KIND OF A LOST DAY

MOMMA GOOSE STRIKES A LOW PROFILE ON HER NEST THIS MORNING AS POPPA GOOSE QUICKLY FLIES IN TO PROTECT HER FROM THE PAPARAZZI WALKING BY…………..

Well, try as I may tonight I just could not get myself interested in putting my Blog hat on. My creative side was dead in the water & my usual every day writing enthusiasm was nowhere to be found. I’ll just blame it on another poor night’s sleep & our cold gray damp weather & hope for a brighter creatively productive day tomorrow.

Did manage to get one thing out of the way this morning though.  Kelly came back from Cambridge the other day with some new material for the seats on our kitchen chairs. With scissors in hand & using the old chair seat material as a pattern, Kelly cut out the first seat cover & I went to work with my staple gun & re-covered the wood based seat. Spurred on by my stapling success, I went on to cut out the other 3 seat covers & reupholstered the rest of the chair seats. Turned out really well if I must say so myself.  Even managed to get the seats screwed back on the chairs right side up….now fancy that:))

Happy to say I have had no side effects from the pills I was given for my leg pain last week. Instructions are to double them this week so we’ll see what happens.

Couple new Blog Followers today.  SAM LIVINGSTON describes himself as an old man who likes to eat & hike & MARTYYOUNG562 rounds out our Blog Followers list at an even 500. Thanks for dropping by & brightening up my gloomy day folks, much appreciated:))

GROANER’S CORNER:((

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- Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.
- Home is where your pet is:))
- The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.
stargeezerguy@gmail.com

LAYING THERE LISTENING TO MY BLOOD SWOOSH AROUND

A LONE SEAGULL HEADS ACROSS GODERICH’S FOG SHROUDED HARBOR THIS MORNING
Our overnight rain ushered in warmer weather this morning & both those elements are welcome this time of year.  Farmers are particularly happy to to get those dry dusty fields moistened up for planting & it was obvious this morning on my way to Goderich farmers have been on the land.

QUIETLY WAITING IN THE HALL FOR MY DOPPLER ULTRA-SOUND  >>>
Nothing really exciting about my double Hospital appointment at 8 a.m..  Lower back, leg & knee X-rays took about 5 minutes & my 'Doppler' ultra-sound lasted about 20 minutes.  At least that one had some sound to it.  I could periodically hear a swish like beating sound coming from the operators computer just off to the right.   I assumed that to be my blood flow pulsating through my legs with ‘every beat of my heart’.  Say, I think that was the title of a Rod Stewart song. 
 
TORNADO DAMAGED DOWNTOWN GODERICH CONTINUES TO REBUILD
Checking my watch on the way out of the Hospital I was surprised to see it saying 11:15.  Either I had been time warped or the battery had died.  Turned out to be the latter.  Kind of wished it had been the former.  Now, wouldn’t that give a fella something exciting to think about for a change.  A quick stop at a local jewellery store downtown Goderich solved the dead watch battery problem for $5.50.  From there it was a drive down to the fog shrouded north side of the Goderich harbor to see if I could find me a photo or two.  I did, & headed back uptown.

A heavy fog had set in giving tornado ravaged downtown Goderich an eerie look.  Once a place of many tall old stately trees, the center of Goderich looks sullenly bare, stripped of all it's foliage & greenery.  Gaping holes tell the tale of where buildings once stood.  A tall crane lifts materials to a work crew on a damaged roof.  Scaffolding up the sides of other buildings in various states of repair.  Brown paper still covers some windows & the sounds of hammers & saws inside tell of the repairs & renovations going on.  Some new trees have been planted.  The tornado happened in late August last year but the repairs & rebuilding in Goderich will be going on for some time to come.   As well, some new trees have been planted around Goderich’s court house where every tree & shrub was torn out or flattened.  It's kind of uncanny driving around an area that once was so familiar & now looks so eerily different & hauntingly strange. 

A YEAR AGO STANDING HERE, THE THE TOP TWO THIRDS OF THE GODERICH COURT HOUSE WOULD HAVE BEEN OBSCURED BY TALL MAPLE TREES…ALL GONE NOW BUT NEW TREES HAVE BEEN PLANTED TO THE LEFT
 
NOT SURE, BUT THESE WOOD CARVINGS MAY HAVE BEEN DONE FROM THE TRUNKS OF BLOWN DOWN TREES
 
A LARGE GAZEBO FOR OUTDOOR CONCERTS ONCE STOOD ON THIS OCTAGON CEMENT PLATFORM
Forgot to bring the bird feeders in last night so you can guess what happened.  Well, l like me, you might would have guessed wrong.   Amazingly enough, all feeders were still hanging in place & not smashed up on the ground.  Have also determined Mr. Rocky Raccoon (remember that from the Beatles white album I think) has not breeched my stovepipe defence on the bird station.  Seed on the platform in the mornings tell me the Coon has not climbed there to vacuum them up.  Will I bring the feeder’s in tonight….Yep!! 

THE COLOR OF THIS VIBRANT BLUE FISH & CHIP PLACE NEAR THE GODERICH HARBOR REMINDS ME OF MANY COLORFUL BUILDINGS IN FISHING VILLAGES I HAVE SEEN ON CANADA’S EAST COAST, NAMELY NOVA SCOTIA

Kelly took some photos with her Canon PowerShot A430 while in Cambridge the past few days & I'm happy to say she did all the Picasa photo editing herself.  Cropping, lighting, sharpening, etc.  She's getting pretty comfortable with my Nikons as well.  This Gal can do anything:))

KELLY WITH SON JASON & DAUGHTER SABRA
 
KELLY’S MOM, KELLY HOLDING JASON’S SON REEVE…KELLY, HER MOM, LANGDON, KEENAN & THEIR MOM, KELLY’S DAUGHTER, SABRA
  
KELLY’S BROTHER PETER…KELLY & SABRA…KELLY’S SON BEN
Recent rains & warmer weather really have our plant life greening up & leafing out quickly right now.  Next month about this time our property will be looking full & lush.  We will once again be happily enclosed in our ever growing jungle of garden greenery.  I will probably be out in the bush again shortly digging up more Pine & Cedar trees too.  Now that my legs are feeling much better I can resume some more landscaping.  Finished up our day in sunshine so Pheebs & I headed out for a walk in the forest.  Momma Goose is still sitting on her nest but any day now I expect to see some fuzzy little yellow fellows  paddling around on the pond between a couple of proud parents.

LOCAL FISHERMEN GATHER AROUND THE STERN OF A GREAT LAKES FREIGHTER

Noticed we have 2 new Blog Followers today so Kelly, Pheebs & I welcome aboard HAPPY MOM & TAMMY MAHONEY.  Nice to have you folks join our travels whether they be near or far.  More near than far for right now but we still try to keep things interesting from day to day until we get the big wheels rolling again in October.

A LARGE GRAIN ELEVATOR EMERGES OUT OF THE HARBOR FOG
THE LAST PARAGRAPH:  Ever wonder why someone would continue to read a blog they didn't like, day after day.  What does it say about that reader's personality.  What is their reasoning, their motive?  What would a readers purpose be for doing that?  What kind of thought processes go on in a person's mind to make them think the way they do?  I wonder……………………..
GROANER’S CORNER:((  Hey, how about a Pun night……
- When chemists die, they barium
- Jokes about German sausage are the wurst
- I know a guy who's addicted to brake fluid, but says he can stop any time.
- How does Moses make his tea? Hebrews it.
- I stayed up all night to see where the sun went. Then it dawned on me.
- This girl said she recognized me from the vegetarian club, but I could swear I'd never met herbivore.
- I'm reading a book about anti-gravity. I just can't put it down.
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- Tourists see the world, travelers  experience it.
- Home is where your pet is:))
- The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right  now...AL.
stargeezerguy@gmail.com

AND TO THINK, YEARS AGO I DIDN’T EVEN KNOW WHERE THE GRAND CANYON WAS…….:((

KELLY AT THE GRAND CANYON’S NORTH RIM ON NOVEMBER 21RST 2007…ALL OF TONIGHT’S PHOTOS ARE FROM THE NORTH RIM OF THE GRAND CANYON

Reading Chinle’s SPOTTED DOG RANCH post this morning about Geography, I was reminded of the time I couldn’t find Arizona’s Grand Canyon. Yep, it’s true, I just didn’t know where it was.

A BEAUTIFUL DRIVE TO THE NORTH RIM

KEEP IN MIND THESE PHOTOS WERE TAKEN SIXTEEN & HALF YEARS AFTER TODAY’S STORY

The year was 1992 & the month was May. My Dad had just died a few months earlier & I had it my head to get away from it all to see & do something totally different for a bit. My wife at the time, Susan, worked for an accounting firm & tax season wasn’t over until the end of April. Can’t remember where I was working at the time but it probably wasn’t anywhere too important. Earliest we could get away was the second week in May. Had always wanted to see the Grand Canyon so that was the destination.

 
IT WAS LATE IN THE SEASON SO NOBODY WAS AROUND

No internet in those days & I’m not even sure we had a map of the Southwest. Threw a bunch of stuff into the back of our little white Mazda pick-up truck & we were off. The truck did have a cap on the back by the way. My mind is sketchy on all the trip details but I do know we made it to Moab Utah somehow, sleeping in the back of the pick up truck most nights. Remember, it’s May & still cold through Michigan, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, etc. Can’t imagine now how we did that but of course that was 20 years ago when we were still young enough to be kind of foolishly hardy.

As I recount this story now I have memories coming back from parts of the trip I hadn’t thought about in years but I’ll just concentrate on the Grand Canyon story for now. We did get to see the ‘Arches’ in Moab & the memories of those canyons & rock formations have always stayed with me. In fact, Moab & that whole surrounding area still remains in my heart as a very special place.  I don’t know how or why I didn’t know where the Grand Canyon was & it seems so ridiculous now all these years later. Maybe I was expecting to see a big flashing neon sign along the road somewhere saying, ‘This Way To The Grand Canyon’. I think I might have known it was in Arizona somewhere so that is where we headed. I remember leaving Moab & heading down highway 191 through the towns of Mexican Hat & Kayenta. I remember the hot, hot, days & the cold, cold, nights sleeping in the back of that pick up truck.

 
NORTH RIM LODGE WITH WINDOWS BOARDED UP FOR THE WINTER

Didn’t realize it but we were heading right for the Grand Canyon on highway 160 when for some unknown reason I got it in my head to head northwest & see if it was up there someplace. Would have been so easy to pay more attention to a map or ask directions but you have to remember….I’m a man, so the second part of the above 2 options didn’t apply. Kind of remember going through Page Az. & crossing the Glen Canyon dam still looking for that big flashing neon Grand Canyon sign.

 
I DID TAKE A LOT OF PHOTOS IN 92 BUT THEY ARE ALL KODACHROME SLIDES

It was somewhere shortly after the dam crossing that I decided on a bumpy little dusty road heading back up into Utah towards Bryce Canyon. Bryce must have rang some kind of bell in my head but I’m sure the sound would have echoed all around the empty travel information chambers I had up there. Did get to see some great scenery along that road though. Cotton Canyon, Grosvenor’s Arch, & Kodachrome Basin come to mind. Anyway, to shorten this up a bit, we did end up in the little town of Panquitch in an RV Park somewhere while we had ourselves a look at Bryce Canyon. It was round about this time that I was finally able to connect a few travel brain cells together long enough to realize just where the Grand Canyon actually was. Turns out it was about 150 miles south of us.

 

SO MUCH TO SEE HERE & WE SAW SO LITTLE BECAUSE OF OUR BRIEF VISIT

Now, why I made the next decision I have no idea but we were up early on the morning of May 15th & drove the 3 plus hours to the north rim of the Grand Canyon. At this point I don’t even think I knew there was a south rim. Turns out it was opening day at the North Rim so we were in a line of cars to get in. I remember how impressed I was with forests along the way & the lodge & cabins there. Walking the paths & peering down into the Grand Canyon was like nothing I had seen before & it made a lasting impression on me. Spent the day & then drove the 3 plus hours back to Panquitch….most of it in the dark. It had turned out to be a long & tiring day. Next morning we headed for Zion Canyon which of course made no sense in the traveling scheme of things when you consider the proximities of the Grand Canyon & Zion to where we were in Panquitch, Utah. Oh the anguish of an unseasoned traveler:((

 

HOPE TO RETURN TO THE NORTH RIM SOME DAY & TAKE SOME MUCH BETTER PHOTOS

In a nutshell I guess it was this trip in 92 that really opened my eyes to the importance of travel planning & getting things right the first time around. Well, kinda opened my eyes anyway. Still have a habit of winging it a lot of times. The fact we got to see as much as we did still amazes me. For basically flying blind we did get to see Buffalo Bill’s house in Nebraska, Estes’ State Park, Colorado, Moab & the Arches, Monument Valley, Bryce Canyon, Grand Canyon, Zion Canyon, Salt Lake City, Utah, Jackson Hole, Yellowstone Park, the Custer Battlefield & Devil’s Tower in Wyoming & Mount Rushmore in South Dakota. By the looks of it I may have stopped to ask directions along the way after the Grand Canyon fiasco. I may not quite know the American Southwest like the back of my hand yet but I sure do know where the Grand Canyon is now…..both rims:))

  

Cloudy start to the day & it stayed that way with rain in the afternoon.  Kelly arrived home about 12 noon & totally surprised me & the Pheebs.  We had both fallen asleep.  Pheebs on the couch & me in my recliner.  Morning play time can kind of do that to a couple best Pals.  Nice to have Kelly home again & no, I will not miss my Hungry Man dinners.  You really didn't think I liked those things did you:))

 

FRIENDS MAUREEN, MIKE & MOLLY….ALSO FROM CANADA

Kelly had a great couple days in Cambridge visiting with her Mother, Brother, two Sons & one daughter plus all the other family members & Grand Kids.  Met some new folks, made some new friends & visited with old friends.  A busy couple days & she's glad to be home.

Had a comment question from Pat B today wondering how to join our Blog.  Just under our top header photo you will see a bunch of thumbnail photos on our Blog Followers list.  Top left of those photos you will see a Google tag that says, 'Join this site.'  Click that & follow the prompts.  I know Google has a habit of changing things so I'm not sure what barrels & hoops you will have to jump over or go through.  Maybe none:))  I do know it is easier to join for folks who already have Google accounts & I assume most do.  Also want to mention again that there are no obligations of any kind for a reader to join anyone's Blog Follower list.

Have to be at the Goderich Hospital for 8 a.m. Tuesday morning.  X-rays & Ultra-Sound for my lower back, legs & right knee.  Both painless procedures so I will not have to be put in a straight jacket & forced to go.  Next week the medical appointments begin to ramp up as we head for my Kidney Stone surgery on May 28th.  Straight jacket & brute force definitely required for that one..........

GROANER'S CORNER:(( Reaching the end of a job interview, the Human Resources person asked a young applicant fresh out of Business School, "And what starting salary are you looking for?"
The applicant said, "In the neighborhood of $125,000 a year, depending on the benefits package."
The interviewer said, "Well, what would you say to a package of 5-weeks vacation, 14 paid holidays, full medical and dental, company matching retirement fund to 50% of salary, and a company car leased every two years - say, a red Corvette?"
The applicant sat up straight and said, "Wow! Are you kidding?"
And the interviewer replied, "Yeah, but you started it." 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Tourists see the world, travelers  experience it.

- Home is where your pet is:))

- The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right  now...AL.

stargeezerguy@gmail.com