July 7, 2015 – Tuesday

44 degrees – clear skies – breezy

Pentoga Road

The internet quit working last night and is still out this morning so I’m unsure when this will get uploaded.

Mom departs later today for Indianapolis by way of Minneapolis. I believe she’s ready as her suitcase was packed yesterday and boarding pass printed.

As we all know, it’s always good to get away, always good to get home.

Monday was rainy… and rain it did. The downpours began shortly after 9 AM and didn’t end until late afternoon. In the end, we received just shy of an inch.

Strong winds accompanied the front when it finally came storming through and broke off one sunflower stem and bent a couple of others over to the ground. I staked and tied those and they should recover.

I tried to start the red four-wheeler on Sunday afternoon and found it dead, no spark, no lights, no nuthin’. Assuming it was the battery, I attached the charger and left it on all night.

The battery was still dead Monday and I made plans to purchase a new one. Still, I thought I should double and triple check before spending the money.

The tester said it was good. Hmmm. I attached the trolling motor battery used to power the trolling motor. Still no spark. The problem wasn’t the battery.

I wiggled, I pulled, I muttered and swore. The switch has always been a bit loose; perhaps that was the problem. As I was looking for a place to check the wiring behind the switch, I noticed the master kill switch was off.

Boom. I’ve never pretended to be a rocket scientist, but a bit more common sense would occasionally help.

There was a huge upside to foolishly not checking the obvious. While I had the seat removed, I checked the air filter and saw that it hadn’t been cleaned in quite some time. I asked the mechanic who worked on it earlier this spring to make the machine ready for another season of use. Evidently the air filter wasn’t included.

The four-wheeler now runs like a well-oiled sewing machine. We’re back in business.

Mom and I drove to town to run an errand or two on Monday afternoon. There was nothing we had to get, but I think both of us were ready to do something, anything. We’d been cooped up in the house all day.

Sargie had a good day at work and arrived home during the early evening. With the internet out, we relaxed, talked, and watched television.

Mom’s due to fly out of Iron Mountain around 12:30. She wants to take Sargie and me out for breakfast, so we’ll be stopping along the way for a bite to eat before going on to the airport. Sargie’s off and no doubt, we’ll make a stop or two around town.

I have tomatoes and cucumbers to tie to trellises when we get home. There’s also a piece of trim to cut and install to keep the hornets out of the storage shed. With everyone’s visits over, it’s back to business as usual.

But then are we surprised? After all, a man’s work is never done.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road…