Sheri's parsnips were planted on Monday. Needing 130 days to fully mature, they have a long growing season ahead and actually, aren't very good until after a good fall frost.

May 21, 2013 – Tuesday morning

54 degrees/rain/calm

Pentoga Road

My heart is truly sad when I think of the elementary children who were killed in yesterday’s tornado in Oklahoma. It’s a parent’s worse nightmare. Hopefully, the prayers of a nation will help to comfort the moms and dads, brothers and sisters, relatives, friends, and neighbors, who lost little ones.

I spent Monday morning in the garden. Turnips, parsnips, beets, peas, and green beans, all found their way into the ground. It was fun to perch on an overturned five-gallon bucket and place the seeds in carefully drawn-out rows. I view planting as my reward for the previous weeks of hard toil, repairing and filling the raised beds and separating dirt from rock in the tilled areas. There’s still much more to do, but at least for one morning, I got to enjoy planting seed and picturing what it will all look like when everything sprouts and begins to grow.

The garden is smiling as the rain that’s gently falling this morning should help to sprout the seeds that were planted yesterday. The beans and other delicates, crops that frost can kill, won’t have emerged by week’s end when cold temperatures are forecast.

I quit planting shortly before noon, took a shower, and joined my friend, Pastor Tracy, the Director at Fortune Lake Camp, for lunch in Crystal Falls. We talked for almost two-and-a-half hours. Tracy brought me up to date on camp news from this past winter and we discussed strategies and the beginning of the season. I agreed to talk with her staff of twenty-plus college-age counselors in a pre-camp workshop and volunteered to occasionally help if needed.

Returning home and to pick fiddleheads was next on the agenda. Brutus and I headed towards the back of the property where he chewed on deer bones while I gathered the freshly emerged ferns. A large plastic bag weighing several pounds was brought back to the house (along with a few dozen wood ticks crawling up my body). I hope to wash, blanch, and freeze the fiddleheads (NOT the ticks) today.

Brutus is quickly learning the "HOME!" command. On Monday, he led me out of the woods to the trail and up to the back door. I think he enjoys being the leader.

I’ll be happy to see the tick season end over the next few weeks. Generally it lasts around a month to six weeks, although with last year’s unseasonably hot weather, we didn’t see the last of the blood-sucking critters until late August.

I applied Advantax II flea and tick treatment on Brutus last week and still, I picked eight or ten from him yesterday. Thankfully, he has short, white hair and they are easy to see. The things are just thick this time of the year, especially if one is in the woods for any length of time.

My knee blew up like a balloon yesterday and at one point last night, I had difficulty walking. It’s much better this morning and reclining in my chair, it feels almost normal. I guess I’m going to have to break my own rule and go see a doctor. I’m certain I’ll get to pay several hundred dollars for him to tell me to stay off of it and keep it elevated for a couple of weeks. It’s sort of the modern day equivalent to, “Take two aspirins and call me in the morning."

AT&T informed me yesterday they’d made a mistake, that they are unable to bring DSL service to the house until they upgrade their lines. Yeah, and monkeys might fly out my backside. (A loose quote from the old movie, Wayne’s World.)

I had a talk with my current (and only available) provider about the service I’ve been receiving. The owner promised service would be better, but after a year, I’ve got my doubts. Still, I’ll continue to pick up the phone and call him PERSONALLY every time the internet goes out. You know the service isn’t very good when I have the owner’s phone number on speed dial and also listed in the “favorites” section on my cell phone.

Sargie was home early last night and we enjoyed watching the season finale of Dancing With the Stars. I hate to see the season end as it’s the one weekly programs we seldom miss; sort of a modern day equivalent to the 1950’s, 60’s, and 70’s, Lawrence Welk Show that we were forced to watched each and every Saturday evening. Oh my God, we’ve turned into our parents.

Sargie’s home today. She’s almost finished with the last coat of paint on the trim in the bathroom. After, I’ll hang the towel racks and we can FINALLY call that project finished.

I’m going to grade papers as soon as this gets uploaded. There are fiddleheads to clean in preparation for freezing, and time permitting, I hope to play in my shop today. I’m thinking about making Brutus a dog house… not just any ol’ canine dwelling, but a replica of this house. I think it will be fun… I hope.

Time to move along and get busy. After all, a man’s work is never done.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road…

Our pooch has discovered television. Last night, he was thoroughly entertained by Dancing With the Stars.