Andy got the old snowmobile running. Bring on the holiday season!

October 3, 2013 – Thursday

49 degrees/rain

Pentoga Road

It’s one of those mornings that makes a person feel as though he could lie in bed sleeping all day. It’s dark, chilly, and damp, and the sound of rain hitting the metal roof serves to put one into an almost comatose hypnotic trance.

I awakened at 4 AM. My body said to stay still and snuggle next to Sargie while my mind churned at a hundred miles an hour dictating that I eventually rise and greet the day. Here I am.

Wednesday was both beautiful and fun. We spent most the morning and afternoon hours exploring the property, finding the exact boundaries, and discovering that a few more trees have toppled over during the past year. An old barbed wire fence, originally used to keep cattle inside the property, was found grown into the trees along the property line. The boundaries were marked with orange or yellow surveyors ribbon and in the end, we found the far corners of the property. One, we’re still not sure of the exact position, although I believe we found it. The other has a small plaque nailed to a tree; an official boundary marker put there by surveyors many years ago.

And really, no one cares where the exact lines fall. Public land on two sides and a field and woods on the third surround our property. I don’t believe a few feet one way or the other makes too much difference in this forest of hundreds of thousands of acres.

Andy got the old snowmobile running. Evidently, there was a buildup of gas in the bottom of the crankcase. After reading about possible fixes on the internet and exhausting all avenues he was familiar with, Andy took off the fuel line and muffler, then pulled the starter rope causing the excess gas to ignite. 

Within minutes, he had the machine running perfectly. There should be no small amount of snowmobiling come Christmas.

I spent the like amount of time sharpening the chain on my large saw and working on a pile of scrap wood that’s been accumulating in front of the wood sheds. It’s cut and put away, making another chore to be checked off the list as we prepare to go into the winter months.

All the scrap is cut and both wood boxes are full. 

We left around noon for Iron Mountain. A stop was made to drop the trike off at the doctor’s house. He and I had talked earlier on the phone and I told him what I liked and didn’t particularly care for with the tadpole tricycle. He thanked me for trying it  and reminded me if I might want it in the spring, to let him know, otherwise, he’s putting it on Craig’s List. What a nice guy.

We met Sargie at the Vision Center and whisked her off to the Land of McDonalds and their dollar menu. Andy sprang for lunch and the four of us happily munched our burgers and fries sitting in the car under a large sugar maple in the brown bag Mecca of Iron Mountain, the cemetery.

We later ventured to City Park to look at the deer. It’s a known fact that the bucks with the biggest antlers in the UP live in the park.

Back at the Vision Center and bidding Sargie farewell, Andy pointed the Blazer towards Pentoga Road. The rest of the day was spent in the woods, mostly gabbing and walking, but always following the electronic compass so we might mark the property lines.

Mollie found this little peeper while walking through the woods

Sargie was home by 7 last night and we spent the evening talking and watching television. Once again, it was a short evening for her.

With no days off this week, Sargie opens the Vision Center today. Hopefully, that means she’ll be home early this evening. Rain is falling and colder air is settling in. The kids and I might venture over to Rhinelander today in search of a new garage door. The old one is rotten and has been fixed several times and I’m not certain it will survive the winter. Sargie would like a new knob on the kitchen door going out into the garage that is keyed the same as the others. Sounds like a definite project to me.

Despite the weather, the day looks to be a full one. But then, we might just decide to be lazy and watch movies, pop some corn, keep the fire going in the stove, and take naps. I wouldn’t be surprised, because it’s well known that a man’s work is never done.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road…