Monday evening was shared with my son, his wife, and my grandbabies, via video conference, as they opened some early Christmas presents from Grandpa Pennington and Sargie.

December 18, 2012 – Tuesday

23 degrees/cloudy/calm

Pentoga Road

I see there’s the possibility of a winter storm arriving in the area on Thursday with snow forecast. After that, the temperatures are to plummet. I love snow and cold. I hate to see Sargie having to drive in it. Oh well, we’ll take it one day at a time.

Monday was spent working on this year’s electronic Christmas card and I didn’t finish until mid afternoon. It took a long time to think of the major events of this past year in sequence (other than retiring) then find the pictures, arrange them, etc. I know one thing, I’ll keep a special folder this coming year in which to put next year’s photos so it will simply be a matter of dragging and dropping each into the right place.

It was beginning to get dark when I finally laced my boots and stepped out the door for my five-mile trek. About three miles from here, I spotted something in the road… road kill. Some poor people must have lost their black cat before it was hit by a car.

I walked up to it and nudged it with the toe of my boot. Frozen solid, the body moved in one piece.

Something didn’t look right about that cat. After kicking it off to the side of the road, I got down on my knees for a better look. It was a squirrel, a completely coal black squirrel.

Just pretend its sleeping

That was too good to let go. I hid it in the woods and later retrieved the thing. What does a guy do with an almost like new, road-kill, black squirrel? Why, he skins it, of course! I’ll tan the hide and it will become a conversation piece. No doubt I’ll be the pride and envy of all the kids in my block. Someone told me taxidermists pay good money for such things.

My oldest son, Josh, called late yesterday afternoon from New Hampshire asking if I would like to video conference with the family. The presents I’d ordered for the grandbabies had arrived and Megan had wrapped each. I’d suggested they open them before Christmas. The munchkins get so many presents on Christmas day that they all blend into each other. I thought opening them early might make it a bit more special.

The half an hour we spent together was so much fun. It was as close as Grandpa could get to being there and I felt like I shared a special moment or two with Josh and the family.

Thank God for modern technology

Sargie arrived home later in the evening and we had leftovers. I think I’ll make a large pot of ham and bean soup today. It’s that time of the year and whatever we don’t eat, we can freeze for future quick suppers.

All assignments are due to me today by 3 PM Alaska time. I’ll finish reading what comes in and start uploading grades to the UAS website. I’m very pleased with most of my charges though the jury’s still out on one or two.

I’m hoping to start ice fishing in the next day or two. The lakes have frozen solid again and the more sheltered, shallower, places are probably safe to walk on now. Still, I’ll wait until I see activity on the ice before I venture out.

It’s time to get this uploaded and start the day. After all, a man’s work is never done.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road…