DESPITE MY SETBACKS, I THOROUGHLY LOVE WHAT I AM DOING

 WOODSY AND I WERE LUCKY ENOUGH TO CATCH A SUNSET AT BAYFIELD'S BEACH TONIGHT

Oh dear, a couple of commentators pointed out, I forgot to finish and include my 'Al's Doggy World', 'Meanings', and 'Al's Art Gallery' in my Friday the 13th night post.  I am not at all surprised about this, and in fact, I'm even a little more surprised that it hasn't happened before and more often.  Working on my blog posts each day, I am like an aging magician who, in fact, has too many balls in the air when juggling.  Balls are being fumbled and dropped, even forgotten, but the magician carries on doing the best he can.  As fellow bloggers and many readers understand, there is a lot of work behind putting a blog post together.  And, the more one has such as features, links, and photos, etc. etc., the more difficult it is for the mind to keep it all straight.  And therein is the accepted challenge for me.  Trying to remember where all those balls are in the air is becoming increasingly difficult for me.  I frustrate myself now by making so many mistakes as I go along.  Simple mistakes that I never made before, most of which center around my forgetfulness.  I'm dropping balls, forgetting where all the balls in the air are, and even forgetting that I have any balls in the air at all. Putting my blog together each day is becoming more difficult, but I love to do it, and wouldn't have it any other way.  I love heading out to take photos and then coming home and editing them.  It's enjoyable, and in part, it's my blog that spurs me on to get out each day and look for photos.  Often, while taking a photo, the caption for that photo is already running through my mind, as are ideas for my daily blog post. I learned how to type in high school, and I love sitting down and typing at a keyboard.  I enjoy thinking about things to write about, sometimes finding inspiration in the simplest of things.  Some people keep their minds active by playing cards, doing word puzzles, or learning new things.  Cards and puzzles don't work for me, but learning new things in some areas does. My daily writings, photography, music, reading, and traveling keep my mind active, even if my travels nowadays don't take me off to faraway RVing places anymore.  I now try to wrangle my thoughts out of simple morning drives around the area.  So anyway, getting back to my blogging foibles and fumbles, just know that you may see more mistakes and forgetfulness out of me in the future.  But just know, despite my setbacks, I thoroughly love what I am doing, and I again thank all my readers for making these hobbies of mine possible each and every day.  Thankyou, Thankyou, Thankyou:)))))   

ALTHOUGH IT LOOKS LIKE BLOWING SNOW OUT ON BAYFIELD'S SOUTH PIER, IT IS ACTUALLY A LAYER OF ICE FOG CAUSED BY COLDER ICE AND SNOW MEETING TODAY'S WARMER TEMPERATURES

 WE ALSO SPOTTED A COUPLE OF PEOPLE OFFSHORE SITTING ON A SNOWY ICE MOUND WATCHING THE SUN GO DOWN

Al's Music Box::  In The Misty Moonlight by Jerry Wallace.

GROANER'S CORNER:((  Fred got home from his Sunday round of golf later than normal and very tired. "Bad day at the course?" his wife asked. "Everything was going fine," he said. "Then Harry had a heart attack and died on the 10th tee."  "Oh, that's awful!" "You're not kidding. For the whole back nine it was hit the ball, drag Harry, hit the ball, drag Harry."

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Q: Why do bees buzz?
A: Because they can't whistle!

Q: Can bees fly in the rain?
A: Not without their little yellow jackets!  

Q: What goes zzub, zzub?
A: A bee flying backwards! 

Q: What are the cleverest bees?
A: Spelling bees! 

Q: What bee is good for your health?
A: Vitamin bee! 

Q: What's a bees favorite novel?
A: The Great Gats-bee! 

Q: What do you get if you cross a bee with a door bell?
A: A hum dinger!  

What do you call a dentist in the army? 
A drill sergeant

Q: What was the first animal in space?  

A: The cow that jumped over the moon.

Q: What’s worse than finding a worm in your apple?  

A: Finding half a worm.

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Al's Doggy World

Meanings::

Al's Art Gallery

WELL, JUST A THOUGHT

BEAUTIFUL HOARFROST ON THE TREES THIS MORNING

A beautiful orange sunrise through the trees this morning explained why our temperature dropped to 0F overnight.  With no cloud cover to hold the warmer air down, the air went straight up into the atmosphere, leaving us with those well below freezing temperatures.  It reminded me of the cold desert nights in the American  Southwest  With a predicted high today of 32F it was a struggle for the temps to even reach 28F.  But, oh my how wonderful it was to see clear blue skies and sunshine right up to early afternoon.

SUNRISE IN OUR FOREST

I had an errand to take care of in Goderich this morning, so off I went under sunny skies and bare dry roads. With clear and cold moisture-laden overnight skies, it was beautiful see the Hoarfrost effect on the trees along Porter's Hill Line. 

 HEADING NORTH TO GODERICH ALONG PORTER'S HILL LINE

Heading down to the harbor, I could see two large ships along with a smaller one, which I could tell was a Canadian ice breaker with its red hull.  The two big ships were stopped in the ice, while the ice breaker maneuvered around, breaking up the ice leading to a channel into the harbor.  In that channel was the tugboat Ocean A Simard chugging back and forth, attempting to keep the narrow channel open and free of ice so that the larger ships could get into the salt dock and the grain dock.  It looked like the ice breaker Vincent Massey had its work cut out for it, as well as the Ocean A Simard did.

 DRIVING DOWN THE HILL INTO THE HARBOR, I SAW THREE SHIPS OFFSHORE

 THE TUG, OCEAN A SIMARD WAS BUSY IN THE CHANNEL BESIDE THE SALT MINE KEEPING A PATH CLEAR OF ICE

 FROM A HIGHER VANTAGE POINT ON THE BLUFFS NEAR THE LIGHTHOUSE I TOOK A FEW MORE PHOTOS OF THE THREE SHIPS

  THE BLUE SHIP LEFT IS THE ALGOMA INTREPID AND BEYOND THAT IS THE CSL FRONTENAC AND TO THE RIGHT IS THE CANADIAN ICE BREAKER CCGS VINCENT MASSEY

 THIS IS A WIDER ANGLE SHOT SHOWING THE THREE SHIPS IN THE VAST SHORELINE ICE FIELD

 TWO NARROW CHANNELS OF OPEN WATER CAN BE SEEN HERE, KEPT OPEN BY THE OCEAN A SIMARD AND THE ICEBREAKER VINCENT MASSEY

 A LAST LOOK AT THE THREE SHIPS FROM A SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT LOCATION

Heading back from Goderich, I slipped into Bayfield, gassed up the car, and then headed down to the beach area to check on the restoration shoreline bank project that has been going on.  I think I have it figured out now.  The big square boulders are no longer piled up offshore; they have been placed tightly in against the shoreline, forming a heavy breakwall to stop the bank from eroding any farther.  There are cottages right there, and I think the cottage owners got together to have that wall built before their cottages one day might wash into the lake.  Well, that's my theory anyway.  And, the big boulder Inukshuk is still standing in the middle of Bayfield's beach.  Maybe it's temporary or maybe it's not.  I kind of hope it stays, and Bayfield could finally give its small beach a name.  'Inukshuk Beach'.  Just think of all the tourists it might draw once the word gets out.  People may flock from miles around to come have a look at Bayfield's 'Inukshuk Beach'.  Well, just a thought:)) 

 THE TWO YELLOW CONSTRUCTION MACHINES WERE AT REST THIS MORNING

 THIS PHOTO SHOWS WHAT I THINK IS THE FINISHED BREAKWATER WALL

 THIS LOOKS MORE LIKE ANTARCTICA THAN BAYFIELD'S BEACH

 YES, I THINK 'INUKSHUK BEACH' FITS THE BILL

Al's Music Box::  Something with a bit of a difference for the music box tonight.  We are all familiar with Michael Jackson's song Billie Jean and I think many would agree that some of the words are pretty hard to understand.  Here is that same song done with clarity as an Irish folk song....Billie Jean  And here is Michael Jackson doing it himself,  Billie Jean

A SNOWY FARM LANE

GROANER'S CORNER:(( Two hobbyists get into their balloon for an excursion. After a while, the wind unexpectedly picks up, and the balloon goes out of control. The two balloonists, with great effort, manage to keep the balloon stable, upright, and away from power lines. But they are lost. With more effort, they get the balloon near the ground. While floating over a country road, they see a man walking below. One of the balloonists calls down to him: "We're lost! Can you tell us where we are?" The man thinks for a while, looks down, looks up, looks down again, stares into space for a minute, and then cries out: "You're in a balloon!" The wind picks up, and the balloon floats off. After a moment, one balloonist says to the other: "That man must be a manager." "Why?" "Three reasons. First, he took a long time to answer. Second, he was perfectly correct. Third, his answer was perfectly useless!"

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- “I got into a fight with a snail. It was a real slug-fest.”

Q: Where do one-legged people eat?

A: IHOP

- The cable repairman was on my street and asked me what time it was. I told him it is between 1:00 pm and 4:00 pm.

- Crazy people don't know they are crazy, I know i'm crazy therefore I'm not crazy. Isn't that crazy.

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Al's Doggy World

Meanings::

Al's Art Gallery