May 22, 2020 - Friday evening

64 degrees/clear skies/calm winds

Pentoga Road

We're in the living room this evening with the windows open, listening to the man-toads calling to any available female within croaking distance. At least there aren't as many guy toads tonight as last evening.

Friday has been a day filled with toads along with several snakes thrown in for good measure.

I met Rose and Tim this morning on my walk and we had a good conversation. They're up for the long weekend from St. Charles, Illinois.

Arriving back home, I was preparing to work in the garden when I happened to see a pair of toads doing their toad thing. Then I saw some more... and more after that. All were in shallow water around the edge of the pond.

Ain't no toad gonna spawn and make a mess in my pond, at least if I can help it.

Just call me the anti toad cupid.

My first walk around the pond netted eight amorous toads. All were put in a net and taken a mile down the road.

The second pass added an additional two. More were captured later in the day.

I hoped our pond might be temporarily toad free, but I hear at least one male, maybe two, warbling the toad love song tonight. I'll get 'em in the morning along with any females they might entice.

These two came already bundled in a two-for-one package

I tried my best to plant garden today, but seems there was always action going on elsewhere. Much of it came in the form of snakes.

Sargie's deathly afraid of snakes. She saw the first one, a two footer of the garter variety, this morning by the pond. Sargie screamed, then jumped about ten feet and ran into the house.

I chased the little guy off and later, caught and took him to the woods.

The second was captured while Tim and Rose were here. I grabbed and transported him across the road to look for a new home.

The third, an ill tempered pine snake about four feet long, was captured just inside the garden. Once again, Sargie was the first to see it as she was mowing along the fence. 

I had no idea that a riding mower could move at the speed of sound. If the Indianapolis 500 was being held this year, Sargie and her riding mower would be taking the victory lap.

Not a friendly species, it took about ten minutes to wrestle the pine snake to the ground and he too went away.

Finally, the last, another garter snake, was chased from the far end of the garden and into the woods late in the afternoon. 

Snakes don't bother me. In fact, I had one for a pet while in high school, a four foot long bull snake named Jimmy. I kept him in an old aquarium and handled him almost daily.

I'm not sure why Pentoga Road has become the mecca of the reptile world, but I'm suspecting it has to do with the sudden change of weather. In a few short days, we've gone from wintery, windy, cold, temperatures, to those more common in late July and August. We usually don't see four snakes over an entire summer, sometimes two, let alone in one day.

Thankfully all in the UP are harmless.

Somewhat traumatized from her snake viewing experience, Sargie finished mowing, then planted more flowers in the pots and planters. She was a busy girl all day.

Tim and Rose needed some wood chips and I told them about those at Yooper Brother Mark's plant. Earlier, I'd offered to ride into town with them to introduce them to Mark and show them where the chips are kept. The folks stopped by this afternoon and picked us up for a ride to town.

Rose and Tim didn't get to meet Mark as he had left for the day. We went ahead and filled several empty trash cans and came back home.

Rose was helping load the forty gallon trash cans filled with chips into the back of their SUV.

I planted tomatoes, peppers, green beans, and one variety of pumpkins today and am hoping to finish on Saturday. Much needed rain is forecast for later this weekend and into next week. I'd like to get everything in the ground before then.

Despite what you may read about the flooding in downstate Michigan, we're so dry that I've had to start watering.

My sister, Barb, sent a couple of pictures of the flowers around their home. Living in central Indiana, their warm season begins about a month earlier than ours and lasts that much later into the fall. 

She and my brother in law, John, plant a huge garden (I think he told me they have twenty six raised beds) and preserve and can much of what they grow.

Obviously, both possess green thumbs.

I'm going to gather toads first thing in the morning, hopefully before they lay eggs in the pond. No doubt, I'll go for my walk then return home to the garden. Once it's finished, we'll begin prepping the exterior of the house in the next week. It's been several years since Uncle Terry and I painted it and needs a fresh coat.

I swore then that it would be the last time I painted a house, that steel siding was on the agenda and I'd never have to climb another ladder with a paint brush (or sprayer) in hand.

Yeah? Well, I lied.

Always something, eh? 

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road... 

Today's random Alaska picture:
I'm addressing the graduating class of teacher education students at the University of Alaska - Southeast.