October 15, 2012 – Monday

Opening Day of Trapping!

37 degrees – cloudy (and to clear off)

Pentoga Road

It was sad waving to our friends as they drove away. Markus and Lynette seemed fairly insistent they take their little seventeen-pound bundle of love and smiles, Bree, with them. Lynette made mention they ALWAYS seem to leave something behind. I was hoping it might be Bree, but no such luck. Thanks for coming to see us, kids. We love you and will see you next summer if not before.

Sunday was another rainy one. Fortunately, it wasn’t cold. The morning was spent sipping coffee and talking, playing with Bree, and being lazy. Around noon, we loaded the car and went into Iron River, making a mandatory stop at Insurance Liquidators to look for a coffee maker and later, stopping at Mr. T’s for Sunday brunch/lunch/dinner.

Bree was in her best form at the restaurant and particularly delighted in entertaining one elderly lady. They played peek-a-boo and smiled at each other and in the end, had a mutual fan club. Lynette was so kind to take Bree over to her after we finished eating. It was a beautiful sight seeing two people, one who was living in the twilight of her life greeting another who was just beginning.

Give a good lookin' gal a lemon wedge and she'll make the funniest faces...

I finally got the traps waxed. As of now, they are dangling at the end of their chains, hanging in the barn, waiting for a season of use.

We finished our game of Mexican Train Sunday afternoon. Lynette was crowned the 2012 Pentoga Road champion. Markus limped in as runner-up. Sargie and I competed for having the most points and in our minds’ eyes, we were victorious.

A commercial during the Packers game means grabbing a quick meal and turning around to flirt with Uncle Tom

The day ended by munching huge amounts of hot, buttered, popcorn and cheering the Packers onto victory in Houston. They not only beat the Texans, they beat them up. Sargie and I stayed up watching the entire game and even the interviews after. I think we can say “The Pack is Back!”… for this week anyway.

Today is the first day of trapping season in the UP and the coyote, fox, and raccoon traps are ready. The lures will be uncapped this morning and later, I’ll load the two-wheel cart behind the four-wheeler and take off on my planned trap line. I think it will take about half a day to make all the sets.

I’ve not trapped large animals in many years so if I catch any, it’ll be more luck than skill. Honestly, I’m not sure how successful I’ll be. Between being rusty and less than perfect eyes, I think trapping will end up being a great excuse to be outside and get some exercise. And that’s okay. There’s no place I’d rather be.

It’s to be a nice day, but so far, it’s still cloudy, chilly, and fairly windy. I think I’ll take my five-mile walk first and hope the ground dries out as rain or drizzle has fallen the past two days. It will be much easier sifting the soil on the dirt hole sets if it’s dry.

The kids are gone. Sargie just left for work. It’s time to greet the day.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road…

Driving back home into the darkness of early morning