High atop Mt. Verstovia overlooking Sitka, Alaska
That's me in the blue

October 10, 2017 - Tuesday

33 degrees/clear skies/calm winds

Pentoga Road

Thanks to my buddy, Matt Goff, who sent a few pictures that he'd discovered were taken way too many years ago when he, another friend, Keith Cox, and I, climbed one of Sitka's most popular mountains.

Dr. Goff and Dr. Cox, both twenty or more years my juniors, were colleagues at Sheldon Jackson College. Matt was born and raised in Sitka and knows the island better than most people know the insides of their own homes. 

Matt studies and watches birds. I'd be hiking back in the boonies somewhere or the other and about the time I thought I was miles from anyone else, Matt would pop out of the trees with a camera hanging from around his neck, proclaiming that he'd seen a double barreled, four beaked, three winged, tufted, mountain eagle, or some similar creature.

When it came to being a genuine outdoorsman in Southeast Alaska, Matt was the real thing. Since my knowledge and specialities were all in arctic Alaska, Matt taught me a great deal.

Keith was a professor of Fisheries. A young, enthusiastic, guy, he and his wife, JoJo, were like family. Keith, JoJo, and their munchkins live in Juneau where he is a professor at UAS.

I look at these pictures and they make me miss Alaska something terrible. On the other hand, the old guy who now resides in this body looks at the younger man with the blue rain jacket and I know I'm exactly where I need to be, right here with Sargie, in the relatively tame north woods of the UP.

Monday was a catch-all day on Pentoga Road. My biggest achievement was to prep and paint the west side of the wood shed, the area against where the birch was piled making it inaccessible to a paint brush.

Painting was like brushing water onto a dry sponge. The plywood siding got one good coat and I'm planning on repainting the entire shed next summer. It's in too good of shape to let deteriorate.

I turned my attentions to the planters alongside the barn. The flowers have frozen and died and the few that remained had been heavily trimmed by the deer.

Grady and I are going to finish cleaning that area over the next two days. 

I went inside for lunch with intentions of returning to the shop after. 

Well, I made it partway there. With my eyes growing heavy, I paused just a bit too long by the plastic lawn chair in front of the barn.

Ah, the warm sun, a breeze, temperatures in the upper 50's, all important ingredients that make for an after lunch nap. I awakened twenty minutes later and continued onto the shop.

I was bored making conventional pumpkins. I had a large bowl-pumpkin in mind. It was time to expand my horizons, go where no Pawpaw has trod on Pentoga Road.

I sorted through the wood pile for just the right piece... a large chunk of pine that was originally destined for the wood stove.

In reality, it was too large for my mini lathe. The chisel rest had to be moved clear to one side and for a while, I felt as though I was trying to wrestle a live steer on a spit over an open fire.

It took patience, lots of them, to shape and round the wood on the slowest speed so I could begin some meaningful work. 

Any type of soft wood is difficult to work with. The grain is so far apart that often, it often feels as though I'm trying to turn a roll of toilet paper.

Chips and sawdust were flying everywhere. I had to stop four or five times to sweep the bench and floor. 

Finally, a bowl, a vessel, really, began to emerge. It had taken most of the afternoon.

I was well pleased until I examined it closely and found two or three cracks, something not uncommon in soft wood, especially that that has been destined for the wood stove.

Shaking my head, I poured epoxy in both cracks and turned out the lights. I'll check it later this morning. The wood stove remains a viable option for this particular piece. 

I'd taken my shower, eaten supper, and was working on the computer when the phone rang.

It was Hambone calling on his Grandma Sargie's phone.

"Pawpaw! Quick! I have an emergency. I have to go potty!"

Sitting in his carseat, Grandma Sargie and Grady were less than a mile from home. I mentally called CODE BLUE... or yellow in this case, and went into PEM (Potty Emergency Mode.) The bathroom light was turned on and the lid lifted on the stool.

Pawpaw was ready.

Grandma Sargie pulled into the garage. The back door was almost ripped opened, carseat straps unbuckled. 

It was going to be close. 

Hambone sprinted to the bathroom, peeled his pants down, stood on his tippy toes, and made it just in time. 

His big boy pants remained dry.

Since Sargie had to close, it was later in the evening. We watched a bit of television and snacked on popcorn. It wasn't long before all three of us headed upstairs for the night.

There's nothing better than cuddling with Grandma Sargie while eating popcorn, sipping juice from a box, and watching tv. 

Today promises to be a busy one. Hambone already said we were going to dig potatoes and gather pumpkins from the garden. Seems in some way or the other, no matter what we do, it involves a four wheeler and short ride.

Thats okay, because that's what we do when Hambone comes to stay with Grandma Sargie and Pawpaw.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...