Thursday, January 29, 2009

Frozen Wilderness Therapy

A cold gust of wind swirled across the lake causing the blowing snow to dance in long sheets of fog-like ice crystals. They seemed to come from nowhere and then disappear into the flat surface of the frozen lake.
It was a pleasant change from the news of the failing economy and stories of corrupt politicians.The Alaskan wilderness is my therapy. It gives me a break from all of the bad news that the Media shoves in our faces every minute of every day. I don't know what I would do if I couldn't get away from it all.
Bad news, struggling to keep your head above water, and stress, are the silent killers.
It's the kind of a thing that builds up inside and torments everyone of us.
It's the kind of a thing that causes normal folks to die long before their time.
It's the kind of thing that caused a man in L.A. to destroy his family and himself.
We have lived in a different kind of world since 911.
Lin and I were in the Caribou Hills in moose camp when the jets hit the Fair Trades Buildings.I watched the end of the American way of life.I told Lin that nothing would ever be the same in our Country again.
The life we lead of the "old America", was changed forever.I knew that the easy way of life was over. I can't explain the feeling of horror of that day, but I knew it was changed forever. I knew I was never going to go to sleep at night knowing all was well.
For me it would be a life without much peace and not a lot of hope for the old days.
I grew up in the mountains. We were insulated from a lot of the hassles that most folks had to live with.My life had always been very slow paced and kicked back. I was never in much of a hurry to go anywhere or keep any kind of a schedule. Life was simple.I guess I was lucky. I was able to live the back-country life style.
The only problem with that is I still can remember what it was like to live that way. Maybe that's the reason it hurts to miss something like that more than someone who never experienced it.
Today my old fishing partner, Sid, and I drove his Argo track rig several miles back into the bush to a frozen lake to do some serious ice fishing.Both of us couldn't wait to get out there. I guess we are like a couple of kids going to the Saturday Movies.
Both of us are over the 65 year mark but you probably wouldn't know it by being around us.We get around like a couple of 20 year olds. Not much slows us down.
As for all of the 30 year old couch potatoes sitting around on their over-stuffed butts eating corn chips, drinking soda pop and watching the tube...you are already dead..you just haven't fallen over yet!
No, we haven't lived without some defects. Sid had a cancerous kidney removed last year and a knee replaced.A few weeks later we were pulling salmon nets at fish camp on the Cook Inlet.I killed the biggest moose of my life 3 weeks after cancer surgery, with 39 staples in my guts.I also have three nice stents in my old ticker. Has it stopped me from enjoying the outdoors?I don't think so!
My little wife is recovering from 4 more fused vertebra's in her back. For a total of 7 fused. Will it stop her from shooting her moose this fall?I very much doubt it.
I often hammer on the younger generation in hopes they will get out there and live a life of adventure, instead of wasting their young years doing nothing. Too soon we get old and these old bodies began to fail. Then we can do nothing.
Today, however, it was about drilling the holes in the ice with my power auger. The ice was 30 inches thick. I don't drill those holes by hand anymore.
We had our propane heater set up in front of us, so getting cold wasn't much of a problem. Fishing this time of the year is slow because the fish are not active in the winter.
It wasn't for the fish that we came, it was just a bonus, or rather a good excuse for being out there.
I only wanted one big silver salmon. Sid wanted two, and the rest would be released.We only take enough for one meal. It gives us an excuse to come back and we don't really like to eat fish that has been frozen in the freezer. Why eat frozen fish when you can eat fresh fish. Good idea, isn't it!
The only thing out there was an eagle, who steals one of our fish if we leave it on the ice.
There were moose, wolf and rabbit tracks everywhere. Other than that, there was no sound except for the wind blowing the snow crystals across the frozen lake.
Neither of us talk much when we are out there. I guess we both are caught up in the solitude of the wilderness, and words seem out of place.
I'll be going out there again in a couple of days. My Grand Nephew, Tyler, and his little son,Bradley, will be going with me.
It will be Bradley's first fishing trip with me in the back woods. It is time for him to experience the solitude of the frozen wilderness.
Until then I'll keep the fire burning in the fireplace, and watch the snow falling down around my mountain.
George"Bubba"Hunt walking "The Wilderness Trail".

Thursday, January 01, 2009

Good News for the Scared Folks

You may wonder why I spend so much time blasting the new Politicians, but they are going to spend billions on many "green" programs to combat "Global Warming".
Many have bought into the idea that we some how are destroying our earth by too much man-made carbon dioxide gasses. It is somehow causes the earth's temperature to rise.
It wouldn't bother me what they believe if it had no affect on me, but it does.They have driven the cost of diesel up with all of the regulations, and they are about to do it again. To a point where the truckers won't be able to up-grade their trucks. Many will go out of business. Guess what happens when that happens?Most of what we need is carried by trucks!
They are willing to shut down off-shore drilling as soon as Mr. O takes office, and ANWAR will never get drilled as long as they are in control.
Maybe we do need to find another way to "power" our country. I can go along with that idea, but let us still keep burning fossil fuel until we come up with something else.We can't afford to shut the Country down until we find a solution to the fuel problem.
Don't these people have any idea what they are trying to do??I have a hard time trying to understand all of their "green craziness".While I was wondering what they were "thinking" about, I came to the conclusion that they weren't "thinking".Instead, they were going on some notion that the earth was coming to an end and they were scared to death of the idea that we all have had something to do with it.
People like Gore have stirred up folks with a bunch of hulla-ballou that the scientists now say just simply is not true!No one likes the idea that we are causing a problem to hurt our planet. The fact is that the fires of California have dumped more green-house gasses and carbon, than all of the vehicles in the US.One volcano eruption does more damage that anything "WE" have ever done with all of our carbon emissions.
Earth will perish when GOD says it will perish, not until then!
Could it be that we have become so GODLESS that we fear everything that the GODLESS say??I can't make anyone read the Bible to see what is written about this present age.I am an old Preacher, but I'm not going to preach to you about this mess.It's in the BOOK. Read it for yourself!!
I will say this, however, it says that "confusion, evil, and FEAR" are the tools of the dark side.We do live in scary times. The whole world is in turmoil. Maybe you might like to read the 21st Chapter of Luke, or the 25th chapter of John.It may be time for a lot of you to get your "ducks-in-a-row".
In the mean while we need to pressure our Congressmen to stop the destruction of our country with all of the regulations and this "Global Warming" nonsense.
By the way... we have a record cold year in Alaska. We have been below zero for so long that I have forgotten what "above zero" is like.I froze my blasted nose out getting in firewood yesterday.
I guess I shouldn't complain, it warmed up all the way to 10 below today.
Must be global warming or something.
Bubba, oldbearhunter@alaska.net
I would appreciate your comments.