One day's work of cutting and splitting fire wood.

November 3, 2013 – Sunday

31 degrees/sunny/calm

Pentoga Road

I think I wrote this same thing last year… about November 3^rd.

It was 1964. Mom and Dad took my sister and me to a Barry Goldwater rally in Rockford, Illinois. The conflict in Vietnam was beginning to rage and we couldn’t fathom a southern liberal like Lyndon Johnson winning another term in the Presidency.

It’s been forty-nine years and I still remember the lyrics to the following song. Good, bad, or ugly, the only real thing I really recall about the rally is the following, sung to the tune of “I’m just wild about Mary.”

Oh, I’m just wild about Barry,

And Barry’s wild about me,

He’s honest, forthright, and courageous,

He fits me to a “t”

I’m must sick about Lyndon,

And Humphrey, Baker, and boys,

On November Third

Out with Lyndon Byrd

And ON TO VIC-TO-RYYYYYY!!!!

Yeah, we all know how that one turned out. As they say, good guys finish last.

 Now that you’ve had your music and political science lesson of the day, let me proceed to current and modern history:

Saturday was a busy one. In fact, for the first time since early last spring, I felt like my old self. Sargie dropped me off five miles up the road and I walked back. There was no pull, no catch in the knee, no real weakness. I made myself stroll, not walk fast, and there was more than once that I had to keep myself from breaking into a jog. I’m not allowed to do that anymore, ever. Walk, yes. Jog, no.

One of the beaver ponds along my walking route

My original goal for the day after walking was to simply saw a large white birch log into stove length pieces. Cutting it went well. I’d recently sharpened the chain and it made eight or ten large chunks to split.

I decided to split one or two. Those became four or five, and soon, the entire lot was split. Why not haul and stack them? I was today’s modern lumberjack on steroids. (Merely a saying, no performance enhancing chemicals involved.)

My attentions were turned to a fairly hefty maple log and branches I’d cut last spring before my knee was torn up.

Several hours later, all the wood was cut, stacked, and covered with a large tarp. The wood that’s readied now will be used next winter.

I’m convinced it’s not until one has suffered some sort of long-term ailment and finally heals that he realizes how bad he felt during his recovery. It’s been a lousy summer and fall, but yesterday I not only saw, but felt the warmth from the huge light at the end of the tunnel. No limp, no gimp, no nothing. What a great feeling.

I began to set up the power miter saw that Sargie gave me for Christmas. It was too dark to read the instructions, so I brought those in to absorb and will finish assembling it in the shop today.

With the temperatures cooling off and darkness falling, I moved from outside into the house and began cleaning. It was evening before the dusting was completed and the floors swept. It was a tired, but happy, boy who climbed into the shower last night and let the hot water beat over his back.

Sargie arrived home after a full day of work, then attending the “Bras for a Cause” cancer benefit in Iron Mountain. She had a good time and said there were many people in attendance and the benefit appeared to be going well.

I officially started a diet yesterday. I’ve gained between ten and fifteen pounds this summer. Not being active has been hard on the waistline. The only real activity I’ve  done for the past five months has been to eat.

My goal is to drop these ten pounds before Thanksgiving, maintain that weight during the holidays, then get back to my usual two-hundred pound fighting weight by spring’s arrival. That’s my goal. Between hiking and biking next summer, I’d like to reach 185 lbs, my long distance hiking weight and once again, begin to think about the Appalachian Trail. Stay tuned.

Today. I’m going to walk my five miles as soon as the log and pictures are uploaded. Sargie’s off, so we’ll do whatever she wants; no doubt take a drive, get a Coke, and take some late fall pictures. I’d like to rake the chips of wood from around the area where I was working yesterday, get that ready for winter. Green Bay doesn’t play until Monday night and today’s games don’t look very exciting, at least any that are televised locally.

So with all that being said, it’s time to get this on, download a podcast to listen to while I walk, and strap on my shoes.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road…