Niece Brielle and those yummy fingers

February 18, 2013 – Monday

19 degrees/cloudy/breezy

Pentoga Road

I dressed warmly and walked five miles after writing Sunday morning. It seemed colder than the -16 that was registering on the digital thermometer.

When I'd gotten out of bed earlier, a big, fat, zero was displayed. An hour-and-a-half later, it was -16. Later in the day, I heard that someone had recorded a -30 temperature.  Now I’m wondering if my thermometer only goes down to -29?

Chicaugon Lake.
There's a highway going to a small shanty town several miles out onto the ice. 

I’ve thought for sometime of getting a computerized, digital, weather station, one that records the highs, lows, precipitation, winds, and barometric pressure so that all the daily meteorological information can be downloaded into one’s computer. Maybe after my rich uncle dies, I’ll purchase one. The problem is, I’m down to one uncle, Mom’s baby brother, and Uncle Bill has never been known for his vast amounts of wealth.

My thoughts concerning wolves living in the vicinity were confirmed yesterday when I found multiple tracks in the snow.



One, obviously a male is marking his territory. I later left my mark on top of his. There’s only one alpha male who lives here and it’s not some testosterone-filled canine with a full bladder. Jimmy-the-deer and the rest of the herd still haven’t been seen. In fact, it appears as though even Thumper has vacated the area.

Should you doubt the existence of wolves living in the Upper Peninsula, this is an actual picture of a game warden holding a wolf that was hit by a car about forty miles from here. It not only made all the social media sights and email forwards, but was also featured in all the local papers.

We enjoyed the fruits of Sargie’s hard work and stuffed ourselves on spaghetti and garlic bread yesterday. Later, we had berry pie and ice cream. If I don’t quit eating, I won’t be able to walk… my belly will be so big that I’ll be continually tumbling forward and once I fall, will be unable to get up.

I was commenting to someone earlier that I have to get my shop built inside the barn before next winter arrives so, if nothing else, I can get out of the house during the day. During these cold days, I tend to sit inside and when I grow bored, I begin to eat. It has nothing to do with hunger. Currently, most of my eye power is consumed with reading and grading assignments so when I’m finished, if I can’t play outside, I usually close my eyes and listen to music and end up taking a nap or grazing. I definitely have to get the shop built.

We received a picture the other day of our niece, Brielle. Sargie was so excited to see that the little pixie has so many of the exact same mannerisms that two of Sargie’s sons, Craig and Cale, had when they were babies. Each chewed on a couple of fingers on his left hand, the same as Brielle. Those family genes run deep in the Mighty Milligans.

Sargie heads back to work today. The best part of any vacation is looking forward to getting the time off; the worst is knowing its time to go back to work. Sargie loves her job and she’s really good at it, but who doesn’t like time away from one’s daily grind?

I’m not sure what today will bring for me. Since it’s Monday and assignments are due, there’ll be somewhere between twenty and fifty papers arriving in my inbox. With the temperatures rising, I hope to get out onto the lake. Neighbor Mike called from Marquette saying he is going to be in the neighborhood this afternoon and wondered if I wanted to go ice fishing. I may go earlier and meet him out on the ice. It’s to be warm, but breezy and there’s an 80% chance of snow and ice pellets. It seems that’s when the fish hit. For sure, I won’t be driving the ATV onto the lake. Though we had very cold temperatures, there’s still several inches of slush under the snow.

It’s time to get this uploaded and begin reading papers. After all, a man’s work is never done.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road…