April 17, 2018 - Tuesday
23 degrees/cloudy skies/windy
Pentoga Road

Seems as though the only thing in the news these days is the big snow that fell last weekend. I was talking to two Florence, Wisconsin, County deputies last night and both said they heard this has been the coldest and snowiest April on record. 

I reminded both that it's a good thing we have global warming. Could you imagine how cold it would be without it?

Monday's walk was cold and windy. In fact, there were several places where visibility was close to zero.



I clicked off close to five miles in record time. It wasn't that I was in such a big hurry, but rather because I had a 35 mph wind pushing me from behind. At one point, I was tempted to unzip my heavy jacket, hang onto the coattails, and spread my arms so I might fly through the air.

Back home, I wasn't happy to see how much snow had fallen from the roof, especially since it had just been cleaned before going for my walk.



There was nothing to do but shovel it again. 

Time was spent on the drive making zig zags so the sun could hit the black pavement and melt the surrounding snow.



By day's end, a good majority had melted even though the temperature never rose above 27 degrees, nor did the sun shine.

It was time to head to the shop and turn a bowl. I've missed turning so I was happy to pull a piece of birch firewood from the pile and get it mounted.



After spending some time sharpening the chisels and putting them to wood, a bowl slowly emerged.



I enjoy trying different designs and as anyone who turns will tell you, often, what we originally had in mind isn't necessarily what comes out the other end.



I spent a couple of hours fiddling around with the bowl and after taking it off the lathe, discovered there's still a bit of sanding to do. I think I did better when I couldn't see so well and relied mostly on touch rather than sight. I'm going to have to teach myself how to maximize both.

I'd just stepped out of the shower when the phone rang late last evening. It was Sargie.

She'd swerved to miss a deer and hit a patch of ice that sent the Kia spinning out of control and across the opposite lane. Sargie ended up about twenty feet off the road in deep snow.



The very best news is that Sargie is okay, but she was shook up and a bit sore and scared. God was her copilot last night as the highway, US 2, is a very busy one, even late at night. 

Thank you Baby Jesus.

I left the house as soon as I got the phone call. Sargie had called 911 and two sheriff deputies arrived within minutes. They were wonderful young men and assured me on the phone that they wouldn't leave Sargie until the car was towed from the ditch and I had arrived.

The wrecker came out of Iron Mountain and soon had the Kia back on the highway.



Sargie led the way home driving the Equinox. I followed in the Kia.

There's some extensive damage to the passenger side door and fender, but the mechanics and everything else seems normal. Since the car has over 200,000 miles on the odometer, I don't believe we'll turn in a claim to the insurance company. I'm sure they would total the car and we could buy it back from them, but there's little doubt our rates would skyrocket. Michigan has the highest auto insurance premiums in the nation due to a very foolhardy no fault insurance law. Everyone who owns a vehicle in Michigan is insurance poor.

So, today is going to be spent on the internet and phone, finding a door from an auto salvage yard. The old one is sprung and air whistles through the car when going down the road. I'll also be looking for a fender. As I told Sargie, she may be driving an ugly car for a while, but it ought to be reliable and safe.

Thankfully, Sargie's off today. I know she didn't sleep very well last night and hopefully, she'll get some needed rest.

I'm going to make the rounds of the local body shops later on and gather an estimate or two for various stages of fixes on the Kia. Our immediate need is for a passenger side door. If you happen to have a spare in a closet somewhere, send it along, would you? A fender would be a plus.

Time to get this day started and put on my auto body hat.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

It may be past the middle of April, but right now, spring seems so very far away.