It's the first day of school for Wes, Ben, and Em
Emerson is in first grade
I think the boys will be going to daycare

September 9, 2020 - Wednesday Morning

41 degrees/cloudy skies/calm winds

Pentoga Road

With this mass COVID scare happening, my daughter-in-law, Jess, a certified elementary education teacher, is homeschooling Emerson and six of her classmates. The only other option was for poor Em to sit in front of a computer for five nonstop hours each day. Thankfully, both Matt and Jess put education first and decided Emerson would spend this year actually learning and not merely going through the motions.

As a former education professor, my only concern is that Em and her classmates will be so far advanced after this academic year that they'll be ready to enroll in junior college next spring.

I only wish Grady could be part of that class.

I've known Jessica since she was in kindergarten or even before. I've also observed her teaching in the public school classroom. The girl's the real thing. It's too bad we don't have more caring and common sense educators in the classroom like my daughter-in-law. 

She's good. No, she's darn good.

Matt and Jess's munchkins weren't the only kiddies anxious to get the school year started. Hambone began the week before last.

Grady tells me he's enjoying school and is learning a lot. 

The latest news in the Grandbaby Department is we learned late Tuesday afternoon that Grady is going to have a baby sister in February. It's going to seem strange having a little girl running around here and as Grandma Sargie said, having a girl will sure change what Hambone and I decide to wear (or not wear) when we peel off our clothes and jump in the pond on the spur of the moment. 

Despite the near freezing temperatures Tuesday morning, I left the house for a seven-plus mile walk shortly after sunrise.

Caution! Deer Crossing Ahead

 The foliage is rapidly changing colors. As long as there aren't heavy winds and rains, the colors should be around for a while to enjoy. Unfortunately, all it takes is one rainy, windy, spell to send the leaves to the ground and end the colorful fall season.

For those who are interested, my ballpark guess is that peak leaf peeping season is still a week or two, maybe three, away. 

Part of Tuesday afternoon was spent carrying sheets of insulation and the needed tools to the garden house. 

I cut a few pieces, but real work on the insulation will begin in the next day or two.

With temperatures forecast to be near or below freezing during the nighttime hours this week, Sargie and I picked the tomato patch clean. One thing neither of us can stand is wasting food, garden vegetables included.

Jimmy's back. After spending the summer deep in the woods, the chickadee made his presence known and followed Sargie around like a lost puppy dog.

Once Jimmy was placated, we resumed picking several bags of tomatoes.

Sargie washed and sorted each. The ripe ones are being frozen for use during this next year. 

Those that aren't quite ripe are in the garage. We'll either eat those well into the fall or they'll be frozen when fully ready.



I was in the shop Tuesday afternoon trying a new method of making a Christmas ornament using the scroll saw.

Since it requires sawing on two sides, I had to use tape to hold a previous cut piece onto the block until all sawing was complete.



The block was a scrap piece of pine 2x4. It's going to take some practice to perfect this type of monogrammed ornament making.



We've hesitated to start a fire in the wood stove, but with Tuesday's highs barely peaking over fifty, the house was cold and damp. Gathering an armful of maple slab pieces, the fire quickly caught, causing the temperature to shoot upwards to a comfy/cozy seventy five degrees.



I'm heading out the door for my usual walk as soon as it's light enough. After, I want to work on insulating the garden house before heading to the shop later today.

I promised nieces, Sasha and Courtney, seeds from the largest of the giant sunflowers. I'll also be saving a few to plant next year.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

Just a week ago, I was working in shorts and a t-shirt. How quickly the weather can change in the north woods.