AND THEN, WE HAD A LITTLE INCIDENT

 BAYFIELD'S BEACH BELOW PIONEER PARK THIS AFTERNOON

Too hot for me to be out on the E-bike Saturday, so we waited for the cooler evening before heading out of the Park.  Turning east on Bayfield River Road, we were soon out into the countryside, biking to Tipperary Line and turning left.  The evening was so beautiful with its slowly setting sun to the west.  For some looney reason I had chosen to wear a loose, ill-fitting ball cap, and biking into a warm northerly breeze I had trouble keeping it on heading downhill at speed.  The first time it flew off, I caught it mid-air, but the second time I didn't and it landed on the road.  I slowed down and made a U-turn and headed back to where my hat was lying on the road, and made a second quick U-turn.  But this U-turn was too short and hasty, and I drove right over the peak of my hat! My hat was not happy!! I wasn't either!! Picking it up and hanging it over my right side mirror, I quickly powered up to catch Woodsy, a mere dot, far up the road.  Finally catching up, we continued biking as far as Tower Line Road, where we turned right onto a stretch of gravel and biked the short distance to my night sky viewing spot.  Stopping there, I was able to point out some of the distant landmarks to Woodsy, such as Clinton to the east and the faintly visible wind turbines stretching across the southern horizon. From this spot, we decided to turn around and head for home.  And then we had a little incident. As cyclists well know, when biking, dogs can sometimes pose a hazard when they come flying out of a farm's laneway to chase a passing biker.  And that's what happened about halfway back when a large farm dog came barreling out of a farmyard and went after Woodsy about ten bicycle lengths ahead of me.  The dog, barking loudly and aggressively, closed on her very fast.  Woodsy kept her cool and kept on going, but I could see the dog was only inches from her right leg.  I had to use the power setting on my bike to quickly close the gap between us and try to get as close as possible to distract the dog with my bike.  It worked, and the dog turned its attention to me.  With the dog right beside me now, I looked down straight at him and let out a big loud commanding, and very threatening yell, and that about stopped the fella right in his tracks like I figured it would, and the threat was over.  Of course when I saw him in my mirror slumpingback to the farm, I felt a little sorry I had yelled at him.  I'm sure he'll be alright though. Further along the road and out of dog range, we stopped, and Woodsy was a little shaken.  Whether the dog would have attempted to bite her is unknown, but we agreed if something like that were to happen again, the right thing to do would be to hit the bike's power button and quickly outdistance the chasing dog with a blistering burst of speed. Those electric E-Bikes have a lot of torque to them when you hit the throttle.

 COINCIDENTALLY, ON OUR WAY TO TOWERLINE ROAD, I TOOK THIS PHOTO OF A FARMS FRONT YARD, AND OUR WAY BACK, IT WAS THIS SAME FARM THE DOG CAME ROARING OUT OF

 WOODSY WAS ABOUT THIS FAR OUT FRONT OF ME WHEN THE DOG CAME ROARING OUT FROM THE LEFT-HAND SIDE OF THE ROAD EARLIER

 STOPPED TO TAKE A PHOTO OF THE SUNSET

Stepping out of the car on my walking road this morning, I was surprised to see a red tractor with two wide yellow wings on either side behind it, far off at the corner of the alfalfa field on the east side of my road.  It was headed my way along the west side of the field, and I quickly determined the farmer was just starting out to cut the alfalfa field.  I double-checked to see if my car, sitting on a flat part of the ditch right beside the field's edge, would be in his way.  It wasn't.

 THE TRACTOR HAS A CUTTER ON THE FRONT OF IT AS WELL

 BY MY COUNT HE WAS CUTTING 11 ROWS AT A TIME

Home again, I puttered about outside, pulling a few weeds and watering some grass out back.  It was somewhere around 2 p.m. when we saddled up the E-Bikes and headed into Bayfield on this sunny, not a cloud in the sky, 81F day. A nice pedal around town with a stop at Pioneer Park, Clan Gregor Square, and Rosie's Ice Cream Shop for two kiddie cones.  A lot of people on the street, but we were lucky enough to snag a picnic table in the shade on the north side of Bayfield's Virtual High School.  We had planned to bike down to the beach and out onto the pier, but it was a good thing we didn't.  Decided instead to head for home because Woodsy wanted to get back to Stratford and deal with an air conditioner she had just installed last week.  About a third of the way home, coming up a  hill, my bike suddenly lost power, and no matter what we tried, we could not restore the power despite the battery showing a full charge and my display on the handlebars showing six of six bars.  I had just recharged the battery this morning.  I told Woodsy to head home without me because I knew she still to get her stuff together before heading home.  So, away she went while I manually began pedaling my bike.  I found it not to be an easy task, despite going through all the gears trying to find the easiest way.  I did have to walk it up two short hills, and I did manage to pedal on the flat spots with no grades.  But, one stretch of road is kinda swampy bush on both sides, and only pedaling about half a mile an hour, the biting Deer Flies soon had my range, and I was unable to outrun them.  It was, 'Swat, Swat, Swat. all the rest of the way home......... Woodsy rolled out somewhere around five-thirty, and I wasn't long in popping myself into the shower to get all the sticky sweat and Deer Fly mashings off me.

 WOODSY COUNTED 12 BOATS OUT THERE AND THAT IS THE MOST BOATS I HAVE EVER SEEN AT ONE TIME

 THIS FELLA HAS SOME WIND IN HIS SAILS

 THESE PADDLEBOARDERS HAVE A ROYAL CANADA GOOSE ESCORT

 I THINK THIS MIGHT BE THIS LITTLE GALS FIRST SWIMMING LESSON WITH MOM

 WOODSY SNAPS A FEW PICS

With clear blue skies still overhead, I plan to head out and do a little stargazing tonight.  No, I won't be taking my bike.  I plan to load it onto Subie's bike carrier in the morning and head off to 360 Bikes 'n' Boards in Goderich to find out why my bike suddenly lost power today..........................

 THE FRONT YARD HOSTAS ARE BEGINNING TO BLOOM

Al's Music Box:: You Didn't Have To Be So Nice by The Lovin' Spoonful.

GROANER'S CORNER:: Mr. Jones is driving past the state mental hospital when his left rear tire suffers a flat. While he is changing the tire, another car goes by, running over the hub cap in which he was keeping the lug nuts. The nuts are all knocked into a nearby storm drain. He is at a loss for what to do and is about to go call a cab when he hears a shout from behind the hospital fence, where one of the inmates has been watching the whole thing. "Hey, pal! Why don't you just take one lug nut off each of the other three wheels and use them to replace the missing ones? That'll hold your tires on until you can get to a garage or something." Mr. Jones is startled by the patient's seeming rationality, but realizes the plan will work, and installs the spare tire without incident. Before he leaves, he calls back to the patient. "You know, that was pretty sharp thinking. Why do they have you in there?" The patient smiles and says, "I'm in here because I'm crazy, not because I'm stupid."

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Classmates at college were lamenting the cost of long-distance phone service and debating the relative advantages of AT&T, MCI, and Sprint. "I've found CTC to be the cheapest plan around," offered one. "CTC? Who are they?" "You know," he responded. "Call Them Collect."

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"As I get older he doesn't bother to look at me!" Mary cries. "I'm so sorry for you, as I get older my husband says I get more beautiful every day," replies Jane. "Yes, but your husband's an antique dealer!"

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After she woke up, a woman told her husband, "I just dreamed that you gave me a pearl necklace for Valentine's day. What do you think it means?" "You'll know tonight." he said. That evening, the man came home with a small package and gave it to his wife. Delighted, she opened it to find a book entitled "The Meaning of Dreams"

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A defendant asked the judge to appoint a new attorney to represent him. "For what reason?" the judge asked. The defendant said the public defender assigned to him wasn't interested in his case. The judge addressed the man's attorney, "Do you have any comments on the defendant's motion?"
The attorney replied, "I'm sorry, your honor, I wasn't listening."

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Al's Doggy World

Meanings::

Al's Art Gallery

IT'S AUNT JEAN'S 99TH BIRTHDAY TODAY AND SHE'S STILL MIXING IT UP IN THE MANIC SARASOTA, FLORIDA TRAFFIC

 A FEW PHOTOS AROUND THE PARK THIS MORNING

Aunt Jean and I decided to switch our Friday night phone calls from 8:15 to 7 p.m.  We have been doing these Friday night phone calls for the best part of twenty years.  It's Aunt Jean's 99th Birthday today, and by golly, she is still out there mixing it up in the manic Sarasota, Florida traffic.  Although she sold her car about three months ago, she currently has the use of her friend Pat's car.  Pat fell in her kitchen about six weeks ago, breaking her hip and her right wrist.  She is home now recovering, but not able to drive, so she lent her car to Jean until she can get back behind the wheel again.  Aunt Jean scooted off to her hairdresser and back this week and mentioned again how badly congested the Sarasota traffic has become over recent years.  Pat's car is an SUV and sits higher than Aunt Jean's previous car, a Toyota Camry.  No problem driving Pat's car, Aunt Jean said, but because of the height,  she has one heck of a time getting in and out of it.  

I was startled this morning on my walk while trying to concentrate on taking a flower picture with my iPhone.  All of a sudden I heard a gaggle of voices in my left ear, and on a deserted country road, all of a sudden hearing voices in one's ear can be instantly disconcerting, to say the least.  Not just one voice, but a gaggle of voices, and then, before I could turn my head, the fast-moving voices 'whoooshed' right behind me by what seemed like mere inches.  Those voices were traveling fast and in a split second I estimated they must have been going about 185 mph.  Swiveling quickly with my phone, I barely caught a dusting of them.

Home again, I took a little drive around our Park snapping a few pics here and there.  I saw two more recently poured concrete pads for more new homes, which I expect will be arriving before too long.  The Park owners had another 'open house' today with one of the models, and judging by the number of vehicles, lawn chairs, porch flower pots, and early landscaping, I think the majority of the new units are already sold. 

 AROUND THE PARK

OVER THE PAST NEARLY 24 YEARS, KELLY, MAX, CHECKERS, CORA, PHEEBS AND I HAVE WALKED COUNTLESS  HUNDREDS OF TIMES ALONG THIS EAST BANK OF PARK'S POND ON OUR ONCE DAILY WALKS

 THIS 'REST-A-BIT' BENCH ON THE WEST SIDE OF THE POND ALWAYS REMINDS ME OF KELLY, AND  I CAN STILL SEE HER SITTING THERE

Despite the heat and humidity, I busied myself putting down two bags of mulch in one of the flower beds, hauled out and got the lawn sprinkler going, raked up half a wheelbarrow of pine needles, and fashioned myself together a makeshift roof for the bird station.  Not exactly a thing of beauty, but it might keep the birdfeeder dryer when it rains.

AND THIS IS MY RUDIMENTARY BIRD STATION RENOVATION

 AND THIS IS THE FIRST LITTLE FACE THAT APPEARED THIS AFTERNOON, WHICH TELLS ME I AM GOING TO HAVE TO TRIM PACK SOME MORE BRANCHES

 THIS PAIR OF MOURNING DOVES WERE A LITTLE DISKABOOBLATED BY THE CHANGE TO THE BIRD STATION BUT WITHIN AN HOUR THEY WERE BACK ON THE STATION EATING UP THE SEEDS

 OF COURSE MY BIRD STATION ANTICS WERE OF NO INTEREST TO THIS FRONT YARD FROG POND FELLOW

 NO, THAT IS NOT MY FOOT......'GEEEEEZZZZ'

Had my coffee on the front porch again this afternoon and snapped a few more photos. Woodsy whipped up another 'Watermelon Salad' today, and before I got my face into it, I remembered to take a picture this time. By the way, strawberries make a great addition to this salad as well.  (watermelon, cucumbers, feta cheese, cooked chicken, and honey dijon mustard,) or a salad dressing of your choice.   

Al's Music Box:: Blue Bayou by Roy Orbison.

GROANER'S CORNER:(( A guy walked into a doctor's office and the receptionist asked him what he had. He said, "shingles." So she took down his name, address, and medical insurance number and told him to have a seat. Fifteen minutes later a nurse's aide came out and asked him what he had. He said, "shingles." So she took down his height, weight, a complete medical history and told him to wait in the examining room. A half-hour later, a nurse came in and asked him what he had. He said, "shingles." She gave him a blood test, a blood pressure test, an electrocardiogram, told him to take off all his clothes and wait for the doctor. An hour later the doctor came in and asked him what he had. He said, "shingles." The doctor said, "Where?" He said, "Outside in the truck. Where do you want them?"

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A woman in a hot air balloon realized she was lost. She reduced altitude and spotted a man below. She descended a bit more and shouted: 'Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago but I don't know where I am..' The man below replied, 'You're in a hot air balloon hovering approximately 30 feet above the ground. You're between 40 and 41 degrees north latitude and between 59 and 60 degrees west longitude.' 'You must be an Engineer,' said the balloonist. 'I am,' replied the man, 'how did you know?' 'Well,' answered the balloonist, 'everything you have told me is probably technically correct, but I've no idea what to make of your information and the fact is, I'm still lost. Frankly, you've not been much help at all. If anything, you've delayed my trip by your talk.' The man below responded, 'You must be in Management.' 'I am,' replied the balloonist, 'but how did you know?'
'Well,' said the man, 'you don't know where you are or where you're going. You have risen to where you are, due to a large quantity of hot air. You made a promise, which you've no idea how to keep, and you expect people beneath you to solve your problems. The fact is you are in exactly the same position you were in before we met, but now, somehow, it's my fault.'!!

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Al's Doggy World

Meanings::

Al's Art Gallery