DURING THE POWER OUTAGE I HAD COLORED STARS ALL OVER MY LIVING ROOM

 AFTER THE STORM iPhone

About 30 seconds after I posted my Wednesday blog late in the afternoon, the approaching storm was upon us, and our power went out.  And it stayed out until 9:15 this morning.  Went out again ten minutes later and then came back on again about forty minutes later.  It has been on ever since.  At the height of the storm with huge winds and driving rain, I heard what I thought was a tree come down.  Thought I heard another one but looking around after the storm went through I think it was only part of a tree that came down on the street behind us.  We were very fortunate here not to have any other damage.  Other parts of Southern Ontario were not so lucky.  There is widespread damage, especially to the southeast of us.  To what extent I don't know yet, but I'm sure it will be on the news channels today.  As soon as the storm cleared our area, I donned a rain jacket, hat, and a pair of work gloves, and hopped into the car to take a quick drive around the Park to see if any trees had come down on houses and people may need help.  After all, we are all mainly Seniors in here.  Aside from part of a tree on the street behind us, I didn't see any other damage, except for small limbs and branches down.  It wasn't long before I saw Park owner Adam's little orange Bobcat clearing away that partially downed tree.  With no power, I later drove into Bayfield and was happy to see the village still had power.  I slipped into Tim Hortons and grabbed a coffee to go.  Aside for some small branches down here and there, Bayfield looked in good shape.  Because both my TVs are on the fritz at the moment, I have not seen any of the news reports about the extensive damage caused by yesterday's severe storm.  If anyone missed my post yesterday, they can find it here at, Had Myself Quite A Schmozzle This Morning

 I CAN SEE SKIES CLEARING ACROSS THE LAKE WAY OVER THERE IN THE STATE OF MICHIGAN

 ON THE WAY HOME I ENCOUNTERED THIS BLOCKAGE AND HAD TO BACK UP AND TURN AROUND

Home again, and with no power, I checked on neighbor Monica, and she was doing okay. Back in the house, I went and gathered together a few candles and a couple of flashlights.  Kelly had bought an emergency radio years ago, so I had that up and running too.  It has batteries and can be hand-cranked if the batteries fail.  For music, and with my wireless headphones on, I turned to my iPhone's music files and chose a folder named Al's Favs.  How wonderful to have my very much most soft ambient music to listen to while I continued re-reading one of my Anne Of Green Gables books.  Also, I hauled out my little plastic star projection thing, put some batteries in it, and in the darkness, I had colored stars all over my living room.  I leisurely tipped back in my recliner and magically enjoyed the power outage.

 TIPPED BACK IN MY RECLINER WITH MY MUSIC, I HAD THE MOON AND STARS ON MY CEILING AND WALLS.....IT WAS MAGIC

Of course, I was disappointed to wake up this morning to silence.  The power was still off, and my iPhone had run out of juice. But, not to be deterred, I was soon in the car with the phone charging in a charger plugged into the cigarette lighter thingy.  Although foggy, I headed straightaway for Tim Hortons coffee shop with fingers crossed that they would be open.  They were.  From there it was home again to finish my coffee.  Still no power, so off to my walking road I went, and from there, half an hour later, headed back home.  Still no power, but finally it did come back on, and I was able to start catching up on things.   

 ROLLING OUT OF THE PARK I COULD SEE IT WAS FOGGY

IT WAS A FOGGY MORNING WALK

 CANADA GEESE IN THE HARVESTED WHEAT FIELD ALONGSIDE MY WALKING ROAD

 THE STORM WINDS WERE SO STRONG YESTERDAY THAT THEY BLEW THIS CLUMP OF GOLDEN ROD SIDEWAYS

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 IT LOOKS LIKE THIS LITTLE SPIDER'S WEB, ONLY A FEW FEET AWAY FROM THE GOLDEN ROD WITHSTOOD THE STORM'S FURY

 I PARK HERE SO OFTEN THAT ALL THE LONG DITCH GRASS IS FLAT

Al's Music Box:: True Love Ways by Buddy Holly

 GRAIN WAGONS IN THE MORNING MIST

GROANER'S CORNER::My grandfather worked in a blacksmith shop when he was a boy, and he used to tell me, when I was a little boy myself, how he had toughened himself up so he could stand the rigors of blacksmithing.  One story was how he had developed his arm and shoulder muscles. He said he would stand outside behind the house and, with a 5-pound potato sack in each hand, he would extend his arms straight out to his sides and hold them there as long as he could.  After a while, he tried 10-pound potato sacks, then 50-pound potato sacks. Finally, he got to where he could lift a 100-pound potato sack in each hand and hold his arms straight out for more than a full minute.  Next, he started putting potatoes in the sacks.

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What do you get when you cross Speedy Gonzales with a country singer? Arriba McEntire.

What do you call a Mexican with a rubber toe? Roberto!

What do you call a Mexican with a lowered car? Carlos!

What do you call a Mexican drowning in mayonnaise?  Sinko De Mayo.

What do you call 4 Mexicans in quicksand?
Cuatro, sink-o.

What do you call a Mexican with a bottle of vermouth?  A dry Martinez.

What do you call two Mexicans playing basketball?  Juan on Juan.

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My very overweight wife and I were enjoying a swim in the hotel pool when a little boy of about five got into trouble and appeared to be drowning. Luckily, my wife was there to save his life...She got out to inform the lifeguard, and the water level dropped enough for him to stand up!

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A pastor was opening his mail one morning and one envelope had only a single sheet of paper with a single word printed on it: “FOOL!”  The following Sunday the priest announced, “I have known many people who have written letters and forgotten to sign their name. But this week I received a letter from someone who signed his name and had forgotten to write a letter.”

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Al's Doggy World

Meanings::

Al's Art Gallery