Hambone and Isabella

Legos are still alive and well on Pentoga Road

July 25, 2021 - Sunday morning

55 degrees/clear skies/calm winds

Pentoga Road

It's fun to watch the two munchkins play together. Though Isabella lives in Wyoming and Grady here in the UP, they've been buddies since day one.

Home from my early morning stroll, Hambone and I went for a load of gravel. There's something about a mountain of rocks that attracts a boy's attention. This one certainly did.

Our friend, Gene, arrived shortly after and loaded the trailer with two tons of pea gravel. 

We were on our way back from town when we met Sarah and Isabella who'd come out for a visit. The girls will be leaving this coming Tuesday for Wyoming after a month long visit with Grandma and Grandpa. (Mark and Sheri.)

We gabbed and laughed. Sarah's due with baby #2 in early December and we were happy to hear of the baby's progress. Sarah said the little one is already moving at her mother's expense. 

Isabella and Hambone spent the time playing with Legos.

My former student while in Alaska, Sarah will return to her developmental kindergarten teaching position in mid August and said she's already making plans for her sub to take over while she's on maternity leave.

With the girls having departed, Hambone, Grandma Sargie, and I, headed out the door and began shoveling/spreading gravel on the far side of the barn.

I'll brag, but that's my right as a grandpa. Hambone is a worker. Man, there's no holding the boy back.

We quickly fell into a routine where he and Grandma Sargie shoveled gravel into the wheelbarrow while I dumped and raked it over the heavy landscape cloth.

Only a third of the way finished, we ran out of gravel and will continue this next week after we get another load.

With work comes rewards. Hambone was soon into the scrap wood box constructing some sort of device that will hook up to magnifying glass and ??? It's an ongoing project that can only be concocted in the mind of an active seven year old.

The backhoe had to be moved to make room for new gravel, but first, there was that pile of sand in the way that I'd shoveled from the trailer the day before. 

It was time for Grady's first heavy equipment lesson.

I'm not surprised the boy did so well. He's a cinch at video games (all strictly outlawed at Grandma Sargie's and Pawpaw's house) and it wasn't long before he had the bucket and boom under his command.

I realize Pawpaw's old fashioned and stuck in his ways, but when there's a video game or phone in Hambone's hands, all we see is the top of his head. When he's playing, my little buddy becomes completely deaf and is completely oblivious to the world around him. 

I've explained to Hambone that Grandma and I love him too much to be content by merely looking at the top of his head. 

So, it's up to Pawpaw and Grandma Sargie to fill in the blanks while he's visiting. Bone's learning some simple carpentry skills, how to drive a four wheeler, operate the tractor, work up firewood, and I've promised that he can dig a hole with the backhoe later today. That doesn't include occasionally going fishing, swimming in the pond or nearby lake, water gun fights, or something as simple as picking fresh peas from the garden for a snack. 

Yep, Pawpaw's old fashioned and set in his ways, but a funny thing occurs when Hambone visits. He always seems sad to leave and is eager to return when he gets the chance. If nothing else, the boy is learning some real life skills and together, Grandma Sargie, Hambone, and I, are making memories.

Last night was a fun one spent at our park just a couple of miles away. A vocal quartet, comprised of four local women, entertained a large crowd by singing songs ranging from the 1940's to the 70's that were popular at the time, much of it in Doo Wap style.

Hambone had fun before the concert began playing in a nearby bounce house. 

The ladies were entertaining and put on a fun hour-long concert. It was hard not to sing along or get up and dance.

Back at home after, we watched two episodes of Alone on the History Channel. Hambone has it figured out that he and Pawpaw can go to the arctic and survive long enough to win the half million dollar prize. 

I hated to inform the boy that Pawpaw has already been there/done that, although I never saw a half million dollars for my effort.

I'm not certain what's on the agenda for today. I moved the backhoe to an area in back of the barn where Hambone can practice digging a hole.

Otherwise, the world's the limit. There's a backhoe to operate, a four wheeler to drive, a carpentry/building project to finish, and a pond in which to swim.

After all, everyone knows that a man and his grandson's work is never done.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...