I've had a whale of a good time these past few weeks because of several fall gatherings.
*All of us seven brothers and sisters and our families met in Marshall for a delicious turkey feast prepared and served by Mom and Dad.  The family has come to include many grandchildren and great grandchildren so these annual reunions help us all to touch base before my parents travel south to their winter home.
*Allan and I met daughter Jenny and Miss Adeline around their dinner table in Northfield for an excellent meal featuring Venison Schnitzel.  Son in law Christopher was up north shooting ducks and things with his dad.  Addie Sue has been eating big people food for a long time already.  Her mommy is a very good cook and very good mother.
*Allan and I also walked down to the neighbors' house on Lilac Lane for another hardy meal by Sharen Geske.  There is probably nobody, outside my parents, who has fed us better and more often in this entire world than the Geskes.  Old friends are good friends.
*And eight of our metro friends who traveled to Alaska with us in July met at my house for a dinner prepared and served by yours truly.  How does bacon wrapped filet mignon grab you?  My dessert consisted of Klondike Bars.  Though we had not traveled to that area east of Alaska, there was a picture of a polar bear on the ice cream wrap .  Theme was considered, along with ease of preparation.
Dozens of Alaskan photos passed from one to another, and when I saw this photo of Dick and Marilyn Sobiech posed in front of a whale's jawbone up in the northern Barrow country of Alaska (where the rest of us had not ventured), I immediately saw Jonah being swallowed up by a whale and living in its stomach for three days.
The exact scriptural words are:  "Jonah was in the belly of the great fish three days and three nights, and when Jonah cried out to the Lord, the Lord spoke to the fish and it vomited out Jonah upon dry land."
I never believed nor disbelieved the literal story of Jonah, and I don't know that it matters as long as we get the message.  But now that I've seen how easily Dick and Marilyn would fit inside the mouth of a bonehead whale, I can see them sliding into the whale's belly and maybe staying alive because of air pockets.  If we humans get gas some-times, can you imagine how much gas a whale probably gets?  Enough to keep Jonah alive for three days?  And what about those blowholes?  Is that how whales get rid of gas?  Maybe that's also how the whale got rid of Jonah.
I tell you, I find all of this stuff so fascinating!  But it's not going to help me hide the fishhook in this issue of the Gazette, so I better get moving.  And it's not going to help you find that fishhook, but if it spurs you on, great!
Winner of the $10 drawing this time is Connie Heine of Waconia.  The fishhook was located on page 26 in the leaf on the Prairie Lawn & Garden ad.  Hi, Bonnie and Stan, and congratulations, Connie.
If you'all find the fishhook in this November edition, drop a line to Box 387 in Victoria, MN 55386 and tell me of its location.  Then sink it in the mail before the next paper comes out, and your name will be placed in the minnow pail with all the other entries. 
Hope you have a whale of a good time hunting for my fishhook.  If you can't find it, don't blubber about it.