Milwaukee and won't be able to use it. It doesn't take much to get me excited and while I see white I can't wait for green. I have visions of taking off with the metal detector, my fishing gear, some grub, a tent and travel the back roads in search of trout streams and old homesteads. It seems like I take a lot of adventures away from home and now it is time to enjoy the natural beauty I have here. I keep changing and adapting....

Last week, I was walking across the lake and came across some friends ice fishing and they caught about 75 perch out of Island Lake. No size to them but they gave me a pocket full to take home. Anyone know how to get the smell of fish out of my jacket pocket? It was a good thing I wore my old winter jacket....

I joined a forum on the Writers Digest.com with hopes of fine tuning my writing. They have writing contests weekly and some of these people can really write. I need more discipline to write everyday like I once did. Still no firm push on new book but working around the perimeter waiting for inspiration....

Here's hoping you all have a great weekend. If I can you can....Easy

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