July 4, 2021 - Independence Day - Sunday

63 degrees/clear skies/calm winds

Pentoga Road

Now here's a first. Sargies son, Cale, opted to sleep downstairs last night in the living room, the place I usually write in the early mornings. Not wanting to wake him, I moved out to the shop, but that seemed too confining on such a nice morning. I'm now sitting in front of the barn enjoying the cool temperatures of these pre dawn hours. Perfect.

Yesterday was another tree day. Having learned my lesson about working up wood in the heat of the day, I headed to the woods immediately upon my arrival home from my morning walk. 

Yesterday's tree was another ash, an old one. I quit counting the rings at 85. Making a calculated guess, it wouldn't surprise me if it was a hundred years old or more. 

It's sad to see what was once a grand and beautiful tree sawed to the ground to be used for firewood. On the other hand, I guess it's no different than for us humans. The Bible says, ashes to ashes/dust to dust. 

Sooner or later, our physical remains all end up in the ground in some form or the other.

My sons would have been proud of me yesterday. Having only one place to drop the tree, I carefully eyed the drop zone, sawed a large notch, then began back cutting. I held my breath as the tree began to fall, slamming to earth so hard that it rattled the ground around me, right where I wanted it to drop.

It's a game the boys and I used to occasionally play, to see who could land a tree in an exact place. I'd have been awarded the Paul Bunyon trophy yesterday. 

Earlier, I'd mowed a narrow path where I expected it to fall

Sawing complete, I loaded all the woods goodies into the tractor and returned to the barn. I'll be going back to load the chunks of wood in the next day or two.

Sargie's son, Cale, arrived later in the morning. Somewhat under the weather, we didn't see a lot of him during the day. Having worked a long week, I'm glad he feels enough at home that he can relax while he's here.

Cale's pup, Romeo, and I spent some time together while I split wood then went to the shop to put the last coat of finish on the Fourth of July piece.

We'll be going to Derek and Leah's later this morning to join in the Mighty Milligan Fourth of July Celebration. There'll be swimming, eating, laughing, and loving galore.

So, I'll end today with the message below.

Happy Fourth of July!

Just remember, a man's work is never done.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

I inadvertently left out mentioning the women who serve today. My apologies. Thank you and again, Happy Fourth of July.