August 28, 2021 - Saturday morning
66 degrees/cloudy skies/calm winds
Pentoga Road

It's time to take my quarterly break, although it's been almost six months since my last hiatus. Simply put, I've grown weary of writing about giant pumpkins, goldfish, mundane events, and taking pictures.  All have become more of a chore than a joy, a clear sign that it's time to step out of this digital goldfish bowl.

I want to take this time to concentrate on other writing and videos. With those come the foundation for the promised Alaska/AT book that is planned for the future. 

As our country continues to fall apart and we're fed an increasing stream of questionable jargon, I'm finding it more and more difficult to keep politics out of my writing. I'd love to pen a conservative column, but if I do, it will be under a pseudo name and in a different format. Tales from Pentoga will remain a place where we can all meet. We may not all agree and that's okay, but we'll be civil and kind to each other.

So, as my good friend, Kermit, used to say, "I'll see you down the log." 

I never figured out exactly what that meant, but sure enough, I always saw him at some point. No doubt, I'll do the same with you. Only one question, how long is that log? Who knows, it could be a mere piece of kindling, short enough to fit into the wood stove.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

It won't be long before all the trees surrounding our home will be orange and red.

August 27, 2021 - Friday morning
58 degrees/cloudy/calm winds
Pentoga Road

It's dark and cloudy this morning, but I'm wondering, where's the rain that Carl the Weatherman has promised? Supposedly, it's to arrive in an hour or so, but Carl's been known to occasionally be less than truthful.

Just as the South is readying for another onslaught of rainy weather with the latest hurricane, we're on the other end of the spectrum this summer. I can't remember it being so dry in the past ten years. The grass is rapidly turning brown and makes a crunchy sound when we walk across the yard. 

Hopefully, the rain will arrive sooner rather than later.

Thursday's walk was a good one. I practiced making a video, one which you'll never see, but I'm becoming more comfortable talking to a camera as I walk along. 

Sargie was busy all day yesterday. The girl ripped the living room apart and washed everything in sight, from the windows down to scrubbing the floor and rugs. 

I finished the concrete base for the garden umbrella. We'll see what it looks like later today when I remove the forms. Plans are to cover it with pavers or flat rock. Stay tuned. It very well could end up hidden or buried deep in the woods if it's too ugly.

Hey, nothing ventured/nothing gained, eh?

I tackled the front steps, those that are continually washing out from underneath. Built on a base of gravel with pavers bedded in sand, rain water running off the roof washes the sand away and makes for uneven footing.

With two bags of Quikcrete left from the umbrella project, I decided to mix that with the sand in hopes of making the underlying base more firm. Honestly, I don't believe it did a thing other than make a mess. 

It appears I'll have to get serious about stabilizing the steps by actually pouring a cement base and letting it cure before laying the red pavers on top.

The rest of the afternoon was spent patching cracks in the drive in preparation for its yearly coating of sealer.

The constant heaving from frost that occurs every spring makes for some pretty good cracks in the four inch pavement. All that can be done is to fill and repair them each summer. It's been eight years since the drive was poured and so far, so good.

Needless to say, Sargie Pants and Tom slept like a couple of babies last night. 

In the Andy news, the boy is finally home for a well deserved break from his last oil job in Trinidad.

How the boy and his crew managed to snag a ride for the first leg of their journey on a Lear jet is beyond me, but he's doing something right. 

Andy arrived home late last evening in Presque Isle, Maine.

It's time to head out the door for my morning stroll. Let's see, today's a full pack day, meaning I'll carry my backpack and if Carl's telling the truth, I may actually get to try out my hiking umbrella, the one that fastens onto my chest strap and allows me to hike hands free.

Time to get a move on.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

Sargie and I are enjoying filet du pasteque... watermelon filets.

After watching the head chef of the Captain Cook Hotel in Anchorage, Alaska, effortlessly carve one in a matter of a minute or less years ago, I learned the secret to a good watermelon filet is to use a knife with a flexible blade. The filets are sweet, juicy, and tender. It's all in the knife, you know.

(Thanks Uncle Bert for teaching me all the French I know even if you didn't include how to carve a watermelon in my instruction.)

Hambone - First Day of School 2021

August 26, 2021 - Thursday morning

50 degrees/clear skies/calm winds

Pentoga Road

Ah, yes, it's the time of year when featuring the "first day" pictures begin. As many grandchildren as we have, there'll be a bunch.

What is this? Do we live in the middle of a chicken coop? Well, of course not, but how about a turkey coop?

There must have been forty or fifty turklets in the yard yesterday morning. Yup, there is such a thing. 

Look it up.

With the mild winter and spring, we've seen more deer, turkeys, and bear, this year than ever before. The deer have done a number on the sunflowers and the burning bushes have been pruned down to their stems. Thankfully, the electric deer fence surrounding the garden is still effective.

In pumpkin news, the giant pumpkin has grown past the board on which it was placed less than a month ago. This was taken on August 4th.

Sitting on the board helps to keep it from rotting underneath. The following pictures are from August 23rd (left) to August 25th, two days. The pictures don't really do it justice, but it's amazing. You'll notice the dent on the top of the pumpkin as the weight begins to push down on itself. Most mature giant pumpkins assume a pancake shape as they grow. This one will be no different.

Our jaunt to Green Bay on Wednesday was a good one. We made all the usual stops and since there's no inflation, we noticed how reasonably priced everything was... said Tom, tongue in cheek.

Bare shelves and higher prices greeted us at every store. Costco was completely out of their own brand of paper towels and had just a few packages of the Bounty brand with a limit of one per customer. I wonder what the next Covid hoarder craze will be?

Unless the transportation and lack of labor trends are addressed, we won't have to worry about inflation. There won't be anything on the shelves to buy. This is something that throwing free money at won't cure.

At least there's one thing we can count on as being a given in Green Bay, Lambeau Field.

I don't watch so much football anymore. Since the NFL got into the political game, I've lost interest. I just want to be entertained, not lectured to. I did enough of that as a professor.

We made it home last night in good shape. Sargie and I, both, were more than happy to sit down after putting all our purchased treasures away and bedtime mercifully came sooner rather than later.

I'm heading out the door to go for my morning walk. I'd like to finish pouring concrete this morning and get that chore finished. Otherwise, there are a ton of little honey-do chores to be completed.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

Cheeks and I were heading out for our morning walk to Pentoga Village. 

August 25, 2021 - Wednesday morning

58 degrees/hazy/calm winds

Pentoga Road

Sure is quiet around here this morning. After meeting Macrea halfway to Iron Mountain yesterday afternoon to deliver Cheeks and Hambone, our hundred-and-one year old home is breathing a sigh of relief this morning. 

So is Pawpaw.

There's a reason why God made parents young, you know.

With a light shower coming through yesterday, Hambone and I didn't get to finish pouring the concrete for the base of the garden umbrella. We were both disappointed, but not for long. 

Hambone decided he wanted to "build." Rummaging through my scrap box, he found enough bits and pieces of wood to construct a tray, or at least in the mind of a seven year old, it was a tray.

Never far away, I stood in front of the lathe in the shop and began turning a bowl from wild cherry.

Every now and then, Hambone would come in and ask if I could make a certain cut using one of the saws. 

I was proud of Grady. He's learning to measure and use the square. His measurements were very precise and exact and in the end, the boy had a tray to take home or maybe it was a triangular shaped flying saucer with sides.

Whatever it was, I was very proud of him for his tenacity in sticking with it and putting it all together.

As I mentioned above, Cheeks and I trekked to Pentoga Village and back. As usual, we weren't far down the road before she fell sound asleep and woke the instant we arrived home. There to meet us was Grandma Sargie. 

Hambone was busy again yesterday afternoon fashioning a head piece worn by some character in the video game, Mind Craft. Using a Happy Meal box, the boy cut, fashioned, and taped together a pretty good facsimile of a helmet. One thing you have to say about ol' Bone, he's creative.

I'm going for my walk soon and after, we'll be heading to Green Bay for the day. There are household supplies to purchase as well as goodies for the annual Labor Day gathering that we'll be hosting a week from Sunday. 

Time to get a move on.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

Cheeks has exactly two speeds, off and on.

Seconds earlier, sitting in Grandma Sargie's lap, she was living life in the on position. Suddenly, the girl switched off and was out like a light.

Monday was Wes's first day of preschool

He's a clone of his daddy, Matt

August 24, 2021 - Tuesday morning
57 degrees/clear skies/calm winds
Pentoga Road

I slept in this morning and since Cheeks and Grandma are already up, with Hambone on deck, I'll not write much. It's too hard to write and play tickle belly at the same time. 

I will say that we've been busy and had lots of fun, especially when we were making a base for the large garden umbrella. I'll be topping it off with pavers and hopefully, it will have some semblance of a table or bench or ??? Then again, it may be an ugly concrete block.

Since we'll be doing the munchkin exchange later this afternoon, I'll tell you all about it during Wednesday morning's blathering when our lives should be back to some semblance of normal.

Oh, before I leave, the pumpkin is gaining size at an alarming rate. The following picture on the left was taken August 21st, the one on the right August 23rd. I'm afraid to walk too close for fear it will eat me.

Two days/twenty pounds added.

Until then, just remember that a man's work is never done.

Hambone loves to eat chives fresh out of the ground. We just call him "Onion Breath."

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

 

It's a generational thing.

Auntie Debbie made that bib for one of Sargie's sons over thirty years ago.

August 23, 2021 - Monday morning

54 degrees/partly cloudy/calm winds

Pentoga Road

It's a mixed bag of pictures with little news this morning. Sunday was a wonderfully lazy day for me. I even fell asleep mid morning and happily slumbered away for a bit.

I wore my new pack, fully loaded, for the first time during my morning walk. I wasn't too tickled at first. The twenty three pounds (fully loaded including an allowance for food) felt heavy and bounced entirely too much. I finally stopped in Pentoga Village, took the thing off, and immediately noticed that I'd been in such a hurry to leave the house, I'd not fastened any of the vertical or horizontal load lifters. 

Duh on Tom.

The walk back home was fantastic. The pack hugged my back and as with all packs that are properly fitted, I soon forgot I was wearing it.

Sargie was busy in the kitchen cleaning the refrigerator. She had everything out, including the shelves, and was washing, wiping, saving, and pitching. 

Being an industrious kind of guy, I moved the stationary bike into the kitchen and either peddled or stretched my hamstrings while keeping her company.

I've added a stationary bike routine to my walking regimen this summer, mostly help to "cool down" when I arrive home. I've found as I've aged, my hamstrings are very tight and severely limit my agility.

I used to be able to bend over while keeping my knees straight and lay both palms flat on the floor. In recent years, I struggle to barely touch my toes.

That's not acceptable for a 2,200 mile hike that requires some hand over hand climbing. 

In my much younger days, I could put both feet/legs in back of my head and walk around using only my arms. Yeah, that doesn't happen anymore.  

None the less, stretching and remaining limber has become a daily exercise leading up to February's kick off on the AT.

Macrea called and asked if both Hambone and Cheeks could visit for the next couple of days. Between school starting, Covid, work, daycare closing, and who knows what else, both munchkins landed on Pentoga Road.

Hambone starts the first grade on Wednesday. Summer vacation is over.

Debbie sent more pictures of Saturday's 5K veteran's fund raiser in Foster City. I'll post those in no particular order. Sargie's son, Cale, is the muscular guy partway down with his pup, Romeo. Sometimes, Cale and I get together and benchpress Volkswagens to keep in shape.

That's about all the news. I'm hoping Hambone and I can pour a concrete base for the garden umbrella today. No doubt, there'll be some munchkin prints included before the cement dries. Otherwise, the world's the limit, one filled with diapers, bottles, and an occasional ice cream cone.

It's a wild life we live in Maple Valley when Cheeks and Hambone are in house.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

Sisters Sargie, Trish, Nancy

Taken Saturday afternoon at the annual Veteran's 5K

August 22, 2021 - Sunday morning

51 degrees/clear skies/calm winds

Pentoga Road

Though not a drop of rain fell yesterday, the cold front that came through ushered in much dryer and somewhat cooler air. It wasn't long before I was rummaging through the closet to find a flannel shirt earlier this morning. 

I awakened early Saturday morning to a wildlife park in our yard. In front were several deer, all happy to make themselves at home.

In the side yard was a pride of wild turkeys.

And finally, on the road in front of the house lay evidence that a bear had wandered through during the nighttime hours.

Home from my walk, I made a tour of the garden and found a few white carrots and beets ready to harvest. Those, along with zucchini and cucumbers, are making this year's harvest a good one. 

As many already know, there's nothing traditional about either Sargie or me. We enjoy the white carrots sliced lengthways and fried. 

It doesn't take an Einstein to guess what we enjoyed for part of yesterday's brunch.

I wanted to bring in the last of this year's firewood. With Sargie's help, we worked it up and stacked it undercover.

I say it's the last of the firewood, but I did find another dead maple tree that, no doubt, will be sawn and brought in to be burned this winter.

The wood finished, we were soon off to Pat and Debbie's for their annual Military Tribute fund raiser 5K.

Race hostess, sister-in-law, Debbie, explained about the day's events. Though it was a fun run/walk to raise money, we were quickly reminded of all that our Armed Forces and veterans, past and present, have sacrificed for our great nation.

The opening ceremonies began with Johnny Cash's, Ragged Old Flag, followed by The Star Spangled Banner. 

A loud round of applause sounded after. Sargie and sister-in-law, Nancy, left to man the water/rest station partway through the course that stretched up one side of Milligan Mountain.

As is usually the case, there are far too many pictures on which to comment, so I'll simply upload a few. I took multiple videos, but our internet connection is too slow to post any.

The course went through the nearby cemetery where several of the Milligans are buried. When God's ready to call us home, it will be Sargie's and my final resting place.

With a goodly amount of money raised and the final ceremonies finished, everyone enjoyed a good old fashioned supper of hot dogs, brats, sausage, sauerkraut, and other goodies too numerous to mention.

It was bedtime before we arrived home last night. Our bellies were full and we were filled with happy memories of our time with family and friends. It wasn't long before Sargie and I were snuggled under the blankets, falling into a deep slumber.

Cheered on by niece, Lisa, it was Sargie across the finish line.

You can watch for her in the next Olympics.

Today's cooler and less humid than those of the past week. I may cut up that last maple tree I found in the woods yesterday and haul it in, or, I may not. 

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...