March 20, 2015 - Friday
33 degrees/cloudy - snow flurries/breezy
Pentoga Road

It's dark and cold this morning. I hope winter isn't returning. Spring has been too much fun.

The ride down to Green Bay was wonderful on Thursday morning. We talked the entire time, often laughing, and the two and a half hours flew by. 

It will be a few months before Lambeau Field reawakens to the 2015 football season.

Our first stop was at Fleet Farm where I purchased a large lawn sweeper. We spend hours in the fall raking the maple leaves from our yard and the summer months finds us leaving grass clippings that have been tracked in throughout the house. The sweeper I purchased, a large pull-behind affair, is heavy, well-built, and should cover our lawn in the matter of minutes. Naturally, it has to be assembled. 

I also bought a small, upright, toolshed to put alongside the greenhouse. It's almost six feet tall, but is only big enough to hold garden tools; a shovel and rake and possibly a few other implements. I've wanted to purchase this particular type for the past three years and yesterday, it was on sale. Boom. Oh yes, it too requires assembly.

We made our usual foray into Sam's Club for supplies and then stopped by a shoe store where Sargie bought a new pair for work. 



And finally, on our way out of town, we purchased our new trailer.



The trailer itself is going to work just fine for our needs. It's heavy, has sides tall enough to hold wood, big enough to carry my four wheelers or the mower or a snowmobile and ice shack, and pulled so easily that most the time, when coming home, we forgot it was behind us.

But the real trailer success story lies with John, the owner of Bay Trailer Depot, in Howard, (Green Bay) Wisconsin. A young man of 33, he typifies what used to be the American dream. With a small loan, the business began two years ago with just a few trailers. Today, there are well over a hundred various makes and models, has a sales person, and his wife has decided to leave a successful career to come work with her husband. I heard of their three young children, two of whom are in elementary school.

I'm not sure what I'm trying to say here other than in a country of entitlements where mediocrity and laziness has become the norm, even rewarded, John has asked nothing other than the opportunity to work hard and build a business. It was so refreshing to hear words like, "yes please, no thank you, I'll get it, I sure appreciate your business, be sure to let me know if you have any questions in the future," and a host of other polite and sincere litanies. 

John wouldn't allow us to leave before he made sure the trailer lights were working and spent several minutes making minor repairs to the connection plug on the Blazer. The last thing I saw as we left the parking lot was John waving to us. I'm sure his parents are proud of him. I barely know the man and I am. 

The trip home was flawless and we arrived to some very full sap bags hanging from the sugar maples. With Sargie's help, we unloaded the trailer, then the Blazer, and together, we emptied the bags. It had been a fun and flying trip to Green Bay.



Sargie opens at the Vision Center today. With rain in the forecast for this afternoon, I'm going to walk my usual five miles then venture to the state license bureau to register the trailer. The boat is also due for renewal this year.

After, I hope to continue work on the strawberry planters. I'd like to get them done before the next bout of cold weather returns. I see single numbers for lows are in the offing with a fairly good chance of snow arriving next Tuesday and Wednesday. 

But first, I'm going to pour a cup of coffee and think some deep thoughts. 

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...