The traveling Vietnam Memorial Wall 

August 1, 2015 - Saturday morning
57 degrees/clear/calm winds
Pentoga Road

I'm running a day late and a dollar short here this morning. First off, it's already August 1st? Let's see, tomorrow's Josh's birthday. My oldest son will be forty. Makes no difference, he'll always be my little buddy.

I skipped walking Friday morning in favor of nursing a huge blister on the bottom of my left foot. With cool temperatures and a hefty breeze, I grabbed a brush and finished painting the side and back of the wood shed. 



As soon as I work up the two cords of wood on the west side, I'll get that cleaned, primed, and painted. A new ramp still needs to be constructed, one that is heavy enough to support a wheelbarrow filled with firewood.



I didn't mind this painting job quite so much. First off, it was cool with low humidity making it comfortable. Secondly, I was able to listen to our local morning buy/shop/sell show, Telephone Time, on my small, solar and crank powered radio.



I purchased it sometime ago for emergencies, but find it useful when I'm working away from the house or shop. I had one at the cabin years ago, but it was several times larger and not nearly as efficient. 

The shed was finished around noon and loading fill and working in the side yard started right after.



 The area was officially finished by mid afternoon. No doubt I'll be piddling around with it for several years to come as boulders are heaved by the frost from the ground, but I've put the official FINISHED stamp on the south side yard, at least for this summer.



The brake job on the Blazer was finished. I called Yooper Brother Mark and he came out to bring me to town.

While we were visiting, Neighbor Mike pulled from his drive with a large enclosed trailer, went partway up the road, then suddenly stopped, backed down the large hill, and pulled into our drive.

Seems he had a flat tire. Mike and Germaine were hauling a large load of their daughter's belongings to her new apartment two hours north of here. Amelia just got a new job and Mom and Dad were loaded to the gills when the flat occurred. Only problem... no one knew how to remove the spare tire along with the accompanying hardware.



But, with Germaine's abilities to follow directions from the owner's manual and a bit of help from Mark and myself, Mike got the tire changed. Oh, he also had a bit of help from his best friend in the whole wide world, Brutus.





Mark and I eventually made our way into town where I got the Blazer. I've already made arrangements to have brakes put on Sargie's car, plus new balljoints need to be installed on the Blazer before we travel to Mom's in Indiana later this fall.

The traveling Vietnam Wall is in Quinnesec, Michigan, (adjacent to Iron Mountain) for the weekend, so I met Sargie after work and we visited the wall. The local veteran organizations have the cemetery where the wall is displayed looking beautiful and one can't view the wall and surrounding area without a lump in his throat.



I've been so disgusted by the various events happening with our country during the past several years that I needed my patriotism recharged; sort of like going to church to renew one's faith. The Traveling Vietnam Wall, a tribute to those who died while fighting, did it. 

Sargie's tracing the letters of a POW whose name was on a bracelet she wore for years.

God bless America. Under our current leadership, we need it.

I found out yesterday that I'll not be teaching this fall. With budget constraints and new rules and regulations by the university system in Alaska, I'll be finished after this current summer session.

A couple of people have asked how that makes me feel. I feel sad. I think it's the old "put out to pasture" thing. We'll certainly miss the extra money and the days of buying backhoes, trailers, and pressure washers are finished, but more than that, it will be hard to not teach. Old habits die hard.

At one time, three years ago, I was offered a position at Northern Michigan University in Marquette, but my heart is in Alaska. After more than forty years, I think it's time to close the chapter on teaching and simply enjoy all the pleasures we have here on Pentoga Road. I have been, and continue to be, truly blessed, both personally and professionally. If I miss teaching that much, I can always substitute teach. Yeah, and I can go have a root canal just for the fun of it too.

I'll be heading back to Iron Mountain with Sargie this morning. After a quick stop at the lumber yard for a few two by fours, I'll come back home and install the vents in the wood shed. After, I want to stake out the area for the new cobblestone walk and patio to be poured between the deck and drive.

After all, a man's work is never done.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...