The ice on a beaver pond is close to breaking open

March 8, 2016 - Tuesday
37 degrees/cloudy/calm
Pentoga Road

It's primary day in Michigan and I'll be riding with Sargie to the township hall, then hopefully, she'll have enough time to bring me partway back home and I'll walk the rest of the way. If she doesn't, I'll hike the ten to twelve miles home from where we vote.

Monday began by tracing my old walking route of five miles. I cut back this winter to three, but didn't feel I got the workout I needed. With this latest spell of warm weather comes two additional miles.

In that extra distance lies a steep incline, Heartbreak Hill. One definitely ends up gasping for air by the time he reaches the top. For whatever reason, I scampered up yesterday with no ill effects. Maybe I'm in better shape than I thought.

Deer tracks. I'm not the only one climbing Heartbreak Hill.

In training? Oh yes. My four sons and I have agreed that we'll be climbing to the top of Mt. Washington and back down in the same day on my 70th birthday. Though somewhat slow, I did it without problem on my 60th. An ascent and descent is a challenge, even for a young person. To be able to do it on my 70th birthday would be a feat.

So yesterday's five-mile walk went well. One question; If I am in such good shape, why is this belly hanging off my frontside? I don't weigh much more than I used to when I didn't have a protruding stomach. Couldn't be age and gravity, could it?



I spent the rest of the morning finishing the fifth strawberry planter. This one went together in two half-days, a record for me.



 Since I discovered that my miter saw will do a bevel, as well as an angle cut, the work has lessened considerably.

Five down, one to go!

The afternoon was spent working on the tractor. There was no power when I went to move it from the barn and no amount of muttering could bring the thing to life. A check found the battery was fully charged. After a couple of hours, I finally found a bad place in a cable and tightened the whole thing. The old machine started with no problem and my life was once again worth living.



Sargie arrived home later in the evening after a busy day in the Vision Center. She closes tonight... a very long day for her.

I'm going to walk this morning. Depending on the distance, I may not get home until noon. If Sargie has time to bring me partway back, I'll get started on the last strawberry planter before noon and hopefully, get it framed before I run out of energy.

Otherwise, I'd like to assemble both inside greenhouses, maybe get the potting soil ready, and finish inventing pollution-free fission or perpetual energy. 

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

Sargie's driving away after dropping me off five miles from home Monday morning.