The snow doesn't look nearly as romantic and fun as it did during the holiday season.

January 29, 2017 - Sunday

13 degrees/cloudy/calm winds

Pentoga Road

It's so quiet. I used to love mornings like this while living in the arctic. I would rise, get a fire going in the stove, melt ice so I could brush my teeth and make coffee, then sit by the wood stove and enjoy the dawning of a new day. Of course, during the dead of winter, the dawn never made it over the horizon.

Taken in late February, thirty miles north of the arctic circle on the banks of the Noatak River.
The temperature was often below zero in the cabin when I awakened each morning. Every day presented new pictures etched onto the inside of my windows, condensation that had quickly frozen overnight.

This morning has the same feeling except I don't hear an occasional moose grunt or a wolf howling and of course, it's much warmer. If I listen really carefully though, I might be able to hear Brutus snoring upstairs.

Snow began falling during my morning walk on Saturday. I'm assuming it came off of Lake Superior. Though we're a ways away, we occasionally get lake effect snow when the wind is out of the northwest. 

Its bite was worse than its bark. By day's end, there was little accumulation. 

Most of the morning was spent doing laundry. I'm unsure how two people can generate so many dirty clothes.

I accuse Sargie of taking extra clothes to work and changing at break time and over the lunch hour. Strange thing though, the amount of laundry generated by me is just as large. 

I often wonder who the invisible person is that keeps wearing and dirtying my clothes.

Most of the afternoon was spent in the shop, working on one thing or the other. 

Very little seemed to get accomplished and what I did do, often fell apart. Some days are diamonds, others are coal. Yesterday, landed solidly in the coal column.

Yooper Brother Mark and Sheri stopped out later for a visit and to drop off some lumber he'd brought back from this past week's trip to Kentucky.

Mark had been to their facility down south and brought me back several inch-thick, rough cut, planks of hickory, a wood that is not native to this area. Talk about heavy and hard as steel! 

I'm hoping to be able to turn ornaments from most and the rest will be used as trim for various projects. If nothing else, I can make a ton of hammer and axe handles!

Neighbor Mike, his wife, Germaine, and their niece, Tia, stopped in for a visit later in the afternoon. Mike wanted to trade two jars of jam, one of peach, the other three-berry, for maple syrup.

That's a no brainer. Mike makes the best jams and jellies and to enjoy his confectionary creations is like eating a fruit basket, without the basket, thickly spread on a morning piece of toast.

Sargie was home early last night. After a healthy and nutritious supper of popcorn, she made turtle sundaes, chocolate ice cream and cashews, all covered with a thick layer of caramel sauce. I have to think that there's at least one food group in last night's meal. 

After working six straight days, Sargie's off today. I hope she sleeps late. My girl is tired and her next day away from the Vision Center isn't until next Friday.

I just sneaked out to the shop and started the heat. Most of the morning will be spent out there until Sargie calls on the intercom and says she's ready to begin the day.

I have no idea what, if anything, is on our agenda. Maybe we'll go somewhere and look at living room furniture. We're planning on replacing this old recliner and our threadbare couch in the near future. Both originally came with the house.

Meanwhile, it's time to make some dust, see if that new collector I cobbled together a couple of days ago really works.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

The first garden seed came in yesterday's mail. That being said, spring sure does seem to be far far away.