Grading the never ending parade of assignments

September 17, 2013 – Tuesday

30 degrees/clear/calm

Pentoga Road

Funny what a few filings of iron can do to one’s health. Since beginning to take a high-powered iron pill once a day after learning that I was anemic, my energy and sleep levels have skyrocketed. I hit the floor running in the early mornings and fall into bed and sleep deeply all night. The fatigue I suffered most of the summer is gone and the headaches I was suffering on an almost daily basis have completely disappeared. It’s good to be back.

Monday began with Brutus and I hiking 5.36 miles. We rode with Sargie on her way to work and it felt wonderful to be left off at the place from which so many of our daily strolls begin. We’ll not walk today, or if we do, it will be just three miles; enough to get stretch the knee, but not tax it. Tomorrow will be another five-miler.

The four of us who live on on the three-mile long Pentoga Road have a brand new sign reminding us where we live. 

The knee is coming. Right now, I’d give it a six or seven out of ten rating. It's no longer painful for the usual daily use, but remains weak with an occasional twinge. It’s a process. I may not be able to climb mountains yet, but I can certainly walk around the block a few times.

Brutus has been somewhat stiff when getting up the past several weeks so we've begun giving him one glucosamine/chondroitin tablet and a baby aspirin per day. The results have been almost immediate and he's back to perking on all four cylinders. The problem, he doesn't like taking pills. In desperation yesterday, I took one of his doggy treats out to the shop, drilled a hole on the drill press, then inserted the pill. 

Still, he managed to spit it out. How he can separate a pill with a huge tongue in that giant bulldog head is beyond me. I'm back to square one; shoving my hand down his throat (literally) then turning loose of the pill at the last second. So far, my hand's remained attached to my wrist after each session.

 I talked with Dr. Dan yesterday and I’ll be going to his home in Iron Mountain tomorrow evening to talk with him and get the tadpole trike. He wants me to try it for a period of time and take it on some local trips. I’m looking forward to the experience. In reading about the tadpole trikes, regardless of brand, it seems that people either really love them or they don’t care for the unique design at all. For me, time will tell.

I graded and commented on reams of assignments yesterday. Thankfully, the majority of my students are decent writers and some have unique imaginations regarding their reflections concerning various Alaskan topics. Most are pretty good. A few are out to lunch.

I loaded the little blue four-wheeler into the Man Truck and made my way to town. First, I had to purchase an ORV pass for the ATV as I’d taken the one from it and stuck it onto the new four-wheeler. After, I drove to Yooper Brother Mark’s plant, left the truck to be filled with wood, and drove the ATV back home. It was a beautiful day, perfect for riding the trails.

I once again returned to the computer and worked on university assignments.

Check out this puffball fungus. It's the biggest I've ever seen.

It was late afternoon and with Sargie not due home for two hours, I decided to mow the lawn. Each time I do, I think this will be the last for the year, but hopefully, with the recent freezes, the grass will decide to go dormant. It’s certainly green and beautiful, especially for this time of the year.

A neighbor, who lives a couple miles up the road and around the corner, was walking by yesterday and stopped to comment on the giant pumpkins. That made me feel good, but started me wondering how the devil am I going to get them from the garden to the front porch and eventually, to our nieces in Iron River and Appleton, Wisconsin? With each weighing over a hundred pounds, I’m thinking I could roll them to the edge of the garden and lift each with the front-end loader on the tractor. That might be my best bet. Stay tuned, I feel a project coming on.

Sargie was home fairly early last night and we enjoyed chicken rice soup and grilled cheese and tomato sandwiches. Why does food taste so much better when the temperatures drop? 

Almost an hour was spent talking with Luke, Melinda, and the grand munchkins. I’m not sure who is more excited about Grandpa’s impending visit, the grandbabies or me.  Today is picture day in their elementary school and Abigail and Coleman were practicing their smiles on Grandpa.

Sargie works early today and with that, should be home early this evening. Brutus and I have all sorts of chores to do around here, mostly cleaning the barn, working up some wood, and otherwise getting ready for winter. Trapping season is around the corner and it’s time to think about boiling and waxing traps. It’s all a chore, but then I’m not surprised.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road…