For the first time in six weeks, all the trails and meadows are mowed. 

July 21, 2017 - Friday

56 degrees/clear skies/calm winds

Pentoga Road

I was keeping Sargie company while she was cleaning the spare bedroom last night and for whatever reason, I started going through some of my arctic Alaska DVD's and blogs. I found one where I was preparing to take a solo 75 mile snowmobile trek across the tundra and planned to go grizzly bear hunting the next day with the principal of the native village school. 

Here's a little blurb meant to keep you from getting bored:

This was sent to me the following summer by the principal. They were fishing when he happened to glance down the river and see this grizzly stalking his son. The rest is history.

That was long ago. I look back on those times and have such great memories. How lucky was I to be able to experience true bush Alaska, not some cheesy Alaskan wanna-be reality show. 

Meanwhile, back to the UP, where the biggest excitement we have is how to keep a pesky black bear out of the burn barrel.

I was up early Thursday morning rarin' to go and skipped the usual daily walk so I might get an earlier start to building the privacy fence.

I constructed two sections on the floor in the barn and carried them out to complete the project. Sargie thinks I should put up a third side closest to the house. The jury's still out on that.

The trailer was hooked onto the Blazer and I made my way to Yooper Brother Mark's plant for a load of firewood. 

I like working with wood, always have. Grandpa Pennington instilled in me the knowledge of how to read a grain, miss a knot, and let a splitting maul do the work rather than one's back. 

I passed that knowledge onto my sons and hopefully they'll do the same with their's. For sure, Grady will learn how to read a piece of firewood. It may not be relevant to his generation, but knowing how may come in handy someday. 

The wood I get from town is softwood, mostly popple. It burns twice as fast as hardwood, but I'm home all day anyway and it makes no difference how much we burn. Seems there's a huge supply if I'm willing to carry it home from the plant and work it up.

The boys at Yooper Brother Mark's plant will load the wood for me if I want to leave the trailer for a few days, but I'd rather fill the trailer myself, pick and choose the best pieces.

I could have fit more in the trailer Thursday, but I was beginning to feel the effects of the heat. At one point, half through, I simply sat on the the pile of wood and caught my breath. No sense tempting heat stroke.

In my senior years, I've traded the splitting maul for a small log splitter. Be that as it may, I still occasionally pick up the 12 pound monster and split a piece or two by hand for old time's sake.

Once home, I backed the trailer next to where this year's wood pile will be (behind the new privacy fence!) and came in the house. I chugged all the water I could hold and sat in front of the window fan until I felt stronger. The heat had really zapped my energy.

I was going to wait until today to mow the yard, but growing restless, I decided to begin Thursday afternoon. 

Four hours later, I'd mowed all the trails and the bottom of what had been Lake Pentoga.

What a stinky, smelly, dusty, mess. What was once green grass is now packed with dried mud. It made me sad to see how many ferns and trees have died because of the high water. Most of the raspberry plants perished and there'll be no crop this year.

The entire meadow is pock marked with deep tracks where the deer waded through the water.

Any trails that weren't flooded were overgrown with waist high grass and weeds. The water prevented me from getting to any high ground and mowing.

One small meadow usually looks like a park and I've thought about making a picnic shelter and camp site for any relatives or friends who would like to use it.



It took over an hour, but the small clearing was finally mowed. I'll need to use the lawn sweeper to pick up the clippings, then will have to cut it again.



All that remains to be mowed is the area on the north side of the drive. Since there were bed sheets drying on the line, I decided to wait until this morning. It's small and doesn't take long.

Sargie was busy doing one thing or the other Thursday evening. She opens today, but has the weekend off.

I'm going to finish mowing and trimming the yard this morning then plan to empty the wood from the trailer. If it's early enough and I have the energy, I may go back to the plant and get another load. 

Joanne's due to pull in late this evening after a planned lunch with her niece in Grand Rapids, Michigan, eight hours away. Aunt Joanne has a long drive ahead of her. 

I think you now know everything I know. Guess I should saddle up this pony and get the day started.

Neighbor Mike gave me a packet of red bean seed last spring. I have no clue what variety it may be, but if the beans are half as tasteful as the flowers are pretty, it'll be a keeper.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

2002 - Spring grizzly hunting 

This is what happens when you actually see a grizzly and attempt to get into position for a good shot rather than paying attention to where you are driving. This was in a mountain pass in the foothills of the Brooks Range.