It’s been a couple of nights of solid sleep since The Trump extravaganza; now some coffee to gather all together and do some reflection. Then another two nights before the Hillary coronation starts up.

“She is standing on her record – to keep the voters from taking a good look at it” ~ Claire; our North Woods everyman with his Canadian crystal-clear ‘backwoods’ viewpoint.

Yesterday Wikileaks released 20.000 ‘captured’ emails from Congresswoman Debby (and then several more names), and et al. She, by looking at her eyeliner one can tell, is the official Smudge-Pot of the DNC. These pages show that The Bern was right; he was done dirty. Notwithstanding the ‘huggy-poo’ and ‘kissy-face’ with The Hill a week or so ago, they (the DNC) did-done-him-dirty.

It wouldn’t surprise me should Bernie put out an all call to his troops, fill up a 5,000 or so seat arena, and as he steps on stage in his crumply black suit begins to bellow; “the Bern is back baby!”

Northern Survival – The higher heat and humidity, which includes some rain, has brought a spate of reading to Northern Comfort. I have gone through the previously unread books here at the place, gone through several from the ‘lending library’ at the Dump, am working on my Kindle, and am currently enjoying a mystery series set in northern Michigan just outside of the Soo (Marlene has the complete series).

Then, last Tuesday, Marlene, Paul, and I bounced (literally) the 25 miles to the Iron Bridge library for their $5 per bag book sale. I did OK, not great, but OK.   I have already finished reading The Incredible Atlantic Herring – my Dutch heritage and thereby my love for “zoute haring” demanded that it was my first book-bag read.

There was a wonderful find though. One I didn’t realize I had until I got home. It must have been one of those smallish ‘toss ins’ on the way out of the place. It was put together by Canada’s Employment and Related Services Division Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development (the ERSDDIAND) and titled; Northern Survival.

It’s a wonderful guide for folk who ‘park’ their Bush Plane somewhere other than on a runway or their designated lake. Immediately you are advised that you should eat much like Asparagus the flowering head of a young Cat-tail. Plus a whole lot more, things like; “it’s better to hike around a marsh than through it”.

  The chapter that caught my attention immediately was identified plainly as The Igloo. Not too practical here at Northern Comfort, but for a winter’s ‘event’ (think crash landing) in the tundra areas well north of the tree-line it’s brilliant. Be sure that you packed a “snow saw” to begin your very own Igloo construction adventure. I always thought that all that was required was cutting a whole bunch of frozen snow blocks. Wrong! I learned quickly that it’s imperative to bring something so that you can cut the blocks on a 15-degree angle in order that they ‘spiral’ properly.

These are just some highlights, the book itself gets into the details – be sure to bring a copy of Northern Survival when you set out on your own ‘event’. That last bit was my idea and cannot be found in the ERSDDIAND literature.

Massey Ferguson – was the mainstay Farm Tractor supplier here in Canada for many, many years. My friend, Bob-the-Forester has a years old (ancient) but perfectly functional 240 Massey Ferguson. Well, not perfectly functional. It was until he got that flat tire yesterday.

By happenstance, yesterday became the first day I had ever changed a tire on a Farm Tractor. Actually, I discovered that by using the hydraulics prudently the wheel could be lifted without the use of a jack. “Ain’t that special” as they used to say on Saturday Night Live.

All this occurred around 3:00pm on a Friday afternoon. In these parts this also means that most people who deal in replacement tubes and such and who have the equipment to get a tire off the rim are already managing a can or two of Molson’s beer or have left to go hunting or fishing. Hence, more drastic action became necessary; a 45 mile trip to the town of Blind River. So, shortly after 6:00pm I began torqueing down the lug nuts on my very first Farm Tractor repair (I did the torqueing since I have one of those wonderful “X” lug-nut removal wrenches).

Finis – Tonight the area’s – ostensibly – best chef has a special event – Prime Rib. Guess what, our whole herd of family members will be off to T-Town for Prime Rib.

Vince completed his PET scat at MD Anderson in Houston and he’s been updated on his progress. They’ve gotten a better handle on the type of cancer he has and the road to recovery has been plotted more accurately – and so, with a twist and a turn here and there his progress and cure moves forward. Again, here’s the link to his updates: Rally for Vince. Your prayers and thought are being felt and Vince and his family are an amazing unit

Cheers.

Dirk