Rhubarb in bloom

June 11, 2013 – Tuesday morning

56 degrees/fog/calm

Pentoga Road

One can tell it’s going to be warm later today, possibly bordering on hot. The air is so close and thick that a butter knife could easily carve it into manageable pieces.

After returning from Iron Mountain on Monday morning, I set my sights on the garden and never wavered for the entire day. I entered the barn once, when Neighbor Mike asked to borrow the mower, but otherwise, surrounded myself with plants, weeds, fertilizer, and irrigation.

It actually got hot during the afternoon hours so I thought I’d come inside and grade a few papers. Naturally, the internet didn’t work.

It’s rare that I become mad, not that my life is always filled with giggles, but yesterday, I was mad. I called the internet provider and he promised to check on it and get right back to me. Four hours later and still no return call, I was back on the phone and let him know exactly how I felt. It’s been over a year that I’ve had problems with the signal and each time, he’s said, “Yeah, we have to do something about that.”

We finally agreed that I’m going to become a point-to-point subscriber. I’ll have a dedicated signal that will come directly to my radio from the nearby tower. No longer will I share the bandwidth with the 29 others in the area. My signal will be my own. There can be no address conflicts, no diminishing bandwidth (unless the entire network goes down), and the person be gone who interferes with my signal. He said this would happen this week. It better or I’ll be breathing down his neck again. Enough is enough.

I’m attempting to solve the great pea and bean mystery in the garden. I planted both almost three weeks ago and have a few spotty peas and NO beans. Yesterday, curiosity got the best of me and I began digging up the rows. I couldn’t find one seed. Even after I dumped dirt in a sifter might one be found. I have no idea where they went, if crows or some other critter ate them or the seed Boogie Man came along after dark and dug them all up. I planted the last of the broccoli and other cole crops in that area and sowed the beans in the remaining spaces of the raised beds.

Sargie was home fairly early last night and we enjoyed barbequed pork loins from the grill. She has to close tonight so it’ll be a long day for my girl.

I ventured out last night before bedtime and picked up a few night crawlers from the yard. They're so darn hard to see, but because of my mongoose-like cunning and quickness, I was able to snatch a dozen or more from the ground. I'm getting the fishing itch and I'm thinking I'll have to scratch it one of these days... soon.

I was hoping the pavers might be here today, but I’ve not heard anything. They’re scheduled to pave the drive and barn Wednesday, but he said there was a chance they might be here a day early. I think I’ll work on the park bench, make sure the barn is ready for the paving crew, and I might visit Brother Yooper Mark’s plant and get a load of fire wood for next winter. There’s never a lack of chores to do on Pentoga Road.

After all, a man’s work is never done.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road…