It's Alive! Mwahahaha!

     Thanks to some encouraging words from Peyton over at Scatterbrained, I am now blogging. How long it lasts is up to you, the reader. If, for some crazy reason you encourage me in this endeavor, it will continue. If not, well, at least I will be able to say I've done something new this year.
     What makes me qualified to blog, you might ask? Well, there are no qualifications required to blog, just a desire to make one's voice heard in the morass that is the internet, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, if you will. And, I have that. Also, I think that I have an occasional unique insight that others might want learn about. So, here goes.
     You might be wondering about the name. There is a story there, and those of you who know Kari and I well might remember this story. But for the rest, here goes. I was raised in Alaska, and Alaska is still in my blood. I had the privilege of vacationing there this past December with my family, but that isn't pertinent to the story. What is relevant is the fact that when Kari and I first started hanging out, she asked me a question after learning I was from Alaska. That question was, "Did you have any pet penguins growing up?"
     Now those of you who are Alaskans know that there are NO penguins in Alaska, only puffins. Penguins are confined to the Antartic, primarily the continent of Antartica itself, but also the tip of South America, occasionally New Zealand or near South Africa. I'm not completely sure of the extent of their natural range, but know that it is confined to the southern hemisphere.
     I thought everybody knew that, so when Kari asked me that question, my assumption was that she was making fun of me! It turned out that she was asking an honest question, without malice aforethought. Since then, we have had a running joke about Alaskan Penguins. Her first two trips to Alaska, she was able to bring back souvenir penguins, perpetuating the joke. So now you know where the penguin portion of the blog name comes from.
     And penguins themselves hold a fascination for me. On land, they waddle and are ackward, the way I often feel. But get them in the water, and they SOAR. While I feel that I spend most of my time on land, I relish those "water moments" when all is right. Can you relate?
     Wondering/Wandering is a play on the similarity of the two words. I am a wanderer by nature. Kari and I have lived in approximately 1 house/year for each of our nearly 12 years of marriage. I have been to Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Hawaii, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, New York and Tennessee in the U.S.; Ghana, Africa by way of Holland and Niger, Iraq by way of Germany and Quatar, back to the U.S. through Ireland . . . so in short, I wander. And as I wander, I wonder, A LOT! But that is material for another blog.
     So welcome, feel free to look around and make suggestions. Constructive criticism is greatly appreciated. Come back soon!

Robert