Our beautiful Emerson with one of the puzzles I made in the shop.

February 15, 2021 - Monday morning

-24 degrees/clear skies/breezy

Pentoga Road

The global warming continues, but thankfully, there's relief in sight starting at the end of the week. I hope so. 

I didn't get all the grandbabies' puzzles finished in time for Christmas and just put them in the mail last week. Matt reassured me that it worked out really well as they arrived just in time for Valentines Day.

Em had made the mention that the puzzles had become somewhat easy, so this year, I made her's more challenging. With smaller pieces and rounded edges, I'm told she worked on it for quite a while before it was successfully assembled. 

Meanwhile, back to Pentoga Road:

Well, darn it, regardless of what Al says, it's cold. I didn't mind these temperatures while living in the arctic, but relocating south to the hinderlands of the Upper Peninsula has proven no better. Here on Pentoga Road, we have most the trappings of a Florida beach, sort of. Hambone's sand beach is by the pond, but unfortunately, it's buried under three feet of snow.

I'm going to 'fess up, I skipped my usual walk Sunday morning. It seemed strange to be staying inside, but felt mighty good to sit in front of the window and let the sun's rays penetrate this old body of mine.

We had a great breakfast. All kinds of fruit, blueberries and strawberries over cottage cheese with bacon on the side. Throw in a few eggs with brats and green peppers, all topped with slices of melted Swiss cheese, and you have a hearty wintertime breakfast. The meal certainly warmed my body as well as my soul.

I ventured outside later to open the hole in the garden pond so any gasses trapped under the ice could escape.

Pond? What pond?

I finally smartened up just a bit and placed a foam rubber cushion over the hole to keep the warmth in and hopefully, the circulating water from freezing. I'll know if it worked when I check later this morning.

The afternoon saw me climbing up on the rooftops of the storage and outdoor furnace sheds and shoveling away several feet of snow.

As with the garage roof, I was shocked at how much had accumulated. 

The late afternoon views from up high were pretty. The only problem was keeping my fingers from freezing while taking a few pictures.

The rest of the day was spent binge watching the television series, Yellowstone. 

A modern day soap opera, the program has all the qualities of Dallas, the politics of House of Cards, and the romance of Knots Landing. Throw in a dash of Lonesome Dove and you have Yellowstone.

Needless to say, Sargie and I were immediately hooked and binge watched the first five episodes of season one before tearing ourselves away from the television.

Today looks to be much the same as Sunday. I see several area schools are cancelled due to the cold temperatures. 

I can't recall anytime while growing up that our school was cancelled due to cold weather. Mamas made sure their munchkins were bundled up from head to toe, kissed 'em goodbye on the forehead, the only bare spot between the hood and scarf that covered their faces, and sent them on their way.

In our case, my little group of neighborhood munchkins had to walk almost a mile and believe it or not, most of it was uphill. (Treking home was a breeze though!) I remember those walks as some of the best times of my childhood years.

I can only remember school being cancelled once while I lived in the arctic. The thermometer was showing -42 accompanied by a raging 60 mph wind. Common sense dictated that school would be cancelled that day.

I can respect that.

It's almost daylight and with that, time to dress in my heavies and take a hike. After that, I'll see what Sargie Pants wants to do. I'm fairly sure that it will include playing cards and binge watching a few more episodes of Yellowstone.

Giddy up, cowboy.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...