Friday's task was to make a storm window for the octagonal pane. I even tried measuring from the outside where the light was better... to no avail. 

November 10, 2012 – Saturday morning

36 degrees/rain

Pentoga Road

Whoa, this is a genuine popcorn-and-a-movie day! I awakened at 4 this morning and thought about getting up. Reawakening at 6, I heard the rain, smiled, and snuggled deeper under the covers. By 8, after two hours of snuggling next to Sargie and repeatedly entering and exiting that wonderful dreaming/dozing state that only the morning hours can produce, I pried myself from bed.

Its not cold this morning, 36 degrees, but the thermostat is set at forty so it seems chilly and damp inside. There’s now a fire blazing in the stove and it shouldn’t be long before the house is toasty warm.

I’ve rediscovered talking books. Downloading a freebie, Swiss Family Robinson, onto my Iphone, I am enjoying listening to a few chapters each day while I walk.

I well remember the original movie. It was in the mid 1950’s when Mom and Dad loaded my sister and me into the car and we went to the theater.

It was then I fell in love with the thought of dwelling in a tree house on a tropical island and having a dog named Turk. Living in a large farmhouse set in northern Illinois with a boxer dog named Happy didn’t seem nearly as exciting. At five years of age, I remember climbing into any of the several apple trees that surrounded our house, pretending to pick coconuts, looking for pirates. Happy-the-dog preferred chewing on his rubber ball rather than protecting me from any wild jungle animals.

And I wanted a monkey just like the one in the movie. No amount of begging produced a playmate in the form of a mini primate. It was my destiny to climb mere apple trees and tolerate a rubber ball chewing boxer dog.

I’ve been listening to a few chapters of Swiss Family Robinson daily during my hike. The movie replays between my ears and I find myself walking a bit faster or slower so the end of a chapter plays out with the conclusion of my stroll.

Having difficulty reading for any length of time, I’ve not really been too interested in talking books. If I listen in a sitting or supine position, it puts me to sleep. But walking… perfect.

Completing my hike on Friday, I began measuring and calculating angles to make a storm pane from Plexiglas for an odd little window in the stairwell going to the second floor.

You need to understand. I’m a person who flunked geometry three times in high school. It was a race for high school graduation day to see if I’d actually complete sophomore Geometry I and II required for matriculation. Numbers and angles aren’t my thing.

I measured. I angled. I cussed and swore. It was difficult to see the markings on the tape measure and even if I could, I’m not sure I’d have known how to calculate what was needed.

I drew on my inner self and remembered the teachings of an elementary educator; when in doubt, make a pattern.

An imprint around the window was completed with a piece of paper. Tracing around the pattern with a magic marker wasn’t the easiest, but it was better than calculating the angles of a eight-sided window. I cut the plastic glass on the band saw.

Would it fit?

I gently put the pane up to the window. It was perfect.

The storm window is in place and the angel is between the two panes.

I spent the rest of the day gloating, then cutting and chipping popple trees. I’ve now broken through to the meadow in back. There are still several days of work ahead, but I’m well pleased. It’s a labor of love and with the big picture in mind, it’s very enjoyable.

Sargie had to work late last night then went grocery shopping after. One of the local stores had a two-for-one sale and the car more resembled what might be a grocer’s vision of Noah’s Ark rather than the little Kia she drives daily to work.

With a 90% chance of rain today and a 100% forecast for tomorrow, I think both will be movie and popcorn days. No doubt, we’ll drive into town for a Coke, our usual day-off tradition (and a pleasant one that gets me off the ranch) and of course, there’s always next semester’s classes to work on.

The Packers don’t play on Sunday. I’m already going into DT’s at the thought. I guess I’ll have to settle for watching a contest featuring two lesser teams.

Other than that, I might have to continue work on developing perpetual motion, fission, or fusion. After all, a man’s work is never done.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road…

The popples continue to fall