BEFORE I CAME TO MY SENSES

It was 6:45 a.m. when I was aroused out of my sleep by a 'Ping' followed by half a dozen fading pings.  What the heck was that I thought.  My laptop was not sitting on me because I had remembered to shut it off last night and set it on a small narrow table to my left.  Soft music was on the TV so I knew it wasn't that.  Oh-Oh, Aliens??  Nope:((  A-ha, could it have been the iPhone sitting on a table to my right.  I don't remember turning it off.  I tapped a single tap on the screen and 'Walla' there was my answer.  A notification on my Astronomy app had let me know that the International Space Station would be overhead in five minutes.  I didn't even know the free app program had that feature.  Bonus:))  Ok, so did I go racing outside in my PJs in the early morning freezing cold winter's air and stare blankly up through the Pines??  No way Jose' was I doing that and besides by the time I got the cobwebs cleared out of my head and figured things out, the ISS would have already gone by and probably flown halfway around the world already before I came to my senses.............No wind and no snow in the morning's cold grey air so Pheebs and I took a short ride down Bayfield River Road and back home again.  And that was about it for me.  No way was I going back outside again.  Made sure the birdfeeders were topped up and that was it.

MAILBOXES AND WINTER SNOW PLOWS ARE GENERALLY NOT COMPATIBLE.....GOOD LUCK GETTING MAIL EITHER INTO OR OUT OF THIS ONE

Al's Music Box:)) Lean On Me is a song written and recorded by American singer-songwriter Bill Withers. It was released in April 1972 as the first single from his second album, Still Bill. It was a number-one single on both the soul and Billboard Hot 100 charts, the latter chart for three weeks in July 1972. Billboard ranked it as the No. 7 song of 1972.  It was ranked number 208 on Rolling Stone's's list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" in 2010.  In 2007, the 1972 recording of the song by Bill Withers on Sussex Records was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.    Bill Withers' childhood in the coal mining town of Slab Fork, West Virginia, was the inspiration for "Lean on Me", which he wrote after he had moved to Los Angeles, and found himself missing the strong community ethic of his hometown. He had lived in a decrepit house in the poor section of his town.  Withers recalled to Song Facts the original inspiration for the song:  "I bought a little piano and I was sitting there just running my fingers up and down the piano. In the course of doing the music, that phrase crossed my mind, so then you go back and say, 'OK, I like the way that phrase, Lean On Me, sounds with this song.'  Withers stated in the same interview that he made an effort to keep the lyrics simple.  Several members of the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band were used for the recording session in 1972. A string section was also included.

GROANER'S CORNER:(( An older, tired-looking dog wandered into my yard. I could tell from his collar and well-fed belly that he had a home and was well taken care of.  He calmly came over to me; I gave him a few pats on his head. He then followed me into my house, slowly walked down the hall, curled up in the corner and fell asleep.  An hour later, he went to the door, and I let him out.  The next day he was back, greeted me in my yard, walked inside and resumed his spot in the hall and again slept for about an hour. This continued off and on for several weeks.  Curious I pinned a note to his collar: ‘I would like to find out who the owner of this wonderful sweet dog is and ask if you are aware that almost every afternoon your dog comes to my house for a nap.'  The next day he arrived for his nap, with a different note pinned to his collar: ‘He lives in a home with 6 children, 2 under the age of 3 – he's trying to catch up on his sleep. Can I come with him tomorrow?'

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After reading the morning headlines about the recent stock market downturn, a high-powered executive trying to impress a client in his office, flipped on his intercom switch and barked to his secretary, "Miss Hunter, get my broker!"  The client was impressed until he heard the secretary's clear voice saying, "Yes, Sir, stock or pawn?"

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Did you hear about the ninety-two-year-old man who married a woman of eighty-four?
They spent their entire honeymoon getting out of the car.

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- Accept misfortune as a blessing. Do not wish for perfect health or a life without problems. What would you talk about?

- Be here now. Be someplace else later. Is that so complicated?

- Wherever you go, there you are. Your luggage is another story.

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Jerry was sitting down for breakfast one morning when he was astonished to see in the paper an announcement of his own death.  He called his friend at once, "Jim, have you seen the announcement of my death in the paper?"  Jim replied, "Yes, and exactly where are you calling from?"

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Al's Doggy World

Meanings::

Kellys Corner

LOOKING FOR CRYSTALS ON CRYSTAL HILL SOUTH OF QUARTZSITE ARIZONA

Al's Art Gallery