Guy's blog about life with pets in northern mich.

Mr. Willie Nelson sends his regrets that he will be unable to attend next year’s extravaganza event you call, “The Worldwide Gathering of the Disciples of GUY.” He has a previous commitment for whichever day will be chosen for your next annual meeting of the brethren and cistern of the “Disciples of GUY.” As Mr. Nelson’s personal assistant, let me offer his sincerest condolences regarding this year’s gathering. I “gather” that all didn’t go according to plan, at your recent festival. Each time... Sign in to see full entry.

During the early part of the 1970’s, I lived in Roscommon, Michigan a small town about ten or fifteen miles from St. Helen, Michigan, where Mr. Heston spent several of his early years. It was in Roscommon that I met a man in his late eighties or early nineties, named Elmer. We lived a bit more than a mile apart. I do not recall his last name, but I think that it began with the letter “B” and was a German name. He had been a well driller and had told me stories about his early working experiences... Sign in to see full entry.

This is an elaboration of an earlier composition that I was unsatisfied with. I hope that it is an improvement. There is a nostalgic temptation to look back at the lives of those who lived in earlier times, as having been better than our own, because life was less complicated and we had not yet degraded the environment by overpopulation, shortsighted exploitation and ever increasing pressure to keep up with changes that threaten to leave us behind, if we become distracted for even a short time.... Sign in to see full entry.

In our area, the eighth most economically depressed county of the entire state of Michigan, we have a springtime festival celebrating the yearly spawning run of the much maligned, lowly, and scorned fish known as the sucker, a bony, ugly fish that is remarkably tasty when taken from our cold rivers, in the spring. Later after the waters warm up, it is not something that a person would purposely fish for. This fish is flaky, tasty, white-fleshed table-fare when taken from cold water, but the meat... Sign in to see full entry.

Monsoon season has descended on Michigan, a sure sign of the arrival of spring. The fact that a small lake, complete with mallard ducks, appears in our back yard, regardless of anything I do to try to make the water drain to the ditch, torments me each year. Knee-high, or at least calf-high boots are needed to be able to visit our back acreage for two months each spring. The installation of a sump well and pump only accomplished a larger electric bill and increased erosion of the sand on which... Sign in to see full entry.

For the third weekend in a row, about half of it was spent removing a clothing dryer and replacing it with another. I am getting pretty good at it, with all the practice I have been getting lately. Maybe it is beginning to sink into Marilyn’s head that one doesn’t just replace a dryer because it clashes with the carpeting. There is something seriously wrong with 90% of those bargain yard sale dryers you see everywhere. Three out of three so far had to be pulled out of here because they were... Sign in to see full entry.

We here at Sage Haven eat our meals in front of the living room television using the coffee table as a dining platform. Our kitchen table is used to hold things that we have no place else to put them. As I sit on the couch eating, Baby sits at my feet and if I am not wearing my boots, he often licks my toes reminding me of his presence in case there is something on my plate that I don’t like, and he might. He is a shameless beggar and suck-up and Bonkers is always close by at mealtime. When... Sign in to see full entry.

A few days ago, I saw on the weather channel that my buddy Dave was being socked with about a foot of snow down in the far southwest corner of Michigan’s lower peninsula, just as spring was officially being announced as having arrived. My first thought was, “Poor David! I know how much he hates snow!” I remember the time we dug through 3 feet of snow to pitch a tent and spent the night shivering in that canvas freezer, waiting to hunt elk in Colorado’s Uncompagre plateau. We never spent a more... Sign in to see full entry.

“I’m from the government and I’m here to make things better!” When I hear anything like that, my experience and my instincts tell me to grab my wallet and sit on the floor with by backside firmly wedged into a corner. I cannot help but wonder if anything is really getting better because of these professional government employees. Federal air marshals are protecting less than 1 % of our airliner flights, and depending on who is talking, from 1% to 3% of the cargo arriving here on container ships... Sign in to see full entry.

As I lay in bed last night, I realized that we have taught our pets to use pillows. Baby had just curled up in the hollow made by my legs and used my ankle as a pillow. He often uses my boot for a pillow as he sits at my feet. Bonkers also does this. She will also rest her head on my leg as she snuggles up next to me on the couch. Most of my other pets never felt the need to use pillows. This must be learned behavior. When Baby gets a bath or comes back in from outside covered with snow, Marilyn... Sign in to see full entry.