Sunday afternoon was spent retrieving the freezer from the storage unit. We also had to free Sargie at one point.

November 12, 2012 – Monday morning

20 degrees/cloudy/windy

Pentoga Road

The temperature has dropped about thirty degrees in the past twelve hours. Guess the cold front finally arrived. At least it pushed some rain out in front as the gauge testifies we’ve received an inch in the past 48 hours, precipitation we badly needed.

I didn’t write on Sunday morning. As I told Mom, there wasn’t much to say.

Sargie and I had a wonderful Saturday. We dodged raindrops long enough to dash into town and do a bit of shopping. Later, Sargie surprised me and took us out to eat. I feasted on the French Toast Special! at Mr. T’s and the truth be known, I don't need another meal for the next six weeks.

We watched a couple of movies via Netflix streaming late Saturday afternoon and evening. With the rain pounding the roof overhead, we stayed nice and warm eating popcorn, enjoying the heat of the wood stove.

Sunday dawned very warm, very windy, and very rainy. With deer season almost upon us, we’ve planned on bringing the upright freezer from the storage unit to the house. Sunday was the day.

First, I needed to empty Friday’s store of wood chips and clean the bed of the Man Truck using the high-pressure washer. Since the windshield wipers don’t work on the pick up, I washed the cracked windshield and rubbed on a liberal coat of Rain-X to shed the drops of water. We were out of the house by 10:30.

The gods of storage units everywhere were with us as the rain ceased completely while we removed part of the contents of the storage unit to gain access to the freezer. To make matters better, the freezer slipped by a central air conditioning unit (next summer’s project) and using a two-wheeled dolly borrowed from Brother Yooper Mark, we soon had the freezer outside and into the truck.

We visited Sargie’s brother and sister-in-law, Steve and Bonnie, while in the area. Bonnie is a high school teacher. Steve works in the woods. Both are really nice people. As I told Sargie on our way home, it’s probably a good thing Steve and I don’t live next door or across the street from each other. We’d probably always have a major project of some kind going… or be in some kind of positive trouble. We just click.

After grabbing a burger in Iron Mountain, we rattled our way home in the Man Truck and soon had the freezer unloaded and running.

Sunday evening was spent watching television and growing bored of that, played my first-ever game of cribbage.

I had a hard time. Learning the game meant I had to be able to add to 31. In a self-demeaning manner, Sargie has always claimed she has a difficult time calculating numbers. Yeah, sure.

I sat trying to add, using my fingers and toes, trying to take one number away from another, borrowing from the ten’s column, adding more, and in some way, attempting to make sense of the scoring system. Sargie simply spouts off numbers, scores, peg advancements, and even employed a new language I’ve never heard.

In the end, she let me win. There’s little doubt that the game was the first of several million to come. Sargie loves to play cards and I’m just competitive enough to fall into her trap of challenging me to another contest. It begins with Cribbage. What’s next, Chutes and Ladders?

The weatherman has promised cold and blustery conditions for the next two days. I need to return the two-wheeled dolly to Mark first thing this morning and stop by the hardware store for a tube of caulk. I think the rest of the day will be spent working on classes for next semester and culminate with my usual walk.

The biggest project I see in the week ahead is moving the outhouse. OK, it’s not really an outhouse, but looks like one. It’s a deer blind. The previous owner built it at the edge of a meadow. Using the front-end loader on the tractor, I want to relocate it into a thick stand of spruce trees that surround a small opening. I’ve had a mineral block there for the entire summer where deer have been feeding. Hopefully one will come with a few feet of the blind, close enough that I’ll have a clear shot. If not, well, the effort will be well made.

The Man Truck may be ugly on the outside, but the interior is like new.... almost.

Time to greet the day.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road…