READING SOMETHING MORE CHALLENGING

Another bright sunny day and another cold windy morning with below freezing temps overnight.  A short Jeep ride for Pheebs and I and we were home again.  With the wind blocked from getting into our Park by the pine trees, I spent an hour or so raking up a couple wheelbarrow loads of small branches and pine needles in our backyard.  I also raked another couple of wheelbarrow loads of pine needles and leaves on the little path across the road leading through of copse of trees to the Park's pond.  

 SPRING IS TAKING ITS TIME THIS YEAR BUT IT'S COMING

 PERIWINKLE

 THIS MIGHT BE COLTSFOOT FLOWERS

 A SINGLE DANDILION

With temperatures finally warming up this afternoon, Pheebs and I took a longer walk down to the southern end of our park around a loop road.  It's the farthest I have walked since my hip replacement and my hip didn't give me any trouble.  I'm still wobbly on my feet though and I can tell I am not walking right, and I chalk that up to the weakness of my leg muscles.  I wished we had room here for a static bicycle thingy or some kind of leg exerciser, but we don't.

 AFTERNOON WALK

I didn't get too far in my latest free book, 'Forgotten Fairytales' before realizing there was probably a reason they were forgotten fairytales.  I read maybe six of them and bailed out thinking to myself, maybe it's time I again get my head back into something more mind-challenging.  So, I am currently reading, The True Meaning Of Life by author Judith Hindle.  And yes, it is certainly challenging my mind alright.  I like when that happens:))

HANGING OUT AT OUR FRONT YARD FROG POND

Al's Music Box:)) At Seventeen is a song by American singer-songwriter Janis Ian from her seventh studio album Between the Lines. Columbia released it in July 1975 as the album's second single. Ian wrote the lyrics on the basis of a New York Times article and used a samba instrumental, and Brooks Arthur produced the final version.  A pop and soft rock ballad, the song is about a social outcast in high school. Critics have regarded "At Seventeen" as a type of anthem. Critics praised "At Seventeen", which earned Ian the Gramy Award for the Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, and Grammy nominations for Record and Song of the Year.   She was inspired to write the single after reading a New York Times article about a young woman who thought her life would improve after a debutante ball and her subsequent disappointment when it did not.  In the article, the girl was 18, but Ian changed it to 17 to fit with her samba guitar instrumental.

GROANER'S CORNER:((  An elderly couple were killed in an accident and found themselves being given a tour of heaven by Saint Peter. "Here is your oceanside condo, over there are the tennis courts, swimming pool, and two golf courses. If you need any refreshments, just stop by any of the many bars located throughout the area."  "Heck, Gloria," the old man hissed when Saint Peter walked off, "we could have been here ten years ago if you hadn't heard about all that stupid oat bran, wheat germ, and low-fat diets!"

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The farmer met his nephew at the railroad station. “Uncle, I’m mighty glad to see you. “That crate of chickens you sent me bust open just as I was going to take ‘em out and they ran all over the place. I chase them through my neighbor’s yard and only got back eleven.” “You did okay,” said uncle. “I only sent you six.”

- What do you call a man who has suddenly lost 98 percent of his brain?  Divorced.

A Mexican was attempting to cross into America when the border guard stopped him and asked if he was an American.  The Mexican replied, "Si Senor."  The border guard told him, "If you're an American, then use these three words in a sentance:'green', 'pink',and'yellow'."  The Mexican thought about it for a while and replied,"The phone go green-green, I pink it up, and I say yellow?"

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BEING THE SIDEWALK SUPERINTENDENT TYPES THAT WE ARE

 A BUMBLE BEE IN OUR RHODODENDRON

A big bright sunny morning, but once again we woke up to two degrees below the freezing mark.  This persistent cold air every day is really getting annoying!!!!  And, here we are, less than a week away from May.

 CEDAR BRANCHES AT THE END OF OUR DRIVEWAY

 PRIMROSE IN OUR FRONT FLOWERBED

OUR FRONT YARD WHITE MAGNOLIA IS IN BLOOM

It was Richard's turn to drive so he picked me up at 9:30 and we headed off on our semi-monthly Thursday morning country road coffee run.  Our travels this morning took us up around and north of Goderich.  Despite the morning's cold air, it was a nice day for a drive and we easily put in a couple of enjoyable hours cruising around and being the sidewalk superintendent types that we are.  

 OUR HOSTAS ARE GROWING QUICKLY

 FRONT YARD FROGS

My project for this afternoon was to hook up my utility trailer and slip over to a neighbor's place and cut down a couple thick patches of last year's dead bamboo grass growing alongside her garage.  With that done and the grass loaded into the trailer and hauled off to the Park's yard waste area I was home again inside of an hour.  Nice feeling to have accomplished something today.

A late afternoon walk around the Park's pond for Pheebs and I but we didn't see the two baby Goslings.  Only one adult Canada Goose on the pond.  What sometimes happens is that shortly after Goslings are hatched and spend a day or two on the Park's pond, the parents will then walk them to a small lake a short mile east of our Park.  I think the parents know it is much safer for the little ones over there with the bigger expanse of water and no humans nearby.   

 ONLY ONE CANADA GOOSE ON THE POND TODAY

 A YOUNG PAINTED TURTLE

Al's Music Box:)) Summer Wind  The song is best known for a 1966 recording by Frank Sinatra.  The Sinatra version originally appeared on his album, Strangers in the Night.  Der Sommerwind" was a song composed in 1965 by Heinz Meier, with German language lyrics written by Hans Bradtke. The song was rewritten into English by Johnny Mercer, who had heard the song being sung by Danish singer Grethe Ingmann who had also recorded the song in her native language as "Sommervind". He wrote replacement lyrics along the same theme.  The song talks of the Sirocco wind which passes from North Africa into Southern Europe at the end of summer, and uses this as a metaphor for the changing of the seasons and the passing of time.  The best-known version of the song is by Frank Sinatra.  He had previously worked with Mercer on a number of songs, including "One for My Baby (and One More for the Road)" and Nancy Sinatra would later recall Mercer being Sinatra's favorite lyricist.  It was recorded for the singer's album Strangers in the Night, which was the final album he worked on with arranger and conductor Nelson Riddle.  The composition of Sinatra's version used both an electronic organ and a big band, and the lyrics were modified to drop the second chorus.  This was Mercer's final work to reach the top forty within the United States.  Sinatra would later re-record the song with Julio Iglesias for the 1993 album Duets.  During an appearance on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, Bruce Springsteen said he would choose Sinatra's version of the track when asked to hypothetically pick only one song to listen to for the rest of his life. 

GROANER'S CORNER:(( My nephew was getting married to a doctor's daughter.  At the wedding reception, the father of the bride stood to read his toast, which he had scribbled on a piece of scrap paper. Several times during his speech, he halted, overcome with what I assumed was a moment of deep emotion.  But after a particularly long pause, he explained, “I'm sorry. I can't seem to make out what I've written down.”  Looking out into the audience, he asked, “Is there a pharmacist in the house?”

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- A man consults a therapist and states, “Doc, I’m suicidal. What should I do?”

The doctor replies, “Pay in advance.”

- “Did you hear the one about the woman who threw her toaster away because it kept burning the bread? She was black toast intolerant.”

- Little Johnny wasn't very good at spelling. During an oral spelling exam, the teacher wrote the word "new" on the blackboard.

"Now," she asked Johnny, "what word would we have if we placed a 'K' in the front?"  After a moment's reflection, Johnny said, "Canoe?"

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THERE BETWEEN MAMA AND PAPA GOOSE WERE SWIMMING TWO LITTLE PUFFS OF YELLOW

 TWO GOSLINGS ON OUR PARK'S POND

It was an early start for just me in the Jeep this morning.  With an oil change booked for 8 a.m. at Napa True-Center AutoPro I was on the road shortly after 7:30 making my way to Goderich in a wind-driven freezing cold drizzle.  Why that miserable drizzle didn't turn to snow I don't know.  I was glad to get home later to a warm toasty house and I had no intentions of venturing outside.  However......

 LOCAL FARMERS ARE BEGINNING TO GET ON THE LAND

Skies began clearing early this afternoon so despite an icy north wind Pheebs and I set off on a walk over to the Park's pond.  

IT WAS ONLY ONE PAINTED TURTLE WE SAW ON THE PARK'S POND THIS AFTERNOON

 I ALSO SAW FOUR DUCKS BUT THEY WERE TWO DIFFERENT KINDS OF DUCKS

 A MALLARD DUCK COUPLE WITH THE FEMALE IN THE FOREGROUND

 I AM GUESSING THIS COUPLE AS BLUE-WINGED TEALS WITH THE MALE IN THE FOREGROUND

Two Canada Geese had been frequenting the area for the past month or so and in the last couple of weeks, there was only one Canada Goose by the pond which I felt sorry for.  I was sure something had happened to its partner and it was alone.  Today, I happily spotted two Canada Geese along the shoreline and figured maybe the lone Goose's mate had come back.  Not wanting to bother them, Pheebs and I began to detour around them but they quickly slipped into the water anyway.  And, that's when I saw something else and the whole mystery of the missing mate suddenly dawned on me.  It was the lone male Canada Goose I had been seeing the last couple of weeks because there between Mama and Papa Goose were swimming two little puffs of yellow.  Two baby Geese/Goslings.  Mama had been sitting on a well-hidden nest for the past few weeks.  Usually every Spring a pair of Geese will build a nest beside the pond and lay maybe half a dozen eggs but something always comes along and grabs the eggs.  I hope the two tiny babies will make it.  You can be sure Pheebs and I will be checking on the little family in the coming days.

MAMA AND PAPA GOOSE AND I THINK THAT IS MAMA SITTING IN THE GRASS BECAUSE LOOK CAREFULLY RIGHT BEHIND HER FOR A LITTLE PUFF OF YELLOW

 BY GOLLY I BELIEVE I SEE SOME BABIES

 YEP, THERE THEY ARE AND THERE'S TWO OF THEM

 LOOK CLOSELY AT THIS PHOTO AND FIND THE GOSLING

 THE BLUE-WINGED TEAL PADDLE PAST PAPA GOOSE

 THE MALLARD COUPLE PADDLE BY AS WELL

Al's Music Box:)) Do You Want To Know A Secret is a song by English rock band the Beatles from their 1963 album Please Please Me and sung by George Harrison. In the United States, it was the first top ten song to feature Harrison as lead singer.  "Do You Want to Know a Secret", written in autumn 1962, was primarily composed by John Lennon but credited to Lennon-McCartney.   The song was inspired by "I'm Wishing", a tune from Walt Disney’s 1937 animated film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs which Lennon's mother, Julia, would sing to him as a child. The first two lines of the song in Disney's movie ("Want to know a secret? Promise not to tell?") come right after the opening lyrics ("You'll never know how much I really love you... You'll never know how much I really care..."). McCartney has said it was a "50–50 collaboration written to order", i.e., for Harrison to sing, but Lennon, who always claimed the song as his own, explained in a 1980 interview that he had realized as soon as he had finished writing the song that it best suited Harrison.  In 1980, Lennon said that he gave "Do You Want to Know a Secret" to Harrison to sing because "it only had three notes and he wasn't the best singer in the world", but added "he has improved a lot since then."  The song was recorded as part of their marathon ten-hour recording session on 11 February 1963 along with nine other songs for Please Please Me.  Harrison sang two songs on Please Please Me—this song by Lennon–McCartney and "Chains" by Goffin/King. "Don't Bother Me" would be Harrison's debut composition and appeared on the Beatles' next UK album With the Beatles.  Harrison and Lennon both played acoustic guitars on the recording in different channels – on the stereo mix, Harrison's guitar was panned to the right channel while Lennon's was panned to the left.

 LOOK CLOSELY AGAIN FOR THE GOSLING

GROANER'S CORNER:((  My wife and I were dining out at a nice restaurant. I overheard the couple at the next table discussing their bill.  "Well Mary," said the man, "Near as I can figure, based of the price of the ham dinner you just ate, we got a hog back on the farm that's worth at least $137,000."

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- McDonald killed Burger King in front of Popeye's over that girl Wendy.  The funeral is at K.F.C.  You going??  I'm taking the Subway.

- We didn't order anything from Amazon yesterday, so the delivery guy knocked on the door to see if we were alright.

- Waiter: "I just wanted to let you know that kids eat for free".

Me: "Good, so I will have a water, and my daughter will have the steak and a kid's Bud Light.

- Got up at 5 a.m. and completed a 5 mile run.  Came home and completed a vegetable smoothie for breakfast.  Problem is, I don't remember the rest of the dream.

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