This guy was poking out of a snowbank alongside a remote road. He certainly got our attention.

March 10, 2014 – Monday

23 degrees/clear/calm

Pentoga Road

The countdown begins. I’ve tentatively set March 10, 2015, as the kickoff date to begin hiking the Appalachian Trail, a year from today. Whether I actually go, depending on my physical shape, remains to be seen, but I’ve planned on March 10, 2015, for the past several years. The knee is getting stronger and other than a few upgrades, my equipment is tested and ready. Becoming mentally tough will be the biggest challenge. Leaving Sargie, Brutus, and our beloved home on Pentoga Road might very well be the biggest hurdle of all.

I was saddened to hear of the death of Bill Irwin a couple of days ago, the only blind person to ever complete the Appalachian Trail while hiking solo. Bill lived in Maine and though I never met him face to face, I talked with him some time ago after reading his book about his experience.

When I told him my eyesight was less than perfect, yet I had dreams of hiking the trail, we had the following dialogue:

Bill: How much of your sight have you lost?

Tom: Oh, some… I’m not sure. I don’t like to think about it.

Bill: Would you say half?

Tom: Yeah, I imagine, that or a bit more.

Bill… laughing: It was estimated that I fell around 4,000 times from beginning to end while hiking the trail. You still have half your sight? That means you should only fall 2,000 times. No problem!

Bill said God told him to hike the trail as a testament to faith, then come back and write and talk about it as an example what God can do in one’s life. After our conversation, I resolved that if nothing else, I had to try. To my knowledge, God hasn't said a word to me about going, it’s simply something I’ve always wanted to try. In my case, it’s probably pure bullheadedness accompanied by lots of prayer for God to help me along the way.

Bill wore kneepads to cushion his falls. I’m going to forego that extra cushion, although possibly strapping a pillow on my backside might not be a bad idea!

Rest in peace, Bill, and thanks for being an inspiration for many of us.

Page Two

This is the first work day of Daylight Savings Time, Sargie’s first day back to work after vacation, and it’s dark and chilly outside. When I gently shook her this morning to awaken her, she simply groaned and muttered a long and soft, “Noooooooo.”

I’ve got a doctor’s appointment in Iron Mountain at 8:30 this morning. I think I’ll end up at the hospital to have some blood drawn, so this is a morning without breakfast for me. I’m sipping green tea and pretending as if I could care less whether I have breakfast.

Speaking of green tea, I’m trying to quit drinking coffee. My caffeine consumption has steadily risen since I retired almost two years ago. I’ve gotten so that I don’t even care for the taste, but have come to rely on the little boost it seems to give me each morning. I don’t need that. I have plenty of natural boost.

I was thinking… I quit smoking years ago when I began coughing my lungs out my nose. I’ve not taken a drink for quite sometime and have learned to live quite well without dumping 12 packs of beer down my throat on a daily basis. So if I don’t need those two things to live, why should I have a dependence on coffee? I’m on day three without caffeine and so far, other than morning headaches, I’m doing just fine. In fact, I’m still headache free this morning.

Sunday was a somewhat lazy affair. I took my walk after writing, then just like Saturday, Sargie and I took a short drive. This time, we visited the far end of our local lake, accessible by a gravel road about ten miles away. All I can say is that someone has some real money… many “camps” are much nicer than our home and cost several times as much, yet are only used for a few weeks each summer. Still, I wouldn’t trade places.

Spring must be near. We're beginning to see a lot of wildlife on our drives.

We arrived back home ready to strip the last of the wallpaper in the kitchen; and strip we did… the wallpaper, that is. I thought it would only take an hour, but we spent most of three making the walls bare. I’ll lightly sand the surfaces in the next several days, use spackling where necessary, and make them ready for Sargie’s paintbrush.

Sargie fixed brats and the last of Sheri’s homemade sauerkraut last night. I initially cooked the bratwursts on the grill, then Sargie added them to her secret sauerkraut receipe, let all the flavors mix, and we were soon feasting.

We went to bed fairly early last night so waking this morning wouldn’t be quite so shocking. Still, the clock was showing 10:30 the last time I looked and Sargie was still awake reading. There’s just no easy way to spring ahead other than just doing it.

After I arrive home from my doctor’s appointment today, I plan on playing outside in the fifty-degree temperatures for the rest of the day. I have no idea what I’m going to do, but I don’t care as long as Brutus and I are outside.

Sargie works early and hopefully, will be home before dark tonight, something that hasn’t happened since the time change last fall.

Oops, tempus fugit. Time to grab another cup of tea and get this uploaded.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road…

While in town yesterday, we watched this man working up high on the trim of this old school that is being renovated into apartments.