The true definition of "winter apples." Think they're ripe yet?

January 19, 2014 – Sunday

24 degrees/calm/cloudy

Pentoga Road

My longtime friend, Eileen, from Maine, sent a link to a video clip in which her husband, a former fellow teacher and also a good friend, Bert, “Uncle Bert” is shown on a local television station's news clip. Uncle Bert retired as a middle school French teacher years ago and has been a bailiff in the Bangor, Maine, court system for a number of years. 

And why do I call him Uncle Bert? Because his niece, Jenny, who was also a fellow teacher and good friend, always called him Uncle Bert… so I did the same and it has stuck.. for the past twenty-five to thirty years.

Usually Uncle Bert wears a uniform and looks like a cross between John Wayne and Chuck Norris, but in this clip, he’s dressed in a dark suit and wearing an earpiece.

My imagination has kicked into high gear and I’m imagining a new line of action figures. There could be a Chuck Norris Uncle Bert, a John Wayne Uncle Bert, and now the newest, FBI Uncle Bert. 

Uncle Bert, Action Hero, on the right

Hey, it was worth a try.

Page Two

Saturday was a sunny and calm, yet cool, day. I went fishing for a couple of hours with the same results that I’ve had on earlier excursions. I had no hits, no runs, no errors and not one fish was left on base. There was no action.

I did get a lot of fresh air on a picture perfect day. In fact, I didn’t even assemble the Clam fishing shelter. Sitting outside, jigging, and watching the tip ups was perfectly fine.

The only fish I saw were the minnows in the bucket

The engine on the ice auger had just started for the last hole when the rewind on the auger decided to break. That'll be one of this week's projects.

I arrived home shortly after noon. Sargie and I took off for town, did our errands, than spent the next couple of hours driving around the area’s lakes and by the local ski hill; mostly commenting on the amount of snow that has accumulated this winter.

People going up on the chair lift, a couple of snow boarders zooming down the hill underneath, and a beginning ski instruction class in the foreground. It was a busy place.

I remain amazed at the lack of ice fishing activity. Usually, this time of the year, most lakes are covered with shanties, trucks on the ice, and fishermen sitting on overturned five-gallon buckets making a lure dance near the bottom far below.

We arrived home and decided to watch a movie. I found one, Jack Reacher, on Netflix and we spent the next two hours thoroughly enjoying the action-packed flick. I can’t say I’m a huge fan of Cruise’s personal life or religion, but I like his acting.

Last night was a quiet one spent with the television playing in the background. I’m not sure either of us actually watched the thing, but it provided background noise. I wouldn’t mind getting rid of the satellite television. There’s so little worth watching.

Sargie works from noon to five today. I’m going to ride with her partway and walk back. Assignments are beginning to pour in as they are due on Monday and I’ll grade as many as possible this afternoon and tonight. My inbox will be flooded in the morning and the weekly cycle will begin again.

There are NFL playoff games to listen to later today, coffee to sip, and as always, deep thoughts to think… such as how to develop the Uncle Bert line of action figures.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road…