My wood pile is starting to get the best of me. I’ve got a cord of seasoned, but gnarly oak and fir left over from last year, and a couple of new cords of barely seasoned oak. I have to pick through the pile to find something I can split. Maybe it’s finally time for me to get a wood splitter. I hate to admit that I lack the strength I used to have, or that I’m afraid of injuring myself if I go at the wood with too hefty a chopping stroke.

Luckily, Jake and Robby will be home this evening for Thanksgiving, so Jake will split a lot of wood for me. He, like me, loves splitting firewood. And he’s as strong as an ox.

Share or Bookmark

He didn’t exactly win the President’s Cup, but he scored the clinching point after playing brilliantly. Take that, Stevie Williams!

The week prior, Tiger played well to take third in the Australian Open.

I’m a big fan of Tiger. I like people who excel at what they do. I was a big fan of Muhammad Ali, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Wayne Gretsky, Michael Vick, etc.  I would love to see Michael Vick succeed because he’s a brilliant athlete who got too much punishment for his bad dog rap .

Golf has made Woods a millionaire, but it’s not all about the money. He’s lost many endorsements since his car crash in 2006, such as AT&T, Accenture, Tag Heuer, Gatorade, and Gillette. Last week he gained a deal with Fuse Science, Inc., a Florida-based sports nutrition company, and before that with Rolex watches.

Next week Lenie and I will watch Tiger in person at the Chevron World Challenge in Southern California, my old home town area (I lived in Oxnard and Ventura). I expect him to win it.

Share or Bookmark

I’m one of those pissed off about Steve Williams comments about Tiger Woods. How stupid can you be! This could cause a lot of damage to golf at a time when golf is at a low ebb due to the loss of its greatest star, Tiger Woods. I don’t think Stevie is a racist at all, but how else could much of the non-golfing world interpret his comments. Golf is a great game, and it needs to be represented with proper conduct.

I’m hoping a good Tiger performance the next couple of weeks at the Australian Open  and Presidents Cup will revitalize golf.

Share or Bookmark

Working on deadline again. Annie, Lenie, Lisa, Rhoda, and I really whipped the upcoming issue into shape today. Very powerful issue, though not the extra signature (additional 16 pages) we had planned to produce. Instead we stuck with our usual 100 pages, but the articles are tightly written with good info. The issue will be among the best we’ve produced. Annie has become a good conductor of a strong BHM orchestra of writers.

I use the word “writers” vaguely. BHM writers are “deep” in knowledge and analysis. You should sit where I am to see the array of talent that gives its best for BHM readers. I’m very grateful to them. I have the luxury of watching the performance, and helping my daughter assemble all the parts into a cohesive issue.

Tomorrow I’ll settle into my own editorial. It’s been swirling in my mind for a couple of weeks. I’ve never been a quick writer who knows what to say. I need time to think.

Yesterday I hit a drive 260 yards on Hole 7 of Cedar Bend Golf Course. That’s 40 yards longer than what I normally hit. I discovered something about how to hit a golf ball a long ways. This is one of the things that’s important at 67 years of age. Most people lose distance at my age, but I am gaining in distance. I’ll work on my editorial in the morning, then go out and try for 265 yards. Just thinking about that will make me sleep well tonight.

Molly is doing pretty well. Her medicine agrees with her, she’s walking a little better, and she’s wagging her tail a lot. We brought her into the office today and will again tomorrow.

Share or Bookmark

Molly is our 13-year-old black Lab. She’s been sick for quite a while. We’ve been putting off the decision to put her down. She can move only one leg properly, limping along when she has to walk. Some of her medicine no longer works, or we’ve had to stop it because the vet said it’s destroying other vital organs. But her mind is as sharp as ever. We even have to protect her from our new kitten, who likes to play with Molly’s tail and legs and realizes the big dog will do it no harm.

This is the problem with dogs: they wiggle their way into your heart and mind, becoming indispensable to your view of the world, then they die long before you’re ready to give them up. Molly has become part of our family. She is a superb animal — calm with kids but fiercely protective against those who she perceived as outsiders. She’s never bitten anyone, and she’ll take a treat from your hand like you offered it on a silk handkerchief. We’ve all got our stories about her.  How do you put a member of your family down? How do you deal with the memories. It seems barbaric, even after rationalizing in the suffering you’re trying to alleviate.

Lenie and I told our kids we’d consult with them before any decision is made. I’m still searching for a way out of this.

Share or Bookmark

I drove 17½ hours Tuesday from Winnemucca, Nevada to Gold Beach, Oregon. Wednesday I had jet lag and slept mightily. Today I played 18 holes of golf and unwound completely.

The Self Reliance Expo was a fine success for us. We took 49 subscriptions and I had a chance to hang out with readers and advertisers.

Jeff Gleason, “the Berkey guy” who has been advertising Berkey water filters with us for years, had the booth opposite from us. I use the Berkey filter. Everyone should have one, even if only stored away for an emergency. This is an absolute must in any future survival scenario.

Tattler resusable canning lids was there too. My wife and daughter use these. This is another “no brainer” addition to a preparedness budget.

Humless was there also with their very useful “silent generator.” They’ve only been advertising on the website but we made a deal so they will soon be advertising in the print issue. Glenn Jakins and St. John (pronounced SIN-JIN in South Africa) Holloway of South Africa are two very cool representatives of that company. I’m buying one of these “generators” but will have to wait a few more weeks for delivery. This is a good complement for the magazine’s new motorhome. I got the solar panel charger with mine.

Share or Bookmark

We made it to Utah, through a lot of light snow and heavier rain. Interesting keynote speaker, Fernando (FerFAL) Aguirre, who has an interesting website. He’s from Buenos Aires, Argentina, and lived through that country’s 2001 economic collapse. He’ll do an article for us, possibly for next issue.

Share or Bookmark

We got the motorhome, and John and I will be off early tomorrow morning to show the magazine at the Self Reliance Expo in Sandy, Utah. Unfortunately our first storm of the year has moved in so we’ll be driving through wind and rain, with snow at elevations above 5,000 feet. It’s a two-day drive.

Share or Bookmark

I’m trying to buy a used Class C motorhome at an auction today so Lenie and I can take Backwoods Home Magazine on the road every now and then. It’s an idea we’ve had for a couple of years. If successful, John and I will drive it to the Sandy, Utah Self Reliance Expo.

The original idea was to meet more readers, perhaps do more shows. I thought the motorhome and trips would pay for themselves with increased subscribers and by selling anthologies. A good Class C motorhome had cost more than we were willing to spend, but with the economy still down after several years, the prices for the motorhomes, especially the used ones, have dropped.

This is an auction for RV dealers, so I’m doing it through a small local RV dealer. We’ll see what happens real soon.

Share or Bookmark