Blather
Cooking for Guys
Live to Camp
Camp to Live
Poetry
and Other Lies
Grandma Wade’s Mince Meat
Grandma Wade used to make mince meat pies for the holidays. She shared the recipe with Mom,and this delightfully sweet pie has been a treasured memory of mine for decades. The recipe is pretty labor intensive and contains your entire annual dietary allowance of fat in...
Chili and Corn-sticks
Chili and Corn-sticks I had Friday off. I intended to make dinner, but that required an amount of preparation I didn't manage to get around to. I spent the day changing the tire on the Triumph, staring off into space and generally procrastinating. Go figure. Amy got...
Chuck Roast and Mushroom Gravy
With the weather gone to cold drizzle I find myself using the Crock Pot more and more. Once the food is in the slow cooker, it can be turned on low and ignored for a few hours. Well, it could be ignored if it didn't fill the entire house with savory aromas. Slow...
The Bombardier
The Bombardier is a drink inspired by the early days of military aviation, when the British airforce was still part of the Royal Navy. Pilots and their crew were issued a daily tot of rum, just like the sailors were. To stave off the cold on long sorties over No Man’s...
Pie Day: Mom’s Pies
Mom bakes all sorts of pies. Two of my favorites are her apple pie and her rhubarb pie. These are pretty straight forward fruit pie recipes, but they are consistently the best pies to be had. Tarting them up would only detract from their wholesome...
In Search of Disappearing Lake
Every winter South Prairie floods, forming a chain of connected lakes or impoundments covering many acres. For a brief, miraculous moment there exists the Pacific Northwest equivalent of a bayou. You can kayak between towering cottonwoods and...
Good Afternoon
5/22/25 3:30 54f (12.2c) Breezy and fair. Mike and I spent the afternoon ranging across the ridge between Mosier and my house, looking for morels. We didn't find any, even where we have found them before. The soil was damp and the terrain looked promising, but no joy....
Plan B Camp March 2025
It was early March when I decided on a last minute camping trip to the Gifford Pinchot. The weather forecast for the weekend was fair, with rain predicted later on Sunday. Even with no real planning and a late start, I had the truck loaded and ready to go by...
MLK Camp
1/20/25 Jason, Andy, Walter and I hauled into Plan B for an overnighter Sunday afternoon and came home Monday, MLK Day. It didn't reach the predicted low of 17f (-8) but is was pretty chilly at 24f (-4). We managed to stay warm and had an enjoyable outing in the...
Valentine Weekend Camp
Amy and I went to Beverly Beach over Valentine's weekend. I love camping with my wife! The weather leading up to the weekend was sloppy. I got the poles loaded and the pickup tarped Thursday just as it started to snow. I...
Good Morning
8/8/26 5:30 59F (15C) AQI 80 Walter rests on the deck; the fingernail moon reclines on a maple branch overhead. There is a breeze, and the air quality index has improved, but smoke lies in the canyon and it smells worse than yesterday. Like a campfire someone...
Good Morning
8/7/26 5:30 59F (15C) AQI 81 Birch leaves flutter and cottonwood saplings sway in a faint breeze. The sky is hazy; lavender, blue, and pink. Birds are chirping. A quarter moon sits atop the maple. The wind shifted around from the west yesterday afternoon and...
Good Morning
8/6/26 6:00 56F (13.3C) AQI 234 The moon has slipped into its final quarter, suspended in a dirty sky, high above the maple tree. This morning is grey and smells like ashes. There is no wind. It is too smokey to enjoy a soak. Amy and I followed Walter around...
Good Morning
8/5/26 6:45 53F (11.6C) AQI 193 The Grasshopper fire has grown to over 39,000 acres and is holding at 19% containment. The air is dirty. It is much smokier than yesterday, but I can still make out the outlines of the canyon rim. High above, the waning half...
Good Morning
8/4/26 6:30 50F (10C) A windless, smokey morning. The air quality index is 160. It is abrasive to the throat and eyes. The Grasshopper fire is approaching 35,000 acres and is 17% contained. It has not gotten any closer. Smoke has settled in the canyon. The sky...
