Blather
Cooking for Guys
Live to Camp
Camp to Live
Poetry
and Other Lies
Potato Stuffed Morels
Several years ago, my brothers and I went out in the woods to camp. It had been raining, but that weekend the weather was fair. It being springtime, we determined to hunt for morels. We were successful enough to enjoy the delectable mushroom with every meal,...
Rabbit Roulade
We've hosted the Easter Bunny BBQ the day before Easter for decades. Friends and family show up at Bunny Hump Ranch to listen to music, drink beer and eat rabbit. Some times the bonfire burns all night long. The party was canceled this year due to The Contagion. ...
Social Distance Monday
They didn't need me at work Monday, so I did the responsible thing and stayed home and messed with my dugout canoe project. I am just at the beginning stages of burning out the cottonwood log. Using birch bark, pine pitch, dried grass and a ferro rod, I got a fire...
Barley Camp Stew
Barley makes a hearty, thick base for a stew. It scorches easily, so stir frequently and cook over moderate heat. At camp, we hung the stew pot from a tripod and raised it high above the flames. If you use a Dutch oven, put more coals on top, fewer underneath. Rotate...
Potato Chowder
This recipe was a staple for me during my college years. It was cheap, easy and filling. A big pot of it could feed me for a week. I would gather and dry quantities of fairy ring mushrooms (Marasmius oreades) from the little park down the street from my apartment, and...
WAAAM Fly-In 2025
My friend Russ Noe suggested I help him ferry people around the air show with our sidecars, so I did. We had a lot of fun, met some great people and saw a bunch of interesting machinery. Here is a photo dump. I may add captions later, when I have more time. ...
A Day In the Woods
We had been hearing rumors of boletes being found at higher elevations, so Amy loaded Michael, Walter and me into the CrossTrek and we headed north of Trout Lake. ...
Good Afternoon
8/29/25 85f (29.4c) 3:00 Clear sky with a few mosquitoes. Mike, Walter and I made an excursion into the woods to escape the heat and look for mushrooms. It felt a good ten degrees cooler in the forest. ...
Good Afternoon
Amy's Uncle Joe and Aunt Judy are visiting from back east. I collected their autographs, then we spent the rest of the day wandering downtown Hood River. ...
Good Afternoon
8/11/25 3:00 105f (40.5c) Clear sky, no wind in town. I had been cooped up in the house with this cold for eleven days. Walter had been cooped up here with me. We were both going stir crazy. I was feeling better, enough...
Good Morning
9/10/26 8:00 60F (15.5C) AQI 21 The sun has topped the ridge, there is a slight breeze and a few mares tails are reaching across an otherwise clear sky. Walter is barking at the orchard workers. Strands of spider silk flash silver in the morning sunlight....
Good Morning
9/9/26 6:30 48F (8.8C) AQI 26 Clear, blue sky, heavy dew, no wind. Six pumpkins harvested a day more than that ripening on the vine. Still flowering but the vines are going pale. I opened a fresh tin of cardamom tea today. Good morning! ...
Good Morning
9/8/26 6:00 46F (7.7C) AQI 20 Clear with a faint breeze rising. A waning fingernail moon hangs in a clear blue sky to the east, with Jupiter dangling beneath. The approach of daylight paints the eastern horizon lavender. Orchard sprayers are whining. Walter...
Good Morning
9/7/26 7:30 52F (11C) AQI 21 Cloudy but not raining. Faint breeze. Watching summer slip away, soaking in the hot tub sipping tea. Good morning. ...
Good Morning
9/6/26 7:00 52F (11C) AQI 18 Overcast, steady rain, no wind. It is grey and still and wet. The only sounds are the hum of the hot tub and the rain tapping through the leaves. Good morning. ...
