February 14, 2013 – Thursday

26 degrees/cloudy/light snow

Pentoga Road

Happy Valentine’s Day! I wonder if young children still celebrate Valentine’s Day in the classroom? I read that in some schools, it’s been outlawed because someone found it offensive and didn’t want his child exposed to that horrible thing called love.

 Oh my God… it’s that darned love… it’ll offend a person every time.

Valentine’s Day was one of my favorites as a small child. There was almost a ritual feeling to it. Mom took my sister and me shopping for packets of cards the night before. After we sat at the kitchen table and signed each as well as address every envelope with each classmate’s first name.

It was first grade and I really really liked Susy Sandstrom. I chose out the very best and biggest card from the packet, carefully wrote her name, and decorated the card and envelope with hearts and “I love you’s.”

Susy and I were an item until she tried to hold my hand at recess. Fearful I’d become infected with cooties, I left her to join a squadron of other six-year-old boys who were zooming around the playground pretending to bomb Germans under the swing set.  

In school, on Valentine’s Day Eve, we carefully made mailboxes from construction paper and taped them to the front of our desks. Most were decorated with hearts and cupid’s arrows. Mine usually consisted of fishing rods and reels. Don’t ask me why. It’s the way I rolled back then.

And the party… ah, the Valentine’s Day party. The morning, filled with condensed school work lasted forever.  Even the act of eating lunch from our brown paper sacks, usually our favorite activity, seemed extraordinarily long.

After lunch playtime, Mrs. McDonald read us a chapter from a Box Car Kids book and then had the audacity to suggest we lay our heads on our desks and rest while she began the preparations for the party.

The room mothers magically appeared, the food was set out, and final decorations pinned on the bulletin board. It was time! We delivered our mail then spent the next hour opening our cards, eating sugar candy, and wolfing down the cupcakes and half-pints of milk. Towards the end of the party, our teacher told us it was time to clean up. Cards were put in bags to take home, scrap paper was picked from the floor, and the desks were arranged so Mr. Howard, the janitor, might easily sweep.

At home, my sister and I spread the cards on a bed or table and compared them. Since there were few stores, everyone bought the packets made by the same card company. But still, it was Valentine’s Day; one made for love and friendship. It was fun, it was healthy, and it was wholesome. It was back in the old days before love became offensive.  

Wednesday dawned bright and beautiful. With highs in the upper thirties, it didn’t take long to strap on the hiking boots and stroll my usual five miles. There was a hint of spring in the air… the smell of dirt was wafting from somewhere and it had the feel of wonderful days to come.

Since it was Ash Wednesday, Sargie treated us to fish sandwiches in town. We needed to drop the Kia off at the mechanics and pick up a few groceries.

There were still three hours of daylight left when we arrived home. I quickly put on my heavy clothes and hopped on the four-wheeler to go fishing.

Since the last snow, slush has come through cracks in the ice and claimed our local lake. It usually happens late in the winter and this year is no exception. I got stuck several times getting out to my fishing place. I’d hop off, lift the ATV onto more solid ground, go ahead a few feet, then get stuck again. I finally reached my destination.

Fishing is slowing down. Still, several nice ones were caught, a large crappie included. I didn’t even put up my Clam. It was too nice a day to be inside.

The shadows were getting long when I packed and attempted to head for home. The four-wheeler instantly settled into a foot of glop. Each effort from picking it up and setting it on top of the snow resulted in advancing only a foot or two.

An angel by the name of Sargie magically appeared! She’d been working around outside the house and decided to visit me on the lake. My girl was a sight for sore eyes. In the end, she drove the ATV while I pushed. We were soon at the boat landing.

Sargie also had a huge surprise for me last night. After cleaning the fish, I started to dress for my nightly chore of carrying in wood only to discover it had already been done. While I was fishing, Sargie had completed all my nightly chores. What a sweetheart.

We enjoyed a huge supper of salad, stuffed baked potato, and I threw a couple of deer burgers on the grill for me. For dessert, we inhaled pieces from the German Chocolate cake Sargie had baked earlier and ice cream.

I repaid Sargie’s gift of carrying in the wood by allowing her beat me in Rummy. I was ahead until the last hand when she came on like gangbusters and zoomed around at the finish line. I’ll admit, I’m card impaired. Always have been/always will be. If only you had my life.

I’m not sure what’s on today’s agenda. For certain, I’m going to attack the garage and at the minimum, put a few things away. It’s almost embarrassing. You know when it gets so bad that I can’t stand it… it’s bad! After all, a man’s work is never done.

Thumper the Rabbit also shares the corn from Jimmy's bowl on the back deck. He has no qualms about climbing the step and coming up.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road…