Sargie's pulling into the drive after an afternoon of collecting sap

March 17, 2021 - Wednesday

24 degrees/clear skies/calm winds

Pentoga Road

Before I get too far into this, I want to say that we received an advanced viewing of the documentary  Almost an Island that features Brother Elmer and his family. Due to copyright laws, I can't repost the hour long program, but I learned that it will appear on PBS sometime in the future. When it does, I'll let you know.

I was surprised how emotional I became as we watched yesterday afternoon. There was Brother Elmer, nearly 80 now, talking and teaching all those Inupiaq Eskimo skills he taught me. Niece Carrie, nephew Aya, Wilma, all, were there in front of me, and I wanted so badly to reach out, touch them, and say, "I'm here." 

Many of the scenes were taken in front of my cabin on the Noatak. It was like a mini visit back to my arctic village of Kotzebue. There's no doubt I suffered a bout of homesickness Tuesday afternoon.

Seems strange. There's a whole other part of my life above the arctic circle that no one in the UP knows or understands, not even Sargie. I guess words can't describe my real experiences and memories, those times sitting around the table drinking kuukpiaq (coffee), spent hunting, fishing, thriving and surviving, all as a member of Elmer's family. 

Thanks for sending the DVD, Brother. I love all of you too, my Inupiaq family.

Well, for a day that the sap wasn't going to run, it... ran.

Home from my early Wednesday morning walk and breakfast eaten, Sargie and I noticed some bags were almost full. We ventured into the woods thinking there'd be just a bit of "clean up," but as it turned out, we collected over thirty gallons late Tuesday morning.

By the time we were finished, it was into the afternoon, too late to warm the shop and accomplish anything meaningful. The mail arrived and with it, the DVD from Elmer. The rest of the afternoon was spent watching the documentary.

Sargie and I went to the woods late in the afternoon and by day's end had hauled around 75 gallons. Not bad for a day where it wasn't supposed to run.

Poor Sargie took a fall yesterday afternoon. Carrying a five gallon pail of sap, she slipped on the edge of the pavement as she exited the woods and fell hard onto both knees, a wrist, and even managed to bruise her ribs and chest. Sargie's going to take some time off and go to Escanaba today with Nancy for some girl time. It'll give her aching body a chance to heal a bit.

We torched the burn pile last night. Stacked high with boughs, limbs, and trimmings, from the past two years, the burn pile is located fairly close to a grove of spruce trees. It requires just the right conditions to safely set it on fire, no wind and high humidity going into the nighttime hours.

I sprayed fuel oil on the pile before lighting it in a couple of places. Sargie and I sat back on the seat of the snowmobile well into the nighttime hours and watched it burn.

I was surprised how easily the old branches and boughs caught on fire considering much of the pile was covered with snow. It was still smoldering and burning under the snow last night when we finally made our way to the house.

I'll be going for my walk at first light this morning. As mentioned above, Sargie will be going to Escanaba today, so I'll be busy either collecting or keeping the sap boiling in evaporator. We're to meet Mark and Sheri this evening at a restaurant in town for a St. Patrick's Day meal of corned beef and cabbage. When one is married to a girl with the last name of Milligan, St. Pat's Day is not taken lightly!

Empty "store bought" sap bags hanging on a neighbor's trees.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...