There's a tractor under all those limbs

September 18, 2013 – Wednesday

57 degrees/cloudy/rainy/calm

Pentoga Road

My fingers are stiff this morning. I guess it’s the result of tightly gripping a chainsaw all day yesterday while perched high upon an extension ladder.

What began as a simple task, on Tuesday morning turned into an several hour major undertaking. Actually, it’s my youngest son, Andy’s, fault; and Sargie’s too. He gave me the Packer flag and she purchased a beautiful, chrome, flagpole on which to hang it.

Sargie and I debated as to where it should be mounted. On the house? She didn’t care for that idea. In the end, we decided it would be best mounted on the large spruce tree along the drive. All I had to do was trim a few branches.

One branch turned into twenty. Before I knew it, I was standing on the top rung of the extension ladder, cutting above my head with a roaring chainsaw. I hate doing that and it seems to be happening with more and more frequency as we continue to improve the surrounding yard.

With the lower limbs removed, it took only minutes to mount the pole and flag. The Pentoga Road State of the Packer Nation has officially been established.

What a difference the faunal manicure made. I glanced over at the huge spruce trees on the south side of the drive. Sargie and I have been talking for sometime about the need to trim the large and drooping spruce trees. With many dead branches, what was once a beautiful living privacy fence and windbreak is approaching the eyesore stage. Still, we decided that not too much should be cut. The road isn’t that far away from the house and we wanted separation and privacy from the dozen or so cars that zoom past daily.

A limb here, a branch there. Before I knew it, I was standing in a pile of limbs knee deep and growing. The chainsaw rain out of gas and that’s probably a good thing. The endorphins and adrenaline had taken over and I was on a roll.

  

Using the tractor and front-end loader, it took several trips to the burn pile to clear the ground. 

For certain, when Andy and Mollie are here the week after next, we’re going to have a giant weenie roast. The pile has grown huge.

In the end, the area around the entrance to the drive looks much better. There are still enough hanging branches to ensure privacy, yet the area is much neater and cleaner; so much so that Sargie and I agreed last night the rest of the trees should be trimmed.

It was mid-afternoon before I finished. I sneaked into the house, ate a sandwich, and might have closed my eyes after. I was about worn out.

With the temperatures falling and winter around the corner, I decided to put the boat away for the year. With the knee out of commission, I hardly fished at all this past summer, but that’s okay. I’ll be doubly ready to hit the lakes next spring and my favorite type of angling is just around the corner, ice fishing.

The rest of the day was spent in the barn. I swept, put away, and arranged, and am able to once again park everything inside out of the weather. Maybe I’ll actually be able to start thinking of building in a shop one of these days.

Sargie was home early last night and we spent the evening watching the finale of America’s Got Talent. I don’t care who wins as all the contestants are very talented performers. She managed to find enough time to make another apple cake. Since the fresh apples are here for such a short time, she's taking advantage of them to make my newest, most favorite, food group. These apples came off our own tree.

Other than grading and reading papers, I’m not sure what today will bring. Sargie works late and later, I’ll be going to Iron Mountain to get the trike to bring home. I’m anxious to try it out and take some local jaunts. Hopefully, it will turn out to be a viable alternative to all the hiking I enjoy so much.

But first, it’s time to pour another cup of coffee and listen to the news. After, I’ll begin to read and grade the assignments that came in overnight. 

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road…