KEYS

Monday, August 17, 2009

We were awake at nine thirty but didn’t get up until ten.

We checked the fish count. Iit wasn’t up yet but the river was.  It is rising.

Even with the cloud cover the temp was still at forty nine.

While Onie fixed breakfast the writer checked his email and facebook.

We had stew for breakfast and worked two crosswords.

Then we showered and dressed before cleaning up the coach and the patio.

Our fireweed has bloomed out but some new flowers have bloomed.

The community garden has carrots, beets and broccoli ready for the picking as well as rhubarb.

The green house construction is coming along nicely and it will be ready for next summer.  Then we can grow tomatoes and cucumbers.

Some of our camp chairs needed repairs and Onie helped me with that.

Kurt had left keys with me to be duplicated so I headed off to Soldotna and Beemuns.  Bill also needed some keys made but blanks for his were not to be found in the area even though I looked at Trustworthy which is near the Dairy Queen and a small M&M blizzard.

After the blizzard I headed back to Beemuns to pick up the keys that were ready.  While the lady was figuring up the cost of the keys a jar grabber was found for Onie.

Back in camp at six thirty the writer found Onie, Nancy and Ruth visiting on our patio.

Sidney, Chelsea and Dixie were down at the river so the writer went down to put in his two cents worth.  Everyone agreed the water needed to go down before the fishing would improve.

Back in the coach email was checked and notes made for the day.

Outside it was clouding up and cooling off.  The river seemed to have crested.

Later we had supper and watched  GSN.

ADD ANOTHER BLANKET

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

The writer was up at seven.  Outside the air was heavy with fog which made the thirty eight degrees seem even colder than it was.  While he had planned a trip to the Russian River with Ted and Larry to fish for reds, a slight sore throat made him reconsider.  He let them know he wasn’t going before making a few notes and returning to bed. 

He got up again at ten.

Onie fixed him hot cereal while she ate cold.  Together they worked three crosswords before he headed off to get a long shower.

It was partly sunny.  The high for the day would be sixty four.

Back in the coach he helped strip the bed and sort the wash.

Then the canner, which Onie had loaded, was started.  When it was up to pressure the clothes were taken to the wash room where Onie stayed.

The writer went back to the Marlin to make notes and write.  On the way there he checked the level of the river, it was going down.  As he wrote he kept an eye on the canner.

When it was time he went to fetch the clean clothes back to the coach.

The propane tank running the canner fire had been used on several such occasions.  Now the flame went out as the last of the propane was burned.  He changed out the empty tank for a full one, relit the burner propane tank and waited for the canner to start whistling again.

There were still several bags of onions in the shed that needed a home so he took several bags and distributed them throughout the park before marking a few places in the shed for the last of the shelves that will be put up this summer.

Onie had turned off the canner when the allotted ninety minutes had elapsed.  Now it was cool enough to unload.  We did that, setting the cooling jars on our outside table.

Onie always has a plan for supper and tonight the plan was for grilled Axis back strap steaks and zucchini.  Sliced tomato and avocado was our salad.  Corn on the cob rounded out the meal.

GSN followed.  While we were watching we made the bed, adding another blanket.  Then we crawled in to watch John Wayne in True Grit, The Green Berets and Babyface where he was an unknown and had about two minutes of screen time.

By the time we went to sleep at two it was getting much colder but we were warm under our extra blanket.

SHUT UP!

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

After a late night of John Wayne we slept until a little before ten.  After some stretching and yawning Onie made her way to the kitchen where she made tea and coffee.  The writer followed shortly thereafter going outside for the paper before sitting down with a cup of hot tea.

On the local level the Anchorage Daily News announced the opening day of school and discussed the deaths of several homeless folks, most of whom have died from alcohol and or related causes.  On a national level the health care debate was written about, from a very liberally biased viewpoint, where they decried people speaking out against Obamacare and opined as how they should stay home and keep their mouths shut.  These opinions are passed off as news.

Funny how it is okay when your feelings are hurt to carp and complain but when your neighbor feels offended he should keep his mouth shut.  Unfortunately it seems much of the media feels that way.  This kind of irrational writing and speaking used to upset the writer but now he thinks it is just a shame on the part of the media that their ethics are so low and their brains so delusional that they seem to think they are “reporting” when in fact they are making things up or shading news with their own politics. It is also an indictment on the part of the public that they permit this to happen when action on their part could bring a halt to such duplicity.  All they have to do is stop buying newspapers that fail to report and stop watching TV stations that do the same thing.

A quick note or email to advertisers and sponsors telling them that their products won’t be used as long as they support such antics would also send a strong financial message.  Perhaps this is happening as newspaper subscriptions are falling, newspapers are failing and network TV has been losing viewership for many years now.  The bottom line is if one doesn’t believe in something one shouldn’t support it, morally, vocally or financially.  Actually, that is pretty simple.

By the time Onie had prepared breakfast, eggs, onion and strips of Axis back strap, all cooked together, the paper had been read and the crosswords extracted.  We each worked one while we ate.

Outside our window the sun was shining brightly chasing the chill from the morning air.  Priscilla, the first in days, was on the grate trying for reds.  After a while, with no hits, she gave up and went back to her rig.

Onie worked on weeks eleven and twelve while the writer made these notes before stopping to visit with Chelsea who had come by the coach.

Showered and dressed the writer took the canner to the river to empty the residual water before he went back to see Ted, who was fishing.  He had just landed a female silver.

The writer went back to the coach, donned his waders, got his bucket and pole and headed back to the river.  He joined Ted in the knee deep water where he spent the next forty five minutes flipping and jerking.  He felt nothing except the lead ball weight skipping over the stones as it was swept down the river by the fast moving current.  He abandoned his efforts in favor of his laptop.

By now it was three thirty and the sun was beating down through cloudless skies sending the temps into the seventies, hot for Sterling in August.

Measurements were made for the construction of the top back shelf in the shed before the writer left for Swanson River with Ted and Jay.  The idea of the trip was to catch some silvers.

Fifty miles later we crossed the Swanson River Bridge.  Half a dozen folks were seated in lawn chairs, on the bridge, with their fishing rigs hanging over the side.  Next to one chair lay a silver that looked to be about fourteen pounds.  The tide was in and slack.

We drove to Captain Cook Park, parked and walked down to the beach of Cook Inlet.  While there the writer encountered and visited with a local who had been fishing the mouth of the river.  He had walked a few miles and had brow sweat to show for it, nothing else.  He was of the opinion that the fishing would be better once the tide started moving, out.

We went back to a parking area next to the river, donned our waders, got our other gear and joined a group of nearly fifty people who were fishing up and down a half mile stretch of the river.

Ninety minutes later with the sun going down and the number of no seeums going up we called it quits.  We, nor anyone we talked to, had a seen a fish in the knee deep crystal clear water.

Ted drove back to camp getting us there at nine.

Onie had skewered bacon wrapped scallops ready for the grill along with chopped fresh veggies.  We ate our sliced tomatoes and avocados before the rest of the meal went on the gas grill.  It came into the coach, steaming in the cool night air.

Satisfied from a delicious meal we settled in to watch a Red Skelton movie about a drunk comedic father.

When the movie was over at one we went to sleep.

Outside it was clear and cold, forty two.

DVD DEMISE

Thursday, August 20, 2009

We were up at nine thirty under clear skies.  Our thermometer showed fifty two degrees.  At six this morning it had been thirty three and the car had been covered in frost.

The writer fixed liberty toast while Onie did the bacon and made coffee and tea.

After breakfast our holding tanks were emptied, with Jay’s help, and then we emptied Bill and Nancy’s.

That chore, which is never far away, over Pawpaw and Onie headed off to Trustworthy for electrical parts for another outside outlet.

The Dairy Queen sign down the highway was beckoning in an irresistible manner so the car headed that way, almost on its own.  Once there we ordered a small dip cone and a small M&M blizzard.  Parked under a shade tree in the back of the shop we enjoyed our treats.

Now the serious business of shopping at Safeway came to the front burner and we stopped there, filled our basket, split a hot meatball sandwich and diet coke and checked out.  A little sidebar; we didn’t have to pay for our sandwich and coke until we checked out and by then the sandwich had been eaten and the coke was almost gone.  We could have thrown the sandwich wrapper in the trash and no one would have been the wiser.  Try eating at McDonald’s before paying.

In camp Larry put in the new GFI plug.  We now have two outside plugs and two inside plugs as well as an inside light.  We have the most electrified shed in camp!

While Larry was working and I was helping, Ruth began making rounds handing our fresh hot fried chicken gizzards.  When the electrical work was finished the writer went in and nuked some smoked brisket and then made his rounds sharing it.  Camp life is good.

Onie was ready to fish.  We headed off to the grate where she caught a red and Pawpaw caught a lot of no seeums trying to bite him.

The fish was filleted at eight and stored in the fridge in hopes that more would follow, for smoking.

The DVD player in our bedroom quit working a few days ago.  Trying to run a cleaning CD in it failed to cure it and blowing compressed air into it hadn’t worked either.  As a last resort the writer tried running the cleaning CD in it upside down and when that didn’t work he gave it a good shaking.  The shaking had the salutary effect of breaking something loose inside so that it rattled around like a pea in a boxcar.  With the certain demise of the unit it was laid to rest in the trash can.

Having struck out with the DVD repair, the writer went to the showers before turning to his laptop to make notes.

Onie watched Fox News until supper at ten thirty.

WHIRLWIND

Friday, August 21, 2009

Anxious to be off for the weekly jaunt to yard sales Onie woke at seven thirty.  She made her coffee and Pawpaw’s tea.

With the smell of coffee tickling his nose Pawpaw stirred, woke and then lay in bed until shortly after eight.  Then he joined Onie at the table, briefly.

She was a whirlwind as she showered and dressed to be ready at nine thirty.  The ladies have been leaving at ten, the past few weeks, but say they are missing too many yard sales as they run out of time.  Hence the earlier leave time.  Pawpaw stayed out of the way so as not to get caught up in the whirlwind that surrounded Onie as she hurried to be ready.  At nine twenty she sailed out the door.

In the coach all was quiet.

Pawpaw drank his tea, worked a crossword and then another, finished off the fudge, had some cantaloupe and then had some Frosted Mini Wheats.  The breakfast had been a nutritional balance of all that is good.  As the writer’s mother used to say, “If your plate of food is colorful it will be healthy”, and the writer had black, orange and white for breakfast, the perfect diet for good health.

Still clutching his tea cup he moved to Onie’s laptop and began checking his email and activity on Facebook.  By noon the signal was gone and the writer prepared to get dressed and start on another project.

Showered and dressed he faced the out of doors, in his new Polaroid sunglasses, making his way to the now famous shed.  One last shelf waited to be completed, this summer.  He arranged his work tools and space and then began in earnest.  He wouldn’t quit until the shelf was in, around five o’clock.  During that time Mike caught a twelve pound silver, Larry caught three reds and Norman caught two.  At each event the writer looked to the nearby river before returning to his work.  Believe it or not he is beginning to think of his and Onie’s visit as drawing to a close.  Three weeks from yesterday they will begin their trip back to Coldspring.  There are things to get done before leaving and the shelf is one of them.  Finishing the outside electrical outlet was also one of them so he put on the weatherproof faceplate and caulked it.

Just as the last cut was being made to finish the shelf Onie got home.  She had new treasures to show Pawpaw.

When the viewing was over he took his fishing gear and went to the river.  Half an hour later he returned.  The fish that had been moving through earlier had completed their visit to the grate and left nothing but a rocky bottom and fast moving water.  He had nothing to show for his efforts.

Onie had supper ready, sliced tomatoes, avocado and bacon wrapped scallops.  While we ate Onie filled the writer in on her day’s activities relating how Marguerite had been left behind at one of the yard sales and they had to back track to retrieve her.  Most of the ladies, Marguerite excepted, thought it was a real hoot.  In the late afternoon they had gone to Veronica’s, the tea room/restaurant for lunch.

With the shades of night in the offing we got a flashlight and headed for the Hager’s rig, to play Skip-Bo.  Along the way we stopped to visit with Sandy and grandson Kyle, they had just arrived and were walking their dogs, and Ted and Priscilla who were packing their coach.  They have announced their intention of leaving Sunday.  One suspects, if the fishing for silvers picks up, they will delay their departure.

Onie and Nancy were partners, once again, as were Bill and Tom.  It was a battle of the sexes, I think.  The fair sex won the first game but the tables turned for the second game and they finished second. 

It was midnight so the Blomstrom’s took their walk home, in pitch blackness. Overhead thousands of stars sparkled in the cold dark sky.

In the coach the heater was turned on to chase the chill from the air as the pair prepared for bed.

In bed they watched TV a few minutes before turning it off in favor of sleep.

JOHN WAYNE

Saturday, August 22, 2009

The night had been cold but we stayed warm under our two blankets and bedspread.  The heater had been set on sixty, for the night, so the bedroom chill was not quite as noticeable as on other mornings when we had no heat.

The coffee and tea were started at nine.  Breakfast consisted of fruit.  The morning paper was shared as we ate.  Reading the editorials and opinions in the paper the writer came to the conclusion he will not re-subscribe when the subscription is up.  The editors of the paper seem to have lost their perspective on many issues and just reporting the news and have been caught up in the rush to the left.  That rush has left my subscription dollars behind.  Next year we will have a paper but it won’t be the Anchorage Daily News.

With breakfast finished and the kitchen clean Onie set off to the lodge for a good long shower.  Pawpaw sat down to write the story for Friday and then to write this story before showering in the coach, and dressing.

At twelve thirty they were going to Don and Julie’s for grilled chicken and salads. 

Chuck Lockner with hostess Julie Hickel

Other folks fill their plates. Barbara Johnson and Alex in foreground.

At four they would make an appearance at Norm and Chris’s for a pie social.  In between they might fish.

After desert it would be off to Freddies to shop for a new DVD player and other sale items.

In Freddies we found a wide variety of DVD players ranging in price from thirty dollars to one over three hundred.  One of the DVD’s happened to be housed in a nineteen inch flat screen TV.  Looking at it the writer thought it would fit in the cubby hole in the bedroom that currently houses a thirteen inch TV.  Since Onie likes to watch TV with the closed caption feature the small screen makes it difficult for her.  A larger screen would make her viewing more pleasant and having a built-in DVD player would eliminate one remote control.  In addition all John Wayne movies look better on a larger screen.  With both of us concurring we put the new DVD/TV in our shopping basket.

Oh, by the way, we bought another less expensive DVD player that also plays VHS tapes.  We have a lot of those, including a lot of John Wayne movies.  Moving around in the store we bought some storage boxes that were on sale as well as a couple of items for the kitchen, before heading to the checkout counter.  After we checked out we figured we had saved between a hundred fifty and a hundred sixty dollars.  As your current president would save, one has to spend money to save money.  If that makes sense to you, then you are of a different political persuasion than John Wayne was or I am.

With our car loaded with the new treasures we headed back home, eager to test the eye of the writer.

Once there we carefully unpacked the new DVD player cum TV, assembled it and tried it in the cubbyhole.  It was a close fit but a fit it was.  Next we hooked up the connections and turned it on.  It had a wonderful picture, the captioning was easier to read and John Wayne would look much better.  We were happy with our purchase.

Twilight and a light mist lay over the camp like a wet blanket but a fire was glowing at Julie and Don’s so we grabbed chairs and headed off to join the folks there. Seated under a canopy we whiled away the rest of the evening.

By twelve thirty the rain had stopped, for a while, so we headed home to bed.

SO LONG/ADIOS

Sunday, August 23, 2009

The rain that lulled us to sleep last night was still falling when we woke at nine even though it had slacked off quite a bit.

Coffee, tea and buckwheat groats got us moving fast enough to dress for church, quickly, so we could go say so long to Ruth and Larry.  Their Ford F350 diesel pickup was already hooked up to their fifth wheel and they were in the final stages of making their preparations to head home to Florida via Washington State and Oregon.  They expect to be home about the same time we get to Coldspring.

After the farewells were said we headed up to the cabins to pick up Marguerite and then it was off to church.  Pastor Tim brought a very good message, “Are you the missing piece?”

We drove back home in the rain, that had never quit, to say adios to Ted and Priscilla.  Ruth and Larry were gone.  Ted and Priscilla had their coach almost completely ready for the road and came out to greet us when we stopped at their site.  Hugs were exchanged and well wishes for a safe trip.  We promised to keep in touch and try to see each other over the winter months.  Ted and I talked a little bit about a caribou hunt, eleven hundred miles North , we would like to do next year.

If our sketchy plans work out it will be a hunt under primitive conditions, tent camping or perhaps sleeping in the back of a pickup but still getting to hunt caribou.  Don will help us with some details about a good hunting area as he is interested in going, as well.  A native Alaskan, he has never killed a caribou or moose although his brothers and father have killed several.  He says he has been many times but was just never in the right place at the right time.  Final hugs, for this time, were exchanged and they disappeared into their rig.

We went to ours where Onie fixed us a light lunch.  We are going to St. Elias Brewery with Mike, Marguerite, Bill and Nancy for supper and we don’t want to go on a full stomach.

Lunch eaten and the paper read Pawpaw went to his laptop while Onie did a little housekeeping.  When the weather is better we will do a lot more.  For now a steady heavy rain is falling through fifty two degree air.

Jim Johnson called with a report on and from Coldspring.  Some rain has returned but it is still very hot, in the high nineties.

Here it is still fifty two and raining, hard.

Bill, Nancy, Mike, Marguerite, Onie and the writer all headed out for St. Elias Brewery at five thirty, for pizza.  The rain had passed but the cold persisted so the group was warmly clad when they got to the pizza place.  The place was busy but it was easy to see the tourist season was winding down.  What had been a twenty minute wait the last time we ate there was now a five minute wait.

Seated, we ordered and visited before the food arrived and then everyone dug in to the steaming hot pies.

Home at nine thirty Onie and the writer stopped at their rig to pick up a flashlight and change coats before walking down to the Hager’s for a couple of games of Skip-Bo.  Each team won a game before midnight when Onie and Pawpaw went back home.

Overhead stars shone brightly.