Tales from Pentoga

An Alaskan fish fry on Saturday evening

September 16, 2012 – Sunday morning

The Little House Along Pentoga Road

Two water cooler factoids for you this morning:

1) Pentoga was the name of Chief Edward’s wife of the Ojibway Nation.

2) The large path I mow down the center of our property was part of the trail the Ojibway used for their annual migration from Chicaguan Lake, just a mile north of here, to points further south for the winter.

So, when your neighbors, coworkers, friends, Romans, or countrymen, inquire what’s new, you can enlighten them with a couple of little-known Pentoga Road facts.

A side note: Sargie took most the pictures on today's entry. Nice work, honey!

While sight seeing on Saturday, we stopped at our local Pentoga Park and visited the Ojibway burial grounds.

Indian graves a mile and half from home.

This boy was riding through the park sweeping up acorns. When Sargie talked with him, she discovered he was getting the acorns to use as deer bait for the upcoming hunting season.

Saturday was a fun one. Uncle Terry applied the finishing touches on the front porch. After, the four of us drove to Mansfield, the small mining ghost town just twenty miles from here, to visit the log church and what remains of the old village. Discovered on one of our Sunday afternoon drives, Sargie and I have been there a number of times and still enjoy walking around, imagining how it was a hundred years ago.

Terry's looking into an old log structure

Aunt Sue HAD to pull the cord and ring the church bell. It no doubt awakened the entire town, population.... two

It amazes me the old pump organ in the church still works. It’s fun to sit and play hymns on a piece of history. Amazing.

We also visited the dam upriver and took pictures. With the leaves turning a bright orange under brilliant blue skies and a temperature in the low 60’s, it was the perfect day for sight seeing.

We stopped to let this herd of wild turkeys cross the road

Later in the afternoon, Sargie and I moved another load of her possessions. It seems to be a slow proposition, but really, we’ve been hacking away one Blazer full at a time and the house is starting to look empty. Hopefully, that chore will be finished by month’s end and we’ll finally be under one roof.

We stopped at the VA Hospital to have supper with Sargie’s dad. Mr. Milligan was in a great mood and we laughed through our entire visit. I don’t want to say Sargie’s father was picking on his youngest daughter, but when she wanted to take his picture, he’d make a blank face, look away, then look at me, wink, and laugh. Though he doesn’t say a lot, one can see how he feels for his baby girl in his eyes. It’s the way he looks at her; a father’s deep and unconditional love.

There are souls in this world who are truly easy to love, those who you just want to be around because they make you feel good. Mr. Milligan’s one of them. As I grow older, I hope I can have the same outlook on life. Sargie’s dad is a wonderful example of positive living, regardless the circumstances. He’s as much a hero in these modern days as he was after fighting in the Battle of Iwo Jima and sacrificing a leg in World War II.

We arrived home around 7:30 last night and I promptly began frying halibut out on the deck. I also put a large piece of Alaska salmon on the grill. That, along with deep fried zucchini squash and a huge tomato/cucumber platter that Sargie prepared, made for a great late-summer dinner.

Our company leaves today. What wonderful folks. Thanks for all you’ve done Aunt Sue and Uncle Terry. We’ll see you in the spring if not before. They’ve talked about coming this winter to cross country ski for a few days. We have miles of groomed trails just a short distance from here.

Sargie works today from noon to five. I think I’ll keep one eye on an NFL game with another set to mow the lawn. With the onslaught of cold weather, it should be finished growing for the year. I see there’s a low of 28 degrees forecast for later this week.

I’ll be working half days until next weekend at the camp. Monday evening, I have a meeting with my friend, Susie, who is an educational technology person in Sitka. We’ll have a video-conference and she’s going to help me finish setting up the software and course I’m currently teaching. We’ll use that as a template for the ensuing courses in the semesters to come.

The software isn’t difficult. In fact, it’s the same as I used last year, but I miss the small arrows and buttons needed. About the time I think I’m pushing the right one that resides in that cloudy soup called frontal vision, I find it’s the wrong one, often resulting in a heck of a mess. I contact Susie who has to get online, enter my digital classroom, and fix what I’ve managed to destroy. At any rate, Susie’s riding to the rescue… again… and hopefully, after Monday afternoon, I’ll be on track and all set for my courses for this upcoming year.

Dealing with less than perfect sight is one thing. Accepting help is another. I’m learning.

Whoops, coffee’s done!