JUST TWO OLD GUYS SITTING IN THE PARK ON A NICE SUMMERY SATURDAY MORNING

TWO OLD GUYS CHAIRS WITHOUT THE TWO OLD GUYS IN THEM....JIM ON THE LEFT, ME ON THE RIGHT

Had myself on the road by 8:30 this morning grabbing a Horton's coffee to go on my way through Clinton to Seaforth.  Met my good buddy Jim in a nice shady Park at the east end of town.  Like Richard, Jim's another long time friend from forty years ago.  We unfolded our lawn chairs and sat ourselves down for several hours under a flock of large maple trees.  Nearby, a sizeable well-groomed baseball diamond hosted 6 opposing sets of teams over a course of 3-hours.  Lots of cheering, baseball hoots, and the clinking of baseball bats knocking out half a dozen home-runs that landed in the area where Jim and were sitting.  Having more energy than me for a younger fella Jim retrieved two of the balls and tossed them back over the fence into the infield.  We had ourselves a 3-hour chat dusting off most of the usual suspects and topics we usually discuss.  We were just a couple old guys sitting in the Park on a fine summery Saturday morning keeping a wary eye out for stray home-run baseballs making their way over the nearby padded outfield fence.  A relaxing way for two old friends to spend a few hours together.

FOLLOWING THE SILVER GREY ROAD TO SEAFORTH ONTARIO EARLY THIS MORNING

SPOTTED THESE TWO PALS ON MY WAY INTO THE PARK

THIS WAS OUR VIEW

THIS PURPLE TEAM WILL SOON BE DOING BATTLE WITH THE WHITE TEAM BELOW

HERE COMES JIM BACK AFTER TOSSING A COUPLE HOME RUN BALLS OVER THE FENCE

SEAFORTH'S MAIN STREET IS SURE A MESS WITH SOME MAJOR CONSTRUCTION GOING ON

GROANER'S CORNER:((  At a bar, Tom said to Bill; Uncle Felix tried to make a new kind of car. He took the wheels from a Cadillac, the radiator from a Lexus, and the tires from a Ford.  What did he get? asked Bill.  Two years, Said Tom.

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I like nice long walks...... Especially when taken by people who annoy me.

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A cowboy was walking down the street with his new pet dachshund. The passerby asked him why a cowboy would own that kind of dog.  The cowboy answered, "Well, somebody told me to get along little doggie."

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HAD TO BACK OURSELVES OUT OF A MCDONALD'S DRIVE-THRU THIS MORNING

 

WATERS OF LAKE HURON WERE ALMOST AS SMOOTH AS GLASS THIS MORNING

Hardly a cloud in the cool morning sky as Pheebs and I made our way to Goderich.  A quick Walmart stop then over to the Canadian Tire store where I paid for a small razor paint scraper thingy with the last $5 bill in my wallet.  From there it was off to McDonald's with the intention of using my new 'tap' debit card for a coffee and a burrito to share with Pheebs.  Well wouldn't ya know it....their debit machine was down and there I was sitting there without enough cash in my pocket for even a cup of coffee.  Had to back myself out of the line-up along with another poor soul in the other line-up who was obviously short on cash as well.  I had never used my debit card to buy a coffee before and this was my first attempt.  Using a debit card to buy a cup of coffee has never seemed quite right to me but I guess I have simply slipped too far behind the times.  So anyway, it was a coffee-less trip down to the harbor and beach area.  I really don't need that second cup of coffee in the morning anyway.  It's just a habit of mine like a carrot muffin every morning was.  But at least the sugarless cup of coffee never had the same fattening effect those muffins had on me.  By the way, I've managed to lose 10 pounds so far since being diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes a couple months ago.  Now if I can just lose another 10 pounds and get myself down around 185 somewhere I'll be getting closer to where I really would like to be.  Of course, when I look at myself sideways in a long length mirror I still see a man standing there who looks to be about 9 months pregnant.

A productive day as my energy returned from wherever it had gone Thursday and I was able to put a few more hours in shining up our little Winnebago.  I'm about a third done.  Coffee break over at Richard and Gayle's where Kelly was able to help Richard out with a few computer things.  All and all a good day all way round.  'Except'......I was unable to caption the above photos due to a Blogger bug.  Had spacing problems again as well.  Hope they get these bugs fixed soon!!

I'll be heading out all by myself in the morning to meet my good buddy Jim from Stratford for a coffee.  We too shall slice and dice many current events and problems in the world and come away from our meeting feeling we haven't even accomplished a one darn thing that will matter or help anyone anywhere.  Jim and I have been doing this for about 40 years now and we are still the best of friends.  Imagine that eh:))

GROANER'S CORNER:((  During his physical, the doctor asked the patient about his daily activity level.  He described a typical day this way: 'Well, yesterday afternoon, I waded along the edge of a lake, drank eight beers, escaped from wild dogs in the heavy brush, jumped away from an aggressive rattlesnake, marched up and down several rocky hills, stood in a patch of poison ivy, crawled out of quicksand and took four leaks behind big trees.' Inspired by the story, the doctor said, 'You must be one hell of an outdoorsman!' 'NAH,' he replied, 'I'm just a crappy golfer.'

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Little Johnny was caught swearing by his teacher.  "Johnny," she said, "you shouldn't use that kind of language. Where did you hear such talk, anyway?"  "My daddy said it," he responded.  "Well, that doesn't matter," explained the teacher. "You don't even know what it means."  "I do, too!" Little Johnny retorted. "It means the car won't start."

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WE BOTH SEEM TO COME OUT THE OTHER SIDE OF OUR CONVERSATIONS A WEE BIT THE WISER

MY ONLY PHOTO TODAY.......AN ELDERLY MAN SITTING ON A NEW BENCH ON THE NEW BOARDWALK ALONGSIDE THE ROAD TO GODERICH'S ROTARY COVE

It was shortly before 9 a.m. when a familiar and expected burgundy van came slowly around the corner and pulled into our driveway.  It was Richard of course and we were soon off on our first of two country road coffee runs of the month.  A couple carrot muffins to go with two McDonald coffees to wash the crumbs down and we were soon off around the town of Goderich and out into the countryside.  Lots to talk about with many things to bend and twist in an effort to make some kind of sense out of everything.  In this day and age, it grows tougher by the day to keep our reality-based common sense and logical thinking at the forefront of our discussions without being bowled over by today's increasing illogical madness.  But somehow, and I'm not sure just how, we both seem to come out the other side of our conversations a wee bit the wiser.  Well,  it sometimes seems like that anyway.  Not much else going on here today.  Temps are once again going up and the humidity is slowly creeping back in.  Did a little more polishing on the rig but soon tired out and came inside.  Must have used up all my Thursday energy on Wednesday.

GROANER'S CORNER:(( A pastor who was badly overworked went to the local medical center and was able to have a clone made. The clone was like the pastor in every respect--except that the clone used extraordinarily foul language. The cloned pastor was exceptionally gifted in many other areas of pastoral work, but finally the complaints about the dirty language were too much.The pastor was not too sure how to get rid of the clone so that it wouldn't look like murder. The best thing, he decided, was to make the clone's death look like an accident. So the pastor lured the clone onto a bridge in the middle of the night and pushed the clone off the bridge.

Unfortunately, there was a police officer who happened by at that very moment and arrested the pastor for making an obscene clone fall.

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A man pulls up to the curb and asks the policeman, "Can I park here?"  "No," says the cop.  "What about all these other cars?"  "They didn't ask!"

A man was found guilty of overusing commas.  The judge warned him to expect a really long sentence.

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AWESOME GEORGE'S FINAL RESTING PLACE

LOCAL LLAMAS STEPHANIE AND HENRY EARLY THIS
MORNING

In my opinion, it was the nicest weather morning we've had this year so far.  I marveled at the refreshing coolness when I stepped out of the house into Wednesday's clear morning air.  At last, we were going to have a comfortable outside day.  Less than a minute after rolling out of our driveway we cleared our Park's encompassing forest and right away I was awestruck by the beauty of big fleecy cloud patterns against mornings early sky.   Instantly I knew Pheebs and I had a destination.  A destination that has been in the back of my mind since last winter.  It was a familiar Mennonite cemetery nearly 90 miles away and only a few miles east of my old home town of Tavistock, Ontario.  A cemetery I hadn't been to for many decades.

JUST A GRAND MORNING FOR A COUNTRY DRIVE

I have relatives and friends buried there and Aunt Jean in Florida mentioned a few months back, if I ever get down to that cemetery again could I take some tombstone photos of our past family members.  Don't know if I ever mentioned it before but my Grandmother on my Mother's side was Mennonite (Steinman) and came from the Zurich Ontario area. But there was another reason for me going to this particular cemetery and it had been on my mind for the past few months to go there as soon as we had a nice day free of heat and humidity.  Turns out, today was that day.

Pheebs and I were on the road shortly after 8 a.m. heading east.  Picked up some gas and coffee to go in Clinton then took a road paralleling the north side of Highway 8.  This was an old favorite route of mine back in my Stratford Airport days.  Bouncing off the northwest corner of Stratford we continued east until we reached a crossroads north of Shakespeare Ontario with a little country church on the southwest corner.  Turned right and stopped at the churchyard.  Nice spot for a Pheebs break.  We also walked over to look at a tombstone.  Some may remember my story back in 2011 called 'The Lamp'Part 1 & 'The Lamp' Part 2.  Key to the story was a kindly man by the name of Dayton Appel.  He is buried here and we dropped by to say Hello and Thankyou.

A LITTLE COUNTRY CHURCH NORTH OF SHAKESPEARE ONTARIO

DAYTON APPEL

Continuing our journey south in the direction of Tavistock we skirted around the east side of town and headed for a road called the 16th line.  This whole area is where I grew up so everything was familiar to me except for how the ravages of time have altered old familiar memories.  It was shortly before 10 when we arrived at the East Zorra Mennonite Church,  The little church on a once graveled road I remembered from many years ago was much bigger now and the dusty old gravel road has turned to pavement.

ARRIVING AT THE EAST ZORRA MENNONITE CHURCH

I ONCE KNEW A NUMBER OF THOSE PEOPLE OVER THERE

PARKED THE JEEP AT THE BACK OF THE CEMETERY

AWESOME STORM CLOUDS PASSING BY

With nobody around, I parked the Jeep near a pile of dirt at the southeast corner of the cemetery.  I could see right away the section where the recent internments were and I wasn't long in finding who I was looking for.  There was no tombstone there yet, only a recently poured concrete base with a last name hastily scrawled in the once fresh cement.  It was one of four new cement bases and the final one I looked at held the last name of the fellow I was looking for.  This is where fellow Blogger, RV'er, and friend, George Yates from Our Awesome Travels has been laid to rest.  Here in this quiet little Mennonite cemetery in southwestern Ontario, Canada.  I didn't get to see George in his final days and I didn't make it to his funeral but I knew I would make it to his final resting place.  What a beautiful morning it was to be there standing beside George's plot with my thoughts and memories of him.

THAT'S GEORGE'S FINAL RESTING PLACE IN THE FOREGROUND

GEORGE, LEFT FOREGROUND

I THINK PHEEBS SENSED GEORGE'S PRESENCE

WITHOUT ME SAYING ANYTHING TO HER SHE DECIDED TO LAY RIGHT HERE BESIDE GEORGE

WITH A PROMISE TO RETURN WE SAID 'SEE YA DONE THE ROAD'GEORGE' AND HEADED BACK TO THE JEEP

AWESOME GEORGE AT OUR HOUSE IN CONGRESS ARIZONA

I never did find my ancestors although Pheebs and I walked that whole cemetery looking and looking.  The lettering of many of the older tombstones have not withstood the test of time very well and are unreadable.  I saw so many other stones with the names of people I once knew.  Old school chums, childhood friends, and many acquaintances from around my old home town of Tavistock and the surrounding countryside.  And I had one more cemetery to stop at.

I think it was around 10:30 when I bade farewell to George with a promise to return with my camera when his stone is in place.   Pheebs and I headed for the nearby village of Tavistock.  It had been three or four years since I was last there and I was in for a shock.  Couldn't believe all the new housing in the villages east end.  And the traffic!!  It was no longer the quiet little village I had grown up in back in the late 40's, 50's, and early 60's.  Taking a short drive around town my head was on a swivel with so many old memories fighting for my attention.  Pheebs and stopped at the town's Sub Shoppe for a 6" Tuna sub.  Our first one in almost two years since they jumped the prices way up.  From there it was a last stop at another cemetery in Tavistock's southwest end where my Grandma & Grandpa, Mother, step-Father, and Uncle are buried, as well as more friends and acquaintances.  More thoughts and more memories as I walked around the cemetery reading and remembering names.  It was 11:30 when I finally left the cemetery, nosed the Jeep around, and set a westerly course for home.  It had been quite an emotional morning but what a beautiful morning to be out and about with one's thoughts of past friends, family members, and many acquaintances along the way from days gone by.

HERE'S PHEEBS AND I SHARING A SUB IN TAVISTOCK THIS MORNING

'HEY DAD, LET'S NOT FORGET THAT SHARING PART'

THESE ARE MY FAMILY MEMBERS WHO WERE SO INSTRUMENTAL IN MY GROWING UP

ADJACENT TO THE CEMETERY IS TAVISTOCK'S OLD PUBLIC SCHOOL (NOW A NURSING HOME FACILITY) WHERE NOT ONLY I WENT TO SCHOOL BUT ALSO MY MOTHER, AUNT JEAN, AND UNCLES TED, FRED, AND HARRY ATTENDED SCHOOL HERE AS WELL

ON THE WAY HOME I NOTICED THESE TWO SKALLY-WAGS WERE UP TO SOMETHING

YEP, THEY WERE SNITCHING SOME SNACKS OFF THE OLD HAY WAGON

GROANER'S CORNER:((  Sam had proposed to young Lisa and was being interviewed by his prospective father-in-law.  "Do you think you are earning enough to support a family?" the older man asked the suitor.

"Yes, sir," replied Sam, "I am."  "Well," said Lisa's father, "think carefully now. There are six of us."

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Q: Why are men like computers?

A: As soon as you commit to one, you realize that if you'd waited a little longer you couldn't have gotten a better model!

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People don't like to look dumpy in their own photos, which is why a local professional photographer gets a lot of requests asking him to retouch photos. You know, erase the crow's-feet, lop off the 'love handles' -- that sort of thing.
Therefore, he wasn't surprised when one woman, pointing to a family portrait, asked him, "Can you take thirty pounds off me?" until she added, "and put it on my sister?"

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Hey Wiz, doesn't that car salesman look like the late Fred Ashton.  I took the photo below at the little churchyard north of Shakespeare this morning.