This little guy is still with his mama and must have been born really late or he's naturally tiny. 

January 5, 2013 – Saturday morning

18 degrees/cloudy/calm

Pentoga Road

I about had a heart attack. I finished the syllabi for my classes the night before last and filed them in a special place on my computer. You know, one of those acts where I’d put them somewhere that they’d never be lost. I looked everywhere and finally, performed a search and found both… right on the desktop. As Mom says, if they would have been any closer, they’d have bitten me.

I just read the above. One would think I was talking about a physical object lost in the house rather than a couple of documents on the hard drive of my computer. I guess we really are living in the digital-reality age.

Friday morning found me on the ice. Fishing wasn’t the best, although I caught two big bluegills and a nice crappie. I didn’t want to spend a lot of time at the lake and was home by 9:30. The fish were big enough that though there were only three, I got a nice bag of filets.

These, turn into...

...this!

Changing into lighter-weight clothes, I stepped out the door for my five-mile hike. It’s amazing how quickly a sixty-year-old can get out of shape after only two weeks of not being physically active. I huffed and puffed and twice, had to stop and stretch. Even the muscles seemed intent on cramping and making my walk difficult. The trek took a few minutes longer than usual, but I was glad I started the post-holiday process again. I feel much better when it’s part of my daily regimen.

The early afternoon was spent uploading a class, crossing the T’s and dotting the I’s. I was happy to push the enter button for the final time and will do the same in the next couple of days with my graduate class. After that, I’ll be finished until classes actually begin on the 14^th.

The two hours before sunset were spent in the garage, barn, and out in the yard. The temperature had risen above freezing, the first time in several weeks, and I took advantage by burning boxes and papers and putting tools and other things away that had been haphazardly thrown on the work bench. I’d been stockpiling the fish innards in the woods behind the barn, the temperature keeping them well frozen. Since no fox had yet found the potential meal, I gathered the solid blocks and took them back in the deep woods where a wild critter can have a feast this spring.  The last thing I want is a bear to wake up after snoozing all winter and decide our backyard serves as the perfect setting for his spring smorgasbord.

A bass coming through the hole on Friday morning. He was undersized and out of season. 

Sargie had a hair appointment after work last night and didn’t arrive home until late evening. Primped and pretty, she’ll look more beautiful than ever when we attend niece Brielle’s baptism later today.

And we are heading south this morning. Sargie has a bit of shopping and exchanging she wants to do in Green Bay before we drive on to Appleton. With the Packers game being played at 7 PM, I’m hoping we’ll sneak in and around Title Town before and during the contest to avoid the traffic. Sargie will be driving so I’ll leave all that to her. I’ll be the guy in the right-hand seat intently listening to the game. It will be difficult listening to, rather than watching, but you know, a man’s work is never done.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road…