Blue Collar Life

Mountains near at hand and the heady scent of pines in the air. Warm sunshine and cool shadows. Croaking ravens, chattering squirrels and impossibly clear water rolling over polished stones. A fishing rod in one hand, a backpack over my shoulders and the dogs tagging along at my heels as the sound of running water echoes playfully through the trees. Tracks of moose, deer, elk, bear, and wolf on the trails that human feet rarely trod. Cold water stings feet and legs and a lively trout dance on the end of the line. Lunch warmed over a small fire on the bank of the creek, and later on, a few beer enjoyed by a larger fire as the sun sets over the mountains.

It doesn't get any better than that. :)

Few things are better than getting out of work early on a warm and sunny spring afternoon.

Time to go do some fishing :D

It's snowing again. The forecast calls for something close to four inches by the time it's done. The thermometer reads -4C and I sincerely doubt that it's going to get anywhere close to the 'normal' daytime high of 18C for this time of year. I actually have the wood stove going right now.

I am getting unbelievably sick of this weather. This has been one of the coldest, nastiest, ugliest spring seasons that I can remember. Too much frost and far too much snow for this time of year. The trees here aren't even in full leaf yet, and the recent frosts have killed off most of the flowers. This weekend is supposed to be the 'traditional' opening weekend of the warm season for this part of the world, a time to put in the gardens, move the flowers outside, and enjoy some warm weather. It definitely is not suppose to time for a blizzard.

I think it's a good day to stay inside.

Quite a while, I imagine, possibly a lifetime barring accidents or unfortunate wildlife encounters. I'm no stranger to hunting and fishing for my own food and being on my own for long periods of time doesn't bother me. I'm in good physical shape, I've made and used primitive weapons with some success, and I know which plants are good sources of vitamin C. I've started fires without the aid of matches, tanned leather and built many a crude shelter in the woods.

The real trick for wilderness survival in this part of the world would be having a good permanent shelter in place before winter seizes the land in a frosty grip. Trying to stay sane during the cold and dark winter months might be another problem as well.

Didn't I write a story about this kind of situation? ;)

Cracks have appeared in the dam and at long last words have begun to trickle forth. Nothing much yet but slowly, surely, I am adding a paragraph here and there to Chapter 20 of Wild Rose Country. 

After the stress that has ruled my life over the last few months it feels good to actually be making some progress, no matter how slight it is.

Still nothing on The Gift of a Stranger though, and I think I've written myself into a deep hole on Wolf River that may take some time for me to crawl out of.

The muse demands more WRC and more of it she (and you!) shall have.

And it's snowing. Spring weather in Alberta never fails to entertain. If April showers bring May flowers, what exactly are April blizzards going to bring? I'm not sure if I want to know...

Spring is finally here. The snow is pretty much all gone and the first flowers of the year are bringing some much needed color to a world that is still varying shades of brown.



Going to be a spectacular day by the looks of things. Time to put the computer away and go enjoy the great outdoors.

Upon meeting a buddy at a local camping/fishing/outdoor/sportsman show.

"Jeez, you're a tough guy to track down in a place like this. You look like every other redneck here!"

:D

Annoying noises at 6am. Grope for hammer and put alarm clock on snooze. Get trampled by backup alarm system (malamutes) wrestling on the bed. Shower. Coffee. Food. Any leftovers in the fridge for lunch? Grub and water for the dogs. Excavate car from snowdrift and bitch about the other drivers on the road for the next half hour.

Consciousness is usually achieved during the latter half of the drive to work or shortly after wandering in through the door of the shop.

After three weeks of idle time it is tough to get back into the early morning routine...

Back to the grindstone on Monday.

Unemployment and I do not get along well.

I've never been so directionless in my life. I need stability in my day to day life but recently I've felt as though I'm anchorless, drifting, a man with no purpose in life anymore. I'm used to being busy and I really have no idea what to do with all of this time I suddenly find waiting at my fingertips. It is slowly driving me nuts. If I had some money, I could do all sorts of things, finsh some home reno's, go on a holiday ... but the old workingman's saying of  "when you got the time, you ain't got the money" is very true in my case.

Fifteen years I spent working in one trade and now I find I want little to do with it anymore. Auto repair was a better trade when I got into it as a teenager. Far less electronics, and you didn't have to be a double jointed midget to work on most vehicles. The complexity of newer vehicles scares the crap out of me and after the last year I have lost any desire to work on them whatsoever.

So, I have to figure out what I want to do with my life. In a way, it feels like I'm a teenager again. The same feelings of uncertainty and worry cloud my thoughts now as they did fifteen years ago. I ain't getting any younger and it's hard to jump into a new field of work at my age, especially in these hard times.

So, I face a dilemma. A new field of work means a hell of a lot less money to start with, probably a little more than half as much as I was making as a mechanic. Real tough to pay the bills with that. I could go back into auto repair, make the same money but probably become a bitter, broken man in the long term.

I might have to go back into engine work. I have a few resumes out with some industrial rebuilders and I'm hoping that I can get my foot in the door there. I have tons of experience in the auto side of engine rebuilding but next to none with the bigger stuff. Construction work was an option but things on that front have really slowed down over the last few months.

I need to find something soon. I need the phone to ring and get an interview at the very least. Each day that passes with no word is yet another day closer to the bottom of the bank account.

I'm getting worried.

Dump it out in the middle of the wilderness as far as I'm concerned. Let my body return to the earth the way it is supposed to, and and in doing so it will give some small bit of life back to the forests from which I have taken life over the years.

Seems a better idea than burning my corpse or packing it so full of chemicals that it won't decay for hundreds of years.

Out of work for the first time in my life with no immediate prospects for new employment.

This is not a good feeling.

Fashion? What is this fashion thing you speak of? I'm too old and too blue collar to care much about such things. I need comfortable, functional clothes.

Ninety nine percent of the time that means blue jeans, t-shirt, a sweatshirt or sweater if it's a bit cool outside, hiking boots (or steel toed workboots, it depends on where I'm going and what I'm planning to do when I get there.) and a baseball hat if I'm getting overdue for a haircut.

Yeah, generic scruffy looking blue collar worker here. :)

After nearly two whole days of fighting with my computer, I finally figured it out. turns out the battery crapped out and kept messing with the power monitor software and locking up the whole system. Pulled the battery and it booted up fine. I'm a little happier now.


WRC 19 is up as a result. You can find it here. Have fun reading!

Compy is pretty much fubar. Only boots in safe mode and I'll be damned if I can figure out why. I spent most of yesterday fiddling with it and I'm down to the my last resort. Time to reinstall the OS and keep my fingers crossed that I don't have a hardware problem that's screwing everything up.

I don't think I'm going to have a very good day. That story update might have to wait...

A wonderful morning, clear and calm, the light of the rising sun dimmed by slowing drifting clouds of ground level ice fog.

A quick peek at my digital weather station shows -39.9C, the bottom of it's range. The old thermometer on the wall of the garage outside shows -41C.

The cold was like a solid wall as I opened the door. Snow squeaked and squealed underfoot and the touch of metal burned on unprotected fingers as I scooped a load of firewood out of the back of the truck. Spruce logs knocked together, sounding more like chunks of stone than wood.

Within moments of letting them out, both dogs were trying to hold as many feet off the ground as possible. Both of these big furry Alaskan snow dogs looked less than impressed about having to endure the conditions they were bred for. I dropped a plastic dog dish and it shattered when it hit the ground.

Today might be a good day to stay inside.

On another note, I did something yesterday that I haven't done in years. I rummaged through the basement, uncovered my old sketching pencils and hauled out an ancient sketchbook that dates back to my early days in high school. Since there was little of interest on the TV, I sat beside the woodstove and sketched for a couple of hours. The results were far better than I'd hoped.

I was never a very good artist, even when I spent much more time on it than I do now. However, if you want to see a few crude pencil sketches, a few of which pertain to my novel Wild Rose Country, go here for a look. Try not to laugh too hard.

Still waiting on the return of WRC 19 from the editors. As soon as it's back and I fix what needs to be fixed, I'll spool up the updating software and post it on my webpage for all of my obsessed fans.

Until then it's time to enjoy some piping hot coffee while relaxing in the wonderful circle of warmth cast off from the wood stove.

WRC 19 is done, all twenty-eight pages of it. Should be up on the weekend sometime if editing and cleanup of all the rough edges goes as planned.

Still one more day to go to the official start of winter but you'd never be able to tell by the forecast.

( Cut for those who don't like the cold... )

Finally having some winter weather up here and the snowdogs are loving it. Despite being 'seniors' they both get pretty lively when the temperature drops well below freezing(currently -25C). Sheena (twelve years old) was trying to entice Kato(eight years old) into a game of 'lets tear around the yard like complete fools' here but Kato was having none of that. It warms my heart to watch those two act like pups in the fresh snow. :)

This weekend promises to be a rare quiet one for me. I have a few errands to run, a load of firewood to pick up, some shopping to do and I need to get my skates sharpened. A friend needs an air compressor fixed as well, but other than that it looks like I might actually have some free time on my hands. I'm not really sure what to do with it. Might do some writing if the mood strikes and I think there's a couple of hockey games on the tube so I likely won't be too bored.

The air is cool but the sun is warm. The grasses and leaves have faded from green to hues of brown and gold and the wind carries on its back the earthy scents of decaying leaves and the spicy scent of poplar trees. The distant honking of geese can be heard as they traverse the blue skies southwards to warmer climes. Frost glitters on the grass under the morning sun and mist lingers in the valleys until the sun gains enough strength to push it away....

This is the time of year I live for, this is when all is well in my world...