We were on the floor playing when Brutus suddenly closed his eyes and fell asleep. Being a bulldog can be stressful.

August 16, 2013 – Friday

40 degrees/clear/calm

Pentoga Road

We received a picture of niece Brielle, last night. We'll be going to her first birthday celebration in September.

It’s an early morning as I have to be in Iron Mountain at 9:15 to have my fingerprints taken. No, I didn’t get in trouble with the law, I merely want to substitute teach, or at least try it, this coming school year.

There’s more than a little part of me that doesn’t want to step foot in a school, especially as a substitute teacher. I spent forty years in schools. Why would I voluntarily step back into the fray now?

1)   We would like to add on a bedroom/den on the first floor

2)   I want to purchase a bike, actually, a trike, and the one I want cost thousands, not hundreds

3)   Subbing, even once or twice a week, would force me not to isolate myself, something I tend to do

4)   I might as well be doing something during the long winter afternoons other than dozing in front of the woodstove

1. My biggest fear is that in another twenty years, one of my or Sargie’s sons will approach us saying we ought to move into town or a more senior-friendly home due to having to navigate the steps upstairs to our bedroom, or descend to the basement to do the laundry. A first floor bedroom/den that contains a large closet or separate room for a stackable washer/dryer would alleviate that problem. At my age, I’m not going to borrow money, so if we want the room, we’ll have to do it the old fashioned way, work and save.

2. One of my bucket list items (after I hike the Appalachian Trail in the next year or two) is to bike cross-country to Alaska. The touring trike, referred to as a tadpole, (see terratrike.com) costs a bit over two thousand dollars. Enough said on that.

3. I can go days, if not weeks or months, and be perfectly happy not seeing another human being other than Sargie and/or my closest relatives and friends. I don’t feel the need for social interaction and I know if I don’t force myself to get out into the public, I simply wouldn’t. My fondest memories of the past two decades were when I was isolated in the cabin north of the Arctic Circle during freeze or breakup and it would be two months or more before I’d see another human.

4. I’d like to try to be a bit more active this winter, continue to ice fish several times a week, do my hiking, but possibly teach and earn a bit of money. We’ll see, there are worse things than dozing off in front of the woodstove on a cold, dark, and wintry afternoon. I give myself about a forty percent chance of actually liking substitute teaching. Those aren’t great odds, but at least I can say I gave it a chance.

Sargie dropped Brutus and I off on the other side of the nearby lake on Thursday morning and we walked to Iron River. Yooper Brother Mark had emailed earlier in the morning saying the truck was filled with wood and I could pick it up at any time.

We found a two-track road that took us past an old mine

The stroll was perfect except for one thing. It was chilly when we started so I wore jeans and cotton underwear… the perfect combination for becoming chaffed, very chaffed. Enough said on that subject except to say I walked very gingerly the rest of the day. You’d think after all the years of hiking, I’d know better.

Mine tailings from days gone by

A patriotic salute in Caspian where Yooper Brother Mark is the mayor every few years (term limits). 

Wood that is stacked and peeled, ready to be made into animal bedding at Mark's plant.

I spent the rest of the day unloading the truck and working up the wood. Both bins are now completely full and other than stockpile a truckload or two under a tarp to be used first thing this fall, I’m finished hauling wood. There’s still plenty to work up here on Pentoga Road, several maples that fell during some severe storms over the past two years. That’ll give me something to do this fall… when I’m not trapping, hunting, working in the shop, or substitute teaching.

I went to Iron Mountain and returned with Sargie last night. We’ll ride back together this morning. She closes today and doesn’t have to be at the Vision Center until 11 this morning, so after my finger printing session, we’ll have a leisurely breakfast and spend some time together before I head back to Pentoga Road.

Rather than having bats in the belfry, Walmart has them at their entrance in Iron Mountain. Bats randomly flying through the store is a common occurrence.

The knee is feeling almost normal and getting stronger, even after hiking a few major hills and a goodly distance yesterday. No doubt Brutus and I will go for another stroll this afternoon. I’m getting back in the groove.

The Iron County Fair began on Thursday. I might take the four-wheeler in this afternoon to Mark and Sheri’s and go with them for a bit this evening. I want to see the livestock and gardening entries. It’s the only way I can compare my garden to others. 

With all that being said, it’s time to get another cup of coffee and think deep thoughts. After, I’ll need to slop the pumpkins (as in slop the hogs… to feed...) before we head to Iron Mountain. So much to do, so little time. If only you were me.

A man’s work is never done.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road…

Must have been boring reading material on the computer