MY BIG FRIDAY AFTERNOON DIG

Friday nights are my night to call Aunt Jean in Florida to see how she is doing.  Always in good spirits, she is finding her ninety-eight years physically closing in on her.  Her mind is still as sharp as a tack, and maybe even sharper.  No longer able to walk far, even with her walker, and losing strength, she has not let that stop her from slowly making her way outside, and across the parking lot to her car, where minutes later, she zooms out of the driveway into the heavy Sarasota traffic, either going to get her hair done, maybe a stop at Walmart, and then over to her friend Pat's place for a visit.  Aunt Jean adds clarity and meaning to the words resilience, perseverance, and stamina.  After our phone call ended about 9:30 and with the night sky already dark, I wasn't long in jumping into the car and heading off to my favorite stargazing spot atop Tower Hill, just a few miles northeast of where I live.  How mesmerizing, without the Moon in the sky, to see the Milky Way stretching across the sky and all the way down to the horizon in the southwest.  The night sky was filled with silent, shimmering stars in the cool, brisk late summer air.  Because of the clear, and colder air, I was also able to see farther into the distant horizon lines.  Many more flashing red lights from the wind turbines to the south and east were easily visible. However, I never saw the blinking lights of a single aircraft or the steady trajectory of a single satellite.  Although my iPhone alerted me to the presence of the International Space Station in the area, I never did see it.  So many thoughts on my mind again, and so many memories.

 HAPPY TO BE BACK AT MY STARGAZING SPOT

 LOOKING SOUTH, THAT GLOW TO THE LEFT IS VARNA, ONTARIO, AND THE OTHER LIGHTS TO THE RIGHT ALONG THE HORIZON ARE FLASHING RED LIGHTS ON THE WIND TURBINES....TOOK BOTH OF THESE PHOTOS WITH MY HANDHELD iPHONE

With this great September weather upon us, I have been trying to take advantage of every minute outside, getting as many things done as I possibly can before the nasty late October and November cold and wet weather sets in.  I'm still roto-tilling up ground wherever I can, and planting grass seed.  I'm sure my gardening and landscaping energy finally returned, but I knew it probably would once the heat and humidity of summer were gone.  As I've said countless times....this is my absolute, very much most favorite time of the entire year, with Spring coming in a close second.  

 A FEW TOUCHES OF AUTUMN COLOR IN OUR PARK THIS MORNING

 A GNARLY TREE NEXT TO THE PARK'S POND

 IN OUR PARK, THIS IS THE FIRST OF THREE NEW UNITS ON ITS CONCRETE PAD

I had no idea Friday morning when I woke up that by noon I would be digging several directional trenches about a foot and a half deep near our front porch steps, looking for the proverbial 'needle in a haystack'.  A notice from our Park's owners stated that, 'The MECP-?? has a septic tank requirement that is now being enforced. All septic systems need to be emptied a minimum of every five years. (ours hasn't been emptied since before we moved here nearly 23 years ago) Tanks must be emptied by October 31st. 2025'.  Well, with a vague memory of seeing a diagram somewhere of where our septic tank was located over two decades ago, I grabbed my shovel and started digging.  Of course, the location of our tank is right where I have been working on improving the area around our entranceway.  So, first I had to remove a bunch of pea stones before I could even start digging.  Then, standing in our driveway, I tried to imagine where the lid to the tank might be located, assuming the lid would be in the middle. (no it isn't!!) I started digging a hole where I was hoping the tank lid would be, and within minutes, I clunked onto something hard about a foot and a half down.  Yup, it was the top of the tank, alright, but not the lid.  Now, which direction to dig in hopes of finding the lid?  Digging to the east about three feet, I found an edge but no lid.  I then turned around to where I had started and headed west about four feet before finding another edge.  No lid.  Back to my starting point and headed south towards a big basswood tree.  Now I was into roots and had to go get an axe.  Frustrating? Yes!! But with inclement weather bringing colder temperatures and rain in the coming days, I wanted to get this job done as soon as possible while the weather is good because I had already phoned a septic tank company in Seaforth and they were coming on the 29th of the month.  They also said I was responsible for digging the hole to expose the tank lid.  So, continuing, I dug south (through the roots) for about four feet before finding the edge of the tank.  Still no lid, so I knew I had only one direction left to go, and that was north towards the house.  Dig, dig, dig, and finally, just before a newly grass-seeded area, a 'clank' at the end of my shovel as I struck a steel inverted U-shaped object embedded in a concrete square, Logic told me this was the tank lid.  Right beside it was another, but smaller steel ring, which I figure is the second smaller lid.  I'm assuming the septic tank truck will have some kind of heavy lifting device to lift the heavy concrete lid off.  Anyway, this whole septic tank endeavour took me the best part of two hours to complete, and by the time I was finished, I don't think there was hardly a muscle anywhere in my body that wasn't screaming at me, saying, "go sit down, you blithering idiot, we can't take any more!!"  Happy to say upon awakening this morning that all my muscles and bones are back in place in harmonious bliss, and all is okay between mind and body again.  Well, so far, anyway:)) ............... And, a note to Facebook readers....Woodsy informed me today that she couldn't find my last night's post entitled 'Another Change For A Change'.  I have since posted it to Facebook late this afternoon.  Also, I had a few glitches in the same post with the photo captions on a white background, making them hard to read.  I didn't do that intentionally, and I don't think it will be a problem in tonight's post.

I  DUG A HOLE IN THE CENTER AND THEN DUG A TRENCH TO THE FOREGROUND.  TURNED AROUND AND DUG A TRENCH TOWARDS THE PORCH, THEN A TRENCH TO THE LEFT AND FINALLY TO THE RIGHT, WHERE THE SHOVEL EVENTUALLY FOUND THE TANK'S LIDS

 KELLY BROUGHT THAT DOUBLE BLADED AXE HOME FROM HER DAD'S GARAGE IN SPENCERPORT NEW YORK YEARS AGO AND IT SURE CAME IN HANDY FOR CHOPPING TREE ROOTS FRIDAY

 IN CASE ANYONE WONDERED WHAT I DID WITH ALL THE DIRT I DUG OUT, IT'S OVER HERE, WHERE I WHEELBARROWED IT

Al's Music Box Deep Purple by Nino Tempo and April Stevens.

 GOLDENROD ALONGSIDE THE ROAD

GROANER'S CORNER:(( Ma & Pa were on the porch & Pa said, " You know, Ma, I'd sure like a big bowl of ice cream." "OK, Pa", she said, as she shuffled off toward the kitchen. "Write it down," he said, "...you'll forget" "Oh, Pa, don't be silly" "Write it down" he said, "cause I want some chocolate syrup on it.", he insisted. "Ice cream..with chocolate syrup" she said, as she walked into the kitchen. 10, 15, 20 minutes passed and finally Ma came out & handed Pa a big bowl of oatmeal. "See, Ma, what'd I tell you....you forgot the toast."

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A Californian said: I aint afraid of the cops around Santa Ana. You seen some of these guys? What, cops on bicycles? How intimidating is this: Alright buddy, pull it over. Ching-ching-ching? What do they do when they arrest somebody? Alright, get in the parcel carrier.

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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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Little Emily was complaining to her mother that her stomach hurt. Her mother replied, “That’s because it's empty. Maybe you should try putting something in it." The next day, the pastor was over at Emily's family's house for lunch. He mentioned having his head hurt, to which Emily immediately replied, "That's because it's empty. Maybe you should try putting something in it."

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Al's Doggy World

Meanings::

Al's Art Gallery