October 11, 2012

33 degrees/ snow on the ground

Pentoga Road

It was quite the shock when I looked out the windows this morning. Assuming the moon was making everything appear so bright, I soon discovered it was the reflection of light bouncing off the snow that is covering the ground.

It spit the white stuff off and on yesterday. In fact, there was a period that for several hours, snow came in squalls and reminded me of southeast Alaska this time of the year. It wasn’t the prettiest of days.

I managed to get my traps boiled and dyed and left them in the solution overnight hoping the color might stick to the newer ones. They’ll be lifted today and hung to dry. Waxing will happen in the next couple of days and after that, they’ll be ready to go.

All traps must have the trapper's I.D. attached, generally on stamped copper tags.

Brushing off all old rust and debris

The traps in boiling water, being died to a natural brown color.

I continued to work on the saplings behind the house, cutting and chipping them into mulch for the orchard and fruit/flower beds around the house. The back yard is beginning to open up and look much cleaner. More importantly, it’s getting to where I can see the deer and other critters as they walk a safe distance from the house on their way to and from wherever it is deer go.

The wood chips will be spread around the base of the trees and bushes

Once upon a time, the area behind the house was a grove of huge sugar maples. In a typical slash and burn fashion, usually for firewood, the closest trees were cut first; they were the easiest to harvest.

Anyone who’s ever lived in the North Country realizes there’s a natural progression of growth once a mature forest is cut. First, it’s the raspberry bushes and scrub brush that flourish. The softwood trees come next, usually popples and aspens with a mix of balsam, pine, and spruce. Finally, the hardwoods take over. In this area, they are usually sugar (or rock) maple with a scattering of wild cherry, beech, and basswood.

The entire process may take fifty to a hundred years, so in my lifetime, the scrub popples growing a foot apart behind the house make for a mess, one so thick that it’s almost impossible to walk between them. I want to thin the stand so the ground can be mowed. There are enough mature trees that it should resemble a park-like setting when I'm finished.

I ventured into town mid afternoon to buy work gloves, the yellow kind with red cuffs. Our local hardware store had them on sale at five pair for eight dollars. Those should last through the winter months.

I also stopped by the grocery store to take advantage of a few things on sale. Usually Sargie does our grocery shopping at Walmart since they match any low price in the area, regardless of the store. I was in town and the items on sale were ice cream and cereal. Need I say any more? We have to get our culinary priorities straight.

Sheri stopped by late afternoon and delivered two loafs of homemade bread baked in the northern UP. They are brought to this area once a week and dropped off in Iron River. These two, a loaf of oatmeal bread, the other sour dough, were gifts. Thanks Sheri!!

Speaking of Sheri, Mark and Sheri’s daughter, Sarah, sent a picture yesterday of four moose that are presently calling her front yard home. She and her husband, Curtis, live in southwestern Wyoming, where she teaches in the elementary grades. Sarah was a student of mine in Sitka.

I graded assignments last night while waiting for Sargie. She had to close and didn’t make it home until almost 9. I wish she didn’t have that drive, but I guess we shouldn’t gripe. The way the economy is, anyone working is lucky to have a job. Hopefully real employment numbers with realistic percentages will improve with the coming election.

I’m beginning to gulp Echinacea tablets as I’m feeling a tickle in my throat. A cold sore also decided to stake a claim on one corner of my mouth. It’s a new area I live in with new germs. I’ve always said that each region of the country has it’s own unique set of germs and immunities. Now that I’m no longer in the schools, I’ll probably catch the errant cold whenever it comes around. I used to be impervious to such things and would go years without getting sick. Hopefully, my body will beat this one back into submission.

Markus and Lynette are coming today and should arrive late afternoon or evening. Markus is a former graduate student of mine from the Sitka days. I’m looking forward to seeing my young friends and most of all, playing with their year-old daughter, Bree. (I’m not sure how one spells her name.) As I’ve often said, the only thing missing in this house is a touch of youth. Since Sargie and I are WAY beyond baby years, we’ll simply have to import them in the form of grandchildren, nieces, nephews, and friends. It all works for us.

The blueberry bushes are now a brilliant bright red

I’ll spend today cleaning and straightening, although the house is really in pretty good shape. Sargie wants me to steam the wood floors and I’ll dust the furniture. Burning wood assures everything accumulates a coating of dust on a regular basis.

Ah, it’s getting light… and white…  outside. Time to greet the day.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road…

Turkeys walking through the garden on Wednesday morning. The electric fence doesn't phase them in the least.