One of this week's activities will be to store the patio furniture for the winter. I doubt we'll be working on our tans any more this year.

October 21, 2013 – Monday

32 degrees/cloudy/calm

Pentoga Road

Just like that, we kiss fall goodbye and enter into the dark of winter (and ice fishing!) Did we even have a fall? The leaves weren’t as brilliant this year as last and it seems as though summer lasted up until a couple of weeks ago. Now it’s snowing. The forecast for the entire week includes snow showers and the daily predicted highs appear to be stuck in the mid to upper thirties. What’s even more scary is that Thanksgiving is five short weeks away and a month after that… Christmas.

Brutus abandoned his usual place at my feet to lay by the fire this morning.

Sunday was a wonderfully lazy day. I read assignments most of the morning and did some academic house keeping. Maintaining my weekly academic work this past week wasn’t difficult, but it was time consuming and I didn’t always get the assignments placed in the correct electronic file or folder. Thankfully, that chore is finished and can be eliminated from this week's things-I-need-to-do list.

We took our usual Sunday afternoon drive and I used the opportunity to check out several water trapping places in the area. I’d like to expand my catch list to include  muskrat this season. They are the easiest to catch and clean and have the biggest dollar return. Unfortunately, most other trappers think the same way. The season opened this past week and I need to boil, dye, and wax, a few coyote traps.

It was fairly easy to coach the Packers to victory late Sunday afternoon. We’re battered and bruised and have more than half a dozen of our key players inactive due to injuries, but we keep finding a way to win. Next stop, Minnesota, where we’ll battle the Vikings.

Sargie made a huge pot of beef stew that we enjoyed along with toasted cheese sandwiches. They were the cold and rainy Sunday afternoon equivalent to a great steak and a baked potato. Unfortunately, I ate hardy and felt stuffed the rest of the day.

There's my girl... waiting for me as I tramp along the water's edge looking for signs of wildlife.

We were in bed early last night. It’ll be several days before Sargie gets another day off and I’ll be playing catch-up on seasonal activities and chores. There’re five miles to hike, phone calls to make, wood to split, and traps to make ready for the season. The list goes on and on, but first, I need to get another cup of coffee, throw a log on the fire, listen to the news, and think deep thoughts. It’s what we old, retired, guys do early in the mornings.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road… 

Only at Insurance Liquidators, my hero, Ron Paul. Unfortunately, the thought of Chia Ron growing in our living room didn't seem nearly as appealing as having him as President.