Jimmy, the orphan fawn

January 25, 2014 – Friday morning

10 degrees/heavy snow

Pentoga Road

I wasn’t going to write until Sunday morning, but I thought since Marley and Aubrey are coming for the weekend, I’d better seize the opportunity while it’s still quiet. Well, there’s that, plus I’m putting off cleaning. I promised Sargie I would use a steamer and clean the wood floors today. And then there’s the dusting and running the sweeper on the rugs, and putting everything within a one-year-old’s vicinity out of reach. I’m definitely procrastinating.

Sitting here looking at everything that needs to be placed out of harm's way makes me tired. Maybe I ought to have another cup of coffee and think about it.

It’s snowing… very heavy snow that is coming straight down. If there were any wind, it would be a mess, but there's none and it’s beautiful… and as I’ve said in the past, we need the moisture. Let ‘er snow. Sargie took the Blazer to work this morning. It’s much heavier than the Kia, plus the SUV has four-wheel-drive, something that very well may be useful by day’s end.

A doe walking from the back yard with heavy snow falling

This past week can best be summarized by saying it’s been cold, very cold. There were several days that the temperature didn’t climb above zero and on one of those, the wind gusted to 30 mph and over. I’m very proud of our little home. It’s tight and snug, but on that day, even it was chilly. I kept the stove red hot and finally, I put a small electric heater in the kitchen.

I was teasing Sargie when she commented how cold she felt. I told her that at least, it’s a dry cold. That didn’t earn me any brownie points.

A red grosbeak. That's the feeder the bear disassembled last year. I fixed it, them dropped it when hanging it up several weeks ago. I'll make another attempt to straighten, staple, and glue it after the weather warms. The birds don't seem to mind.

Speaking of dry, a bit of FYI: I’m filling the gallon kettle on the wood stove three and often, four times a day. That comes to over a hundred gallons of water that is evaporating into the air each month. It’s worth it. We’ve not had any dry noses, scratchy throats, or colds so far this winter.

Lord, I remember when living at Hilltop of the horrible nosebleeds I’d suffer. Even with a pot of snow/water atop the wood stove, I couldn’t get enough moisture into the air. The membranes of my nose would crack and bleed as would my lips; even the skin behind my ears and between my fingers and toes.  This is child’s play compared to those days.

Jimmy, the grosbeak, and a flock of common redpolls all eating at the same time. 

We’re to climb to a more seasonal norm these next few days before dipping into a deep freeze again in the middle of next week. One thing for sure, when I went fishing yesterday, the first time all week, I noticed the ice had more than doubled. It’s well over two-feet thick now and growing. I wouldn’t be surprised to see it double again by winter’s end.

The trucks of ice fishermen out on a local lake

Speaking of fishing, I did well on Thursday; ending up with 8 large crappies, four average bluegills, and four medium sized crappies. I’ll be heading out again this afternoon in search of meat for the table.

With her house almost sold, (closing is in another couple of weeks) Mom is heading back to her digs in Indiana this weekend. My sister and her husband went down to help bring Mom’s remaining items back. I know after selling the boat, what a relief it is when free from the responsibilities of ownership. Mom and Dad’s house has been on the market for close to three years. As Mom said, she’s ready to close that book and begin another chapter. Knowing Mom, she’ll have six or eight before she’s finished!

Despite the temperatures, I’ve continued walking. I need to get some regular hiking boots. The ones I’ve been using, inexpensive glorified combat boots, are beginning to rub a couple of my toes. It doesn’t seem like much, but when one considers I’m hiking 35 miles a week, a rubbed toe can be a major malady.

There’s been some progress made on the book during the early morning hours, although I’ve taken a break the past two days. So far, two chapters have been carved and hacked from the English vocabulary. I find I’m composing as it comes to me, not necessarily in any sequence of events. Someday, I’ll have to collect all the pieces and tie everything together.   

As mentioned, Marley and Aubrey are coming to visit this weekend. Sargie will be bringing them from Iron Mountain late this afternoon. I spent part of yesterday morning in the shop building gates for in front of the wood stove and the steps going upstairs. Initially I thought I would inlay the pieces at a slant with a router, but I quickly discovered working in -3 temperatures barehanded necessitate I construct the strongest, quickest, most-effective barrier, possible. They came out looking like miniature farm gates, but these will be used to keep the munchkins out, not the farm animals in. By the way, the gate in front of the steps is held in place with a wood clamp. It must be in the water… real Alaskan - Yooper ingenuity.

So with all that being said, it’s time to begin the process of cleaning the house. You know, a man’s work is never done.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road…