Sunday, December 27, 2020


December 27, 2020 - Sunday morning
23 degrees/cloudy/calm winds
Pentoga Road

I took my camera from my pocket only once yesterday and of the two pictures I snapped, neither came out. Backlighting issues. My life story.

Honestly, there wasn't much to take pictures of. Sargie and I had agreed early in the day that it was going to be a lazy one. Though Christmas day wasn't stressful by any definition of the word, the climax of shopping, wrapping, planning, then finally, celebrating, left us pleasantly deflated. 

Saturday was a blanket day, one in which much of the time was spent in a reclining position, pretending to act interested in one thing or the other when really, all I wanted to do was close my eyes and drift into a lazy slumber.

Sargie was slow to rise yesterday morning and in retrospect, I wasn't any ball of fire. I did go for my walk and even then, ran into neighbors along the way causing me to stop and socialize and catch up on any community news. Seems everyone I talked with had a good Christmas. 

I had fleeting thoughts of being productive during the day, performing such stressful chores as hanging a bird feeder or sweeping off a quarter inch of snow from the drive. There's a reason why such considerations are called fleeting. The thoughts flew in one side of my brain and out the other before I had a chance to act on either. 

Sargie and I took our usual ride. Several area lakes were visited and we saw just one where a few anglers were perched on upside down five gallon buckets, jigging their rod tips up and down, trying to entice a bluegill or crappie to bite.

We came to the conclusion that like us, most in the UP were in the same state of mind, lazy and recovering from the Christmas frenzy. 

I'm pretty sure I committed at least a couple of the seven deadly sins on Saturday, mostly gluttony and slothfulness. Lust could have been a potential third candidate, but that thought flew out my brain faster than those of hanging a bird feeder or sweeping the snow from the drive. Even the consideration of thinking lustful thoughts seemed like entirely too much work.

Each time Sargie or I rose from our chairs, one would ask if the other wanted anything.

The usual reply was, "Yeah, I want something, but I'm not sure what it is."

That's Pentoga Road secret code for, "Bring me a couple of Christmas cookies."

Actually, we can blame 2/7's of yesterday's deadly sinning on Hambone's mom, Mel. She baked dozens of scrumptious cookies in preparation for the Milligan Christmas Eve Celebration and after, told me to bring home those that were left on a large platter. 

"All of them?" I asked.

"Yup."

Sargie tried to save me from myself by saying, "You don't need to take ALL of them."

Mel quickly jumped in and said, "Oh, I have plenty more in containers. Go ahead and take them."

Anyone who knows me knows that I never turn down anyone's offer of food. Holly, Jeannie, Nancy, Sheri, Mel, Elmer, Bob and Jan in Alaska... I've carted plastic containers of goodies from all their homes. My years of living among the Inupiaq Eskimos taught me that to turn down the offer of food is a great insult to the hostess. 

Far be it from me to insult anyone. Mama and Inupiaq Brother Elmer taught me better.

Chocolate chip cookies? How about good, old fashioned frosted sugar cookies, those in the shape of bells and Christmas trees. The Hersey Kiss cookies are to die for along with those cake goodies stuffed with chocolate pudding in the middle.

They all added up to a day of gluttony resulting in slothfulness. 

In other words, I was fat and lazy yesterday.

I found enough energy last night to pop popcorn. That sufficed as our supper. For desert? Yup, we had Christmas cookies. 

On today's agenda: I'll waddle down the road at first daylight in an attempt to walk off a few hundred of the thousands of Christmas cookie calories that were inhaled on Saturday. Baby Brother, the Very Reverend Dr. Pat, will be online later this morning, live from Fresno, California. I want to attend his service where I'll beg forgiveness for committing 2/7's of the deadly sin list. 

I promised Sargie that the new miter saw and stand would be removed from the middle of the dining room floor today which means I'll need to warm up the shop and do some rearranging this afternoon. 

Since the shop will be warm and no doubt, I'll be stressed from rearranging some of the tools and equipment, I'll need to recline in my chair and watch a bit of tv. 

Hmm, all that's missing from that shop/recliner/tv equation is a glass of milk and a handful of Mel's Christmas cookies. 

Looks as though I might have to memorize that Prayer of Confession.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road... 

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