Yooper Brother Mark and I holding Sheri's Green and Gold cake.

January 6, 2014 – Monday

-29 degrees/clear/windy

Pentoga Road

I may have to go back upstairs and put on a pair of long johns. With a wind chill of sixty below zero, mere flannel-lined jeans don't seem to be heavy enough. The temperature is arctic-cold, but the wind makes is seem even more frigid. It’s not easy possessing a set of Big Bird legs with zero percent fat to protect them from the elements.

I remember the days of arctic living, when I used to take off on snowmobile, bound for an Inupiaq village several hundred miles distant. It would be dark, blowing, and often the thermometer would do well to rise to the -40 degree mark. Dressed in several layers, I hardly noticed the cold temperatures. I like to tell myself that I could (and would) do the same today if called upon, but the truth be known, I’d be hard pressed to endure eight to ten hours of breaking trails across the Arctic Circle in the name of teacher education. The way my eyes are, I’d probably end up in some God forsaken place like Bermuda, Hawaii, or Martinique in the Caribbean.

I have the smartest American Bulldog in the world. Brutus expressed an interest in learning how to knit, so Sheri gave him a lesson on how to knit-one/pearl-two.

Packer fans everywhere are in mourning today. The boys in Green and Gold lost yesterday’s game in the final seconds by three points. Honestly, they probably shouldn’t have made the playoffs and we gave it our best, but it’s time to put the Packers to bed for the season. It’s sure been a roller coaster ride. As I told Andy last night, next comes the draft, then free agency, trading, salary caps, mini summer camps, pre-season, and before we know it, Packer football ’14 will be here.

Sargie and I went to town Sunday morning for a few groceries, then took our time coming home. With all the snow and the brilliant blue sky, the landscape looks winter perfect. Generally, by now, we’ve had a thaw or two, allowing the trees to shed snow from their branches. Not this year. Driving on a back road that had yet to be plowed, we wouldn’t have been surprised to meet a horse-drawn sleigh. The entire seen looked as though it should have been featured on a Christmas card.

I spent the rest of the day watching football. Mark and Sheri arrived at mid-afternoon and we cheered as Green Bay battled the 49er’s. It was a close one, but it wasn’t to be.

Sheri brought a cake decorated in Packers colors that we enjoyed after our supper of pizza. No one starved around here last night.

Sargie’s working early today. I wish she didn’t have that drive to Iron Mountain in this cold weather. I’m going to stay inside and keep the wood stove blazing. I still have one class, ALST 600, to set up for this coming semester. I’m going to do that today. Both sections, graduate and undergrad, are full to overflowing. It’s going to be a busy spring semester.

Time to throw a lawg on the far, grab another cup of coffee, listen to some news, and most importantly, think deep thoughts. After all, a man’s work is never done.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road…