The beginning of the maple trail through the north woods

February 5, 2014 – Wednesday

4 degrees/cloudy/calm

Pentoga Road

Well, let’s see, I guess the biggest news is we didn’t win last night’s lottery. I thought sure we’d wake up this morning being the newest instant millionaires, but that didn’t happen. Oh well, all of our friends relatives are going to have to go to work today… as is Sargie. We’re still poor common folk.

Silliness aside, we had a great Tuesday. It was Sargie’s day off and while she was doing girl-stuff inside during the morning hours, Brutus and I made a new set of trails through the north maple woods. The sun was bright, the sky blue, and nary a breeze was blowing. The worst thing that happened was when the bindings from one of the snowshoes came undone. Stepping off into three feet of snow wasn’t pleasant, especially when I had to retie the strap barehanded in the below zero temperature.

Brutus plowing ahead makes it much easier for me to snowshoe in his tracks. He actually broke most of the trail Tuesday morning. (Note the stick in his mouth)

Sargie finished what she was doing as did I and we took off for our weekly drive. It was a gorgeous day and since it was a weekday afternoon, there was little traffic. In fact, we had the entire county to ourselves.

Where to go? We had a package to mail so we stopped in town at the post office, then drove through McDonalds for Cokes. Hmm, where to? We turned to the north and east and drove to the hamlet of Amasa, spending a few minutes looking at the old buildings. From there, we wandered out on some plowed country roads.

After wandering aimlessly for half an hour, we decided to head back home. The GPS took over and started us on a series of twists and turns. I didn’t pay any attention. Sargie and I were talking a mile a minute and enjoying the scenery. It looked like a scene from a Norman Rockwell Christmas painting.

I'd like to know the history behind this old building in downtown Amasa

The roads became narrower and I noticed most were doubling as snowmobile trails. The snow banks on each side of the road were higher than the car and Sargie was convinced we were going to get wedged between the two. We topped one steep hill and peered down on a herd of deer standing in the middle of an unplowed road. Had we traveled on, we’d have had a long walk out and a hefty tow bill. After following the GPS’s directions onto a road that could have ended up in a genuine disaster, I made the executive decision to follow my gut (and training) and turn around.

The sun was getting low in the western sky. We’d been heading north and east. Home was south and west. I set the new course for whatever road headed towards the sun. Half an hour later, we popped out in civilization.

Last night was a quiet one. Sargie made soup for supper and I spent most the evening reading assignments. Bedtime was early.

I didn't realize we were ready to leave the country!

Sargie closes today so Brutus and I will be left to our own devices. I think I’ll do my five-mile walk first thing. After that, it’s a toss up. No one, including me, cleaned the garage yesterday, so that’s on the agenda. If the wind remains calm, I may ride the snowmobile down the road and make some trails on the lake, let them set overnight to pack down so I can go fishing tomorrow. It appears no one has been fishing and I’m not interested in wading out in waist deep snow a quarter of a mile in a search of meat for the table. Making trails will enable me to take the four wheeler loaded with my fishing gear out onto the ice without getting stuck… I hope.

It’s time to get this finished, throw another log on the fire, grab a cup of coffee, and think deep thoughts.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road…

Almost sundown on Tuesday evening. Gardening season seems a long long ways away.