December 12, 2019 - Thursday morning
0 degrees/snow/calm winds
Pentoga Road

All the area schools are closed today and I'll be taking Sargie to work this morning. I'd rather do that than sit home and worry about her navigating the snow covered roads.

One thing about it, Santa won't have difficulty finding enough snow on which to land his sleigh this Christmas. It just keeps coming down, one flake after another. I've got the distinct feeling that this year's snowfall will be measured in feet rather than inches.



We're going through a extraordinary amount of wood and down to two week's supply in the west bin before we start on the other. 

Of course, there's a full year's supply of wood under a tarp in back of the shed. I've been teased about how much firewood I put up every summer and fall, but this year, the old adage, "He who laughs last, laughs best," may indeed be true.

Yesterday got off on a rocky start. Forced to fast for twelve hours before having blood drawn for my annual physical, I came downstairs and immediately shuffled over to the coffee pot. Seems the health fairy, better known as Sargie, had pasted some late night reminders around the kitchen before joining me in bed.



I've started every day with a couple of cookies for years. They help to make the medicine go down and make me feel happy; you know, get my day off to a good start.



Well, at least I could have some water to wash down the pills.



There was nothing to do but suffer. No doubt, Mama was looking down and laughing. She and Sargie were always in cahoots against poor me. 

To make matters worse, after the phlebotomist (better known as THE blood sucker) drew a few gallons of blood from my arm, she informed me they were out of Snoopy bandaids. I ALWAYS get a Snoopy bandaid for being a big boy. 

I didn't cry, throw a fit, or scream. Darn it, I deserved a Snoopy bandaid.

Sometimes a guy just has to bite his lip, reach for that inner big boy, and go with the flow. I settled for a Transformer bandaid. 

It was just one of those days.

I like the girls who work in the lab at the hospital and enjoy teasing them. Honestly, I believe they enjoy teasing me back just as much or more. They are sweethearts.

Speaking of one of those days, holy cow, was it cold and windy. Here on Pentoga Road, we managed to reach a high of zero on Wednesday with a mighty stiff wind.

The thermometer dipped down to -20 yesterday morning just after sunrise, two degrees shy of the record low. 

Look at the positive side of things. Not one person in the UP got bit by a mosquito yesterday.

We did some shopping while in Iron Mountain and stopped by the Vision Center. Lordy, you'd have thought those girls hadn't seen each other in years. I've not seen so much hugging and laughing and talking in a long time.

Michelle, Sargie, Laura

Granddaughter, Ivy, would be delighted to see that Elf on the Shelf was getting an eye exam. Look really closely and you'll see he was wearing glasses.

Back home, I wondered if our bedroom windows were in danger of being broken by icicles. Carrying in the day's supply of wood, they looked awfully close from ground level.



Thankfully, there's little danger of that happening, at least for now. I'll need to get up on the roof and shovel snow fairly soon anyway, so I'll remove the icicles then.

Wednesday afternoon was spent playing cards in front of the wood stove, watching tv, looking at patterns and turning videos on the internet, and gabbing with Sargie. It was just too cold to go outside for any length of time and play.

Tomorrow's Sargie's 25th birthday, give or take a year or two. We'll celebrate in our own way here on Pentoga Road before making our way over to Mel and Macrea's tomorrow evening for a dual party to celebrate both Sargie's and niece, Ashley's, birthdays. Hambone will be coming home with us after, so it looks to be an active weekend ahead.

Meanwhile, I need to get the health fairy's breakfast ready before heading out to start the old Blazer. No doubt, the four wheel drive will come in handy to drive her to work. After, I plan to spend the day in the shop trying to be creative and get some more Christmas presents made.

That hole in the pond over the circulating pump is getting mighty small. Eleven and a half feet deep, the pump is drawing up warmer water from the bottom.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

For the love of God, Sargie, is there no mercy for a starving boy?