So far, this has been the only maple tree whose sap has run.

March 11, 2015 - Wednesday
29 degrees/clear/calm
Pentoga Road

With the temperatures reaching 60 degrees yesterday, and well into the 50's on Monday, things happened on Pentoga Road. I've got an entire winter's worth of energy stored up and for whatever reason, I feel the need to get going, to do something, anything, as long as it doesn't involve my recliner or computer.

The tools of the trade

I tapped fifteen trees on Monday and not sure I should have done those. I'm just not into the maple thing this year. I think it's because we still have the syrup on the shelves downstairs and there are so many other things I want to do. We'll see. It's still very early and some years the sap doesn't run, other years, it flows. I'm not losing any sleep over it one way or the other.



Most of Monday was spent grading papers. A ton of assignments flowed into my inbox and it was difficult not to resent having to work inside on such a nice day.

Tuesday was a different story. I began the day by going into town and purchasing a battery for the mower. Larry the Mechanic was at his shop and I stopped by to make arrangements to leave the Cub Cadet. He said to bring it any time.

Hmm, I hadn't planned on getting Yooper Mark's trailer until today, but since I was in town and Larry was at his shop. Hmmm, hmmm.

I drove to Mark and Sheri's and went to open the garage door to get out the hitch. It was locked. It's never locked. I got back into the Blazer, drove across town to where Sheri works (Mark's at the plant in Kentucky this week) and after a wonderful get-caught-up conversation with Sheri, borrowed the key, drove back across town, and hitched the trailer to the SUV.

Once home, I put the battery in the mower, aired up a couple of tires, drove it onto the trailer, then went back to town and dropped it off at Larry's... all before noon.



Tuesday afternoon was spent working on the little blue four-wheeler. It started with the first pull; pretty good considering the last time it ran was October. I began putting the plywood bed onto the back, the one that allows me to use it more as a combination pickup truck, work bench, saw horse, and tool carrier. 



The back rack has always been loose and I spent more than an hour taking it apart and installing shims. I guarantee that it will rattle no more!

The shims I installed, aluminum flashing, above the tail light.

I also worked on the drive, breaking up the past five months of ice and snow and it's now down to the bare paving. Honestly, the sun did most the work. I simply moved the loose ice to facilitate melting.

And just so I could squeeze in one more thing, I went down to the lake and fished for forty five minutes. I had to try it... sixty degrees and sunny. Fishing in my t-shirt without a heavy jacket was an opportunity I couldn't ignore. Fishing was lousy, but the day was perfect.

I drove over to Iron Mountain late in the afternoon and met Sargie. I want to go to Home Depot today and purchase the dog ear cedar with which to build my strawberry pyramid so the opportunity was perfect to ride together. 

Sargie opens today. I'll get my lumber and come back home, load this winter's garbage onto Yooper Mark's trailer, take it to the dump, take the trailer back to town, drop it off, take the key to Sheri, and come back home. I hope to finish the four-wheeler today and at least lay out the lumber for the pyramid. Highs for the next two days are forecast to be in the mid-forties with clear skies. Perfect.

So, with all that being said, it's time to make hay while the sun shines. 

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

As much as I hate to think about it, I'm going to have to put new tires on both four-wheelers this coming summer. I put inexpensive tubes in those on the blue four-wheeler last summer and they worked. My goal was met. I got one more season of use out of them.