Grandson, Coleman, showing off a nice crappie.
By the looks of it, he's out-fished his grandpa this winter. I wish I could get that boy out here to teach me how it's done.

January 10, 2016 - Sunday

4 degrees/cloudy/calm winds

Pentoga Road

NOW it's beginning to feel and look like winter. Temperatures are falling into the near-zero range and there's enough snow to add to the ambience of the season. (I'm not exactly sure what ambience means, but I like the sound of it.)

I don't mind a week or two of bitterly cold temperatures, just enough to make a foot of ice on the area lakes. Once that happens, the thermometer can rise into the upper twenties to mid-thirties once again and stay there until the third week of March when it can climb another fifteen or twenty degrees for maple syrup season. Somehow I don't believe my wishes will have too much determination over any future weather. I guess all we can do is what the farmers in Maine do when it snows... let it snow.

I wish I could say I caught these crappies. Some were caught by Luke and no doubt, others by Coleman. They live in southern Maine... where the farmers let it snow.

Saturday was the day of the rod tips. After arriving home from my usual stroll, I headed to the shop with two ice fishing rods in hand, each with a broken tip. 

I'm particular about my ice fishing rod. I like it to be ultra light with a soft tip, yet stout enough that I can set the hook into an unsuspecting fish. The rods I purchase are $12 each, plenty of money for two feet of fiberglass, and each has to feel exactly right. I tie a small piece of ribbon to the ends so I can see even the smallest bite before setting the hook. 

The tip was too small to put in a vice, so I fastened it to the desk with a screw and drilled down.

It took all morning to fix the two rods. One will be put into the starting rotation. I use three rods, all with lures and pre-baited, when I go fishing. This allows me to stay out on the ice even if the line breaks on one. To tie on a new jig requires a trip home and sitting under a strong light with the magnifiers on. The second rod fixed on Saturday will be kept as a spare, like a sixth man on the basketball team. 

The tip fastened and ready to have the thread wrapped around the base just before the glue dries.

I finally installed the new blade on the band saw early yesterday afternoon. I usually have trouble getting one aligned on both large wheels, but yesterday's installation seemed to go quite smoothly and took less than half an hour. 

Brutus and I carried in wood then called it a day. I watched a couple of deer in the backyard for a while, listened to music, and browsed a seed catalogue until my eyelids closed for a half hour grandpa nap. 

Yooper Brother Mark sent a couple of pictures yesterday that he'd found on his hard drive. They were taken when they visited Sitka for their daughter, Sarah's, graduation many years ago. Sarah was my student at Sheldon Jackson College and asked if I might take her dad and brother out fishing. We met, became instant friends, caught fish, and the rest is history. 

Pictured are a black sea bass and an Alaskan red snapper, also known as a yellow eye.

At Sarah's graduation. I don't understand how everyone else gets older as the years go along while I stay the same.

Sargie wasn't going to be home until later Saturday evening. She had already said she wanted green beans and squash, leftovers, for supper and there was only enough for one person. What could I have? CHICKEN GIZZARDS!! I remembered there was a pack in the downstair's freezer. Mmm.

Sargie's no fan of one of my favorite food groups, chicken gizzards, so I occasionally fix them when she won't be home for supper. As long as I was celebrating culinary life, why not fix homemade flour and milk gravy to pour over some mashed potatoes? 

I ate the entire package, but believe me, it was worth every bite. You can have your white breast meat. I'll take the lowly, chewy, gristle-filled, gizzard any ol' time.

The only problem with frying gizzards and making gravy... it makes a mess. The entire kitchen was cleaned and scrubbed before Sargie arrived home.

Sargie and I spent a quiet evening together last night and didn't climb the steps for bed until midnight. We started watching the Netflix series, House of Cards, and ended up watching two episodes. The program is highly addictive.

Sargie's off today. Other than a trip to town and the Green Bay/Redskins game later this afternoon, I'm not sure what we'll do. I ordered two loaves of homemade bread yesterday that are to be picked up around noon and no doubt, we'll take a drive around to a few area lakes and check out the ice fishing action. With the cold temperatures, I'm planning on putting my permanent ice shack out later this week.

It's time to get a cup of coffee and begin dreaming how I'll spend my billion-plus dollars should we win next week's lottery. I see no one won last night so we still have a chance.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...