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