February 20, 2015 - Friday
24 below zero/partly cloudy/calm
Pentoga Road

Thankfully, a few clouds are beginning to drift in causing the thermometer to creep upwards. We had a low of -32 overnight, the second in a row of temperatures below -30. Thank God for global warming. Can you imagine how cold it would be without it? 

Last year's record-breaking low temperatures didn't happen for naught. I learned. The pipes wrapped in heat tape in the basement are remaining warm enough to keep the water from freezing. Even the discharge pipe on the wash machine (also wrapped in heat tape) is clear. There have been no hour-long sessions with a blow dryer.... yet. 

The past two days have seen me enter hibernation mode. The symptoms: the less I'm able to do outside because of cold temperatures, the less I actually want to do either inside or out. 

I've worked a bit on the drywall in the bathroom, but there's plenty left... nah, I  don't feel like doing that. 

I've been meaning to make some more cranberry English muffins, Sargie's favorite... maybe later. 

There's a brooder lamp to be hung in Brutus's doghouse so he might keep toasty warm when we're gone and he's outside.... sure, but I'll do that when the weather gets warmer.

And the list goes on and on. It happened yearly at the cabin and to a lesser extent in Sitka. Come late winter, north of the Arctic Circle, when I wasn't traveling and teaching, all I wanted to do was sleep or otherwise remain non-productive. In Sitka, I'd go to work, but basically, slog through the late winter days, occasionally breaking the monotony by going fishing. I'd do the same here if only the mercury would rise above zero.

How soon spring arrives determines when the hibernation ends. There are so many things I want to do, but right now, it's like going window shopping without a penny in one's pocket. I can dream. I can look, but it's going to be another month or two before anything actually happens.

I sound as though I'm whining, but I'm not really; just simply making an observation. I've gone into late winter hibernation for many years. Even while working, the spring in my step diminished somewhat until the days grew longer and warmer.

Meanwhile...

Brother-in-law Ross and I were supposed to watch some practice jumps for the International Ski Jumping contests in Iron Mountain on Thursday, but due to the cold and windy weather, we decided not to. He called later in the morning and said only two contestants had launched themselves from the giant slide and it was slow going.

The rest of the day was spent in semi-hibernation. I graded papers and made comments, did some housework, carried in wood and played with Brutus, but even the 125 lb piece of gristle with a heartbeat, whom I call my constant companion, wasn't too keen on playing fetch outside. He retrieved the ball three times, then on the fourth, with the ball in his mouth, made a bee-line to the door. Once inside, he lay in front of the wood stove and promptly fell sound asleep.

Sargie had to close last night and wasn't home until well past 8. We had a quick supper, watched television for an hour, then it was off to bed.

Today promises to be warmer with a high of +12 predicted. I'm going to attempt to break out of this late winter stupor and do something meaningful. Two loads of laundry have been washed with sweeping the kitchen and dining room floors next on the agenda. I'm going to crawl into Brutus's house and hang that brooder lamp after which, I'm taking off and hiking five miles. And following that? I very well may work on the age-old issue of solving perpetual motion.

Because you know what they say... a man's work is never done.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...