My cousin, Penny, with her two grandsons.

April 26, 2021 - Monday morning

29 degrees/snow/breezy

Pentoga Road

Other than my sister, Barb, Penny is about the only blood relative I keep in touch with on a regular basis. Daily texts are interspersed with the occasional phone call. Living in Arizona, Pen's on the eve of retirement and looking forward to the day when she and Greg can settle back and watch the world go by. 

Oh, one other thing. I'm convinced Penny's also one of the little people, a descendent of those hardy souls who once inhabited Munchkinland. Sargie and I hope to get out to Arizona to see her one of these years and if we're unsure of the way, we only need to follow the yellow brick road.

Oh Lord, I'll pay for that, but Penny would expect no less from her cousin Tom. I love her dearly.

WHAT IS THIS? We awakened this morning to a howling snowstorm with two to three inches of new snow blanketing our world.

Spring snowstorms are common in the north woods and with Tuesday's highs forecast to reach near 60, it won't last long.

Sunday was a mixed bag of work, play, and socializing. We went for our Sunday ride later in the morning and enjoyed the sunny, but cool, day. It's amazing how any area homes that have been on the market are being snatched up almost daily. Bidding wars are a common theme.

We counted between ten and fifteen homes for sale along one area lake less than two months ago. Only one was being offered yesterday. The others have evidently been sold.

Here in Iron County, the poorest in the state? Bidding wars? Really? That's California HGTV stuff. What's next, Christina and Tarek?

We're told that home prices have risen over 70% in our county this past year, mostly due to people wanting to move from the encouraged chaos of city life (just ask Maxine) to the country to escape the madness, insanity, and high prices that city people endure on a daily basis. With the work from home scenario now common and many businesses having no intentions of going back to the former work-in-the-office model, people are willing to trade convenience for safety and some semblance of common sense. 

I don't mind welcoming city people to the north woods. I just hope they remember to leave their city politics, problems, and way of life behind. We don't always agree up here, but we do know how to get along and for the most part, treat each other with respect and kindness.

Back on Pentoga Road, I thought I might spend an hour trimming a few more low hanging boughs from the large spruce trees out front that separate the road from the house. I expected it might take an hour, possibly two.

The trees are old, very old, and as with the case of most old spruce trees, they are dying from the bottom up. The year is coming, probably sooner than later, when we'll have them removed.

I thought I was close to being finished when the Supervisor of Lawn and Everything Pretty exited the barn pushing a wheel barrow filled with a shovel and rakes.

Things were about to get serious. There went my Sunday afternoon nap.

We trimmed alright. With the power saw and electric pole saw in hand, we did more than trim. We cut.

Load after load of limbs were hauled to the burn pile. At one point, I was returning on the tractor to find Sargie lopping off even more.

For the love of God, has the girl no mercy?

We sawed, we raked, we hauled, and by afternoon's end, the trees were pronounced good to go for the upcoming summer. As much as I resisted going full Monty on the trimming, I have to admit, under Sargie's guidance, they look much better.

Yooper Brother Mark and Sheri stopped by while enjoying a Sunday afternoon ride in their side by side. We had a great visit and as always, hated to see them leave.

The snow has now changed to freezing rain and I'm not feeling the overwhelming urge to go for my usual morning hike. In fact, I think I'll pour a third cup of coffee, throw another log on the fire, and think deep thoughts while listening to the ice pellets hit the metal roof overhead.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...