Sent to me by my friend and former student, Joanna Schneider, on April Fools Day.
Look closely. Taken on Hagemeister Island off the coast of Alaska in the Bering Sea, there's a herd of walruses and... I've actually been to the island. It's uninhabited and not far from Togiak, Alaska, where I have supervised several student teachers over the years.

April 2, 2016 - Saturday morning
24 degrees/cloudy/snow flurries
Pentoga Road

Ah, Hagemeister Island and Togiak, Alaska. To get to that area, one flies from Anchorage to Dillingham aboard a commercial jet, then hops aboard a small, single engine, bush plane, to complete the journey. 

Out of the hundreds of bush flights I had during my tenure in the Alaskan bush, one of the scariest occurred while flying to Togiak. We came upon a sudden snow squall and very strong winds while flying through a mountain pass. The plane was being tossed in the air with just feet between the wing tips and the mountains. 

I remember the pilot saying, "This isn't going to be good." 

He asked me to keep an eye on the artificial horizon which determines if the plane is flying straight and level, while he wrestled with the yoke in an attempt to keep the plane in the air.

I was sitting in the copilot's seat and could hear the pilot talking to himself through the headsets. Neither of us felt too good about the situation.

After a quick prayer, a calmness settled over me as I accepted the situation was completely out of our hands. I continued to report our pitch to the pilot as he fought the winds and blinding snow. Ten minutes later, we flew out of the squall and lived to see Togiak, Alaska.



I was in two bush plane mishaps during my years in Alaska, not all with happy endings, but those are stories for another day.

I'm happy to say that Sargie is feeling much better. Our girl has had some real problems on her lower left side this past week, but after multiple visits to the doctors' (plural), having many tests, and being poked and prodded, she appears to be on the mend. We suspect a kidney stone was the culprit or possibly a cyst that might have burst. Whatever, she's anxious to get life back to normal now that the discomfort has begun to subside. Her pain level has gone from excruciating to being tender. In this case, tender is a good thing.

Congratulations to my oldest granddaughter, Abigail, for achieving high marks in social studies and math in the sixth grade. She certainly doesn't get her math abilities from her Grandpa Pennington. We're proud of you, sweetheart!

 I took some time on Friday morning to install a new ceiling fan in the kitchen, replacing a very old light that has hung there since the beginning of time.



When I removed the light, I found wiring that had been covered with gunk from when the popcorn ceiling was sprayed. 



Talk about a mess. I love prying wires from drywall, getting them straightened out and telling one from the other. Sargie was in the room helping, so I managed to keep the muttering to myself.



By the way, the popcorn ceilings are going away one of these years, but we'll hire that job out to a professional. 

The fixture went up fairly easy. The fan works well, but somewhere, there's a short with the lights. I'll wait until Yooper Brother Mark comes to visit and will have him use his keen sight to find what I wrongly connected.



Speaking of Yooper Brother Mark, we arrived home from the doctor's yesterday afternoon to find our trailer, filled with wood, parked in the drive. It appears the hair net-wearing wood fairy, brought it out from town while we were away. Thanks, buddy. I sure appreciate it.



For the first time in several days, Sargie ate a good meal last night. The greenish skin has turned back to a more healthy looking flesh color. I believe we're on the way to getting life on Pentoga Road back to normal.

I'm not sure what we'll do today. There's that trailer filled with wood that needs to be unloaded. I wonder how well Sargie really feels? Naw, I guess I'd better not push my luck. That girl is going to rest and regain her strength. Me? I'll unload the wood and no doubt, think some deep thoughts.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

Three to five inches are in the forecast. It's springtime in the UP.