Look who stopped in to surprise us Saturday 

Hambone and Grandma Sargie

January 24, 2021 - Sunday morning

16 degrees/snow/calm winds

Pentoga Road

Ah, a hot cup of coffee, snow falling outside, a fire in the wood stove and nothing but peace and serenity on Pentoga Road. Seems like a good time to write.

I received an email yesterday from Joanna, a former graduate student from many years ago and now the principal of Thorne Bay School on the very remote Prince of Wales Island in SE Alaska. 

Joanna has been out on maternity leave for the past couple of months and returned to find that whoever was in charge had banned any use of the lockers used by the high school under the guise of Covid protection. She was met at the door by a petition from the Student Council asking that the use of lockers be reinstated.

With her permission, I'll simply insert parts of yesterday's message.

"Apparently the staff wouldn't allow the high school to have lockers until I returned from maternity leave. I don't know what lockers have to do with Covid. I swear common sense has taken flight and will not be touching down anytime soon. 

The first order of business for student council was to petition the fearsome principal for lockers. They were taken aback when I laughed in incredulity over the idea this was even an issue.  They explained what a huge deal this seemed to be to staff. So, I decided we needed to have a ribbon cutting ceremony complete with speeches from student council and myself and, of course, the yearbook press had to be there.

If you think you recognize any parts of my speech, you are completely mistaken. I am just that good. But if there was a time to quote Dickens, this would be it."

That Joanna showed common sense was no surprise. The girl was born with both feet flat on the ground, but her inventiveness of having a ribbon cutting ceremony accompanied by her original prose and that of others, made it something quite special.

So, for a mental exercise, how many famous near quotes can you recognize in the following speech. 

Hint: they range everywhere from Lincoln to Spiderman to Revelations.

Have fun.

State of the Lockers Union Speech

Over four score and seven years ago our forefathers brought forth, upon this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all lockers are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great plague upon our peoples, testing whether those lockers, or any lockers so conceived, and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We come to dedicate a portion of it, for those who do educate here, that their coats and other belongings might find a resting place here. This we may, in all propriety do.

Because, it is the best of times, it is the worst of times, it is the age of wisdom, it is the age of foolishness, it is the epoch of belief, it is the epoch of incredulity, it is the season of light, it is the season of darkness, it is the spring of hope, it is the winter of despair, it is the era of truth, it is the era of conspiracy, it is the promise of health, it is the reality of plague, it is the days of no lockers, but it is the days of TBS Student Council. 

And so it came to pass that a great white horseman arose and behold, he had the key of the locker release within his hand. Today is a small step forward for man but one giant leap for mankind. Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning. However with great power comes great responsibility. So ask not what your school can do for you, but ask what you can do for your school. 

So there you have it.  I wish I could take credit for Jo's dry wit and her educational humor that, no doubt, flew over the heads of several of her staff. The speech is classic.

Joanna and I hit on all cylinders while she was my student and she became (and still remains) more like a daughter as the two years went by. We still keep in touch with Jo, Dave, her husband, and their two young sons.

Saturday was going to be spent in the shop, but I never came close to entering. After Mark and I arrived home from our weekly Saturday morning walk, Sargie and I enjoyed breakfast before deciding to take a ride, and a long one it was.

We made a large loop from Iron River, twenty miles north to Amasa, back to Crystal Falls, over to Iron Mountain and home.

Grandma Sargie said she needed a Hambone fix. We stopped by their house only to find no one home. Disappointed, we headed north and west and were just pulling up to the drive. Who was visiting us?

It was Hambone who'd brought his mama, daddy, and Sadie, along for the ride.

Come to find out, they, too, were out for a random ride and decided they needed a Grandma Sargie and Pawpaw fix. A few minutes later and we'd have missed each other. As it was, the timing was perfect.

We had a good gab, laughed, caught up on Mel's pregnancy, played with the pup, and encouraged them to stay longer. 

As always, all good things come to an end and it was getting towards late afternoon before they left for Iron Mountain.

Taken two days ago, Hambone's baby sister, "Cheeks," is doing well. She loves doing cartwheels and jumping jacks in her mama's tummy.

Sargie and I had a quiet evening last night. I spent much of it on the internet getting ideas for a LP heater for the shop. The wood furnace works well, but self admittedly, I must be getting old as running in and out of either the house or shop to replenish the fire is tiresome. I start a fire an hour before going out to work, then when it begins to die down, run outside and gather another wheelbarrow full of wood. The process repeats itself over and over during the day.

My idea is that of spoiled man. I'd like to install a vented propane heater complete with a thermostat, have a large tank set in back of the barn and keep the overnight temperature around 40. When I want to go out to the shop, I'll use my smart phone to turn the heat up and being already forty degrees, can step out the door and get to work. 

As it is now, the shop's temperature is often near zero when I enter. It would be so nice to hold a chisel that doesn't adhere itself to the warm skin on my hand or start a frozen saw that doesn't growl and spark for a second or two before revving up to its full potential. 

As I said, my wants are those of a spoiled man, but I've done my time working in freezing temps. Maybe it's time to come in out of the cold.

Taken Saturday afternoon

Ice fishermen on one of our area lakes

On today's agenda: I'll go for my walk at first light before returning home to clear the drive and patio. At least the snow will be light and fluffy, not that wet, gloppy, stuff we've had to deal with all winter.

I'll get a fire going and warm the shop while working outside. Other than all the above and possibly chasing Sargie Pants around the house, my schedule's open.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

 Granddaughter Em's entry into her kindergarten talent show