As I flew over the snow-sprinkled ground between Traverse City and Grand Rapids, I watched the sun make an appearance far off on the horizon as it set between the overcast cloud layer and Lake Michigan. Over the last few days the lake effect snow had lightly sprinkled the area. As the sun set, the lights of the little towns I flew past began to emerge from their surroundings as warm, clear points of light. The lights and snow of the small town reminded me of a painting of a snowy, cozy little village around Christmastime. What a treat, and what a wonderful way to end a long, but blessed two days. The morning before I began to fly up to Traverse City for my last FAA test. This test was for the CFII rating, or the instrument part of my flight instructor license. As I got to a town called Big Rapids, a wall of snow showers met me, so I landed at Big Rapids. My examiner actually drove from Traverse to Big Rapids to try to do the exam. By the time he got there, it was snowing like the blazes! We did the ground part of the exam He asked me questions for a couple of hours and posed scenarios to me to see what I would do in given situations. Then I had to go find a hotel because nobody would be flying out of that snowstorm! The next day, I waited most of the day until the weather reports said it would be okay to head all the way up to Traverse City. I arrived late in the afternoon, and we did the flight portion of my test. I passed the test, we did the necessary paperwork, and I hopped back in the airplane with little daylight to spare, and flew direct to my home airport, Ionia. And the scenery was so beautiful, I wish I had a camera (The picture above is actually of a flight a while back where the sun was rising.) It was a fun flight back because I passed my test and I was on my way back to see my honey, who I haven't seen in two days. It was also a special flight back, and a special day because it was the very end of my flight training, and of all of the aviation training we came here to do. I had a chance to reflect on this last couple years for Heather and I that have been very special. The training, relationships, and memories have been wonderful. The Lord has been gracious to us.
