March 29, 2013 – Good Friday

12 degrees/clear/calm

Pentoga Road

With the lengthening of days, it appears I’m back into an early-morning state when my eyes pop open around 4 AM and the next hour is spent thinking of the day gone by as well as the next twenty-four hours. It’s during those times that I mentally design a new work shop, build a greenhouse, tap maple trees, work up fire wood, design or plant gardens, and contemplate any other chore (imagined or necessary) my mind might formulate.

It's looking like maple syrup time in the North Woods. After a winter of inactivity, the Man Truck is once again being pushed into service to haul sap.

There in the dark, snuggled next to Sargie, I say my pillow prayers. Previously, I prayed the last thing at night, but it seems that the act of falling off to sleep took precedence over God. I felt guilty the next morning after realizing I fell asleep in the middle of a sentence while talking to God and found myself hoping He gave brownie points for good, if sleepy, intentions.

So this morning with thoughts pondered, plans laid, and prayers said, I got out of bed and prepared for what lay ahead. Today I start to boil.

Thursday dawned clear and very cold, eleven degrees when I stepped out of the house. I headed to the South Woods and by mid-morning, had tapped another fifty trees. Originally I thought I’d gather from an even two hundred, but thankfully, good sense drifted into the mostly empty space between my ears and I settled for one hundred, sixty-five trees. That’s enough to keep any person and a part time helper, who also doubles as an optician, busy.

While drilling holes yesterday, it dawned on me there’s a serious problem. I have the eagerness of a twelve-year-old, my mind thinks I’m still twenty-five, and the body is reminding me that I’m a grandpa, an elder, and that it’s been ridden hard and put away wet more than once in years past. I wish the mind and body would communicate more often. It would make my life a lot easier.

Sargie needed to go to town and run a few errands. I declined to go, telling her there weren’t enough hours in the day to complete everything that needed to be done.

I tackled the boiler and attempted to make it level from side to side and front to back. It wasn’t going to happen the way I’d originally put it together. In the end, over three hours were spent taking it apart and turning the thing 90 degrees. I’m quite satisfied and am glad I made the change.

It was time for our first sap collection. The next two hours were spent gathering thirty-two gallons of sweet, clear, water. I expect twice that amount today as the temperatures are forecast to reach into the upper forties with plenty of sunshine.

The day ended with us pulling two lawn chairs from storage in the barn and sitting outside in the sun, enjoying its warmth in anticipation of the coming summer months. Sargie read the daily paper, I was content to sip a glass of water and smoke a cigar. As Dad used to say, “We were in high cotton.”

Sargie’s back to work today and I’ll be boiling or gathering. The snow that has fallen off the roof onto the back deck is melting and seeping into the basement. It’s not a leak; merely a seep and happens yearly. I’ll shovel it away from the house sometime today. There’s no lack of activities on the horizon. I guess it’s true. A man’s work is never done.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road…

Jimmy, serving in his role as Supervisor of Quality Control, making sure I do everything right.