Thursday, March 11, 2021

TO LONDON ONTARIO AND BACK ON A FABULOUS GOOD OLD SPRING TONIC DAY

 ALONG GODERICH'S SHORELINE THIS MORNING
Seeing most farm fields totally free of snow this morning I was still surprised at how much snow has melted in the last 24 hours.  I was also surprised when I checked Wednesday night's temperature at 11 p.m. and it was sitting at 61F.  Many all-time high-temperature records for this date were broken yesterday.  

 ON OUR WAY TO GODERICH THIS MORNING WE SPOTTED THIS GATHERING OF TUNDRA SWANS IN A CORNFIELD

 THESE SWANS WERE LOCATED ON THE NORTH SIDE OF KITCHIGAMY ROAD BETWEEN PORTER'S HILL LINE AND ORCHARD LINE
With 6 stops in Goderich this morning (gas, car-wash, McDonalds, the harbor, Rexall, and Walmart) Pheebs and I kept ourselves on the move.  Nice to see the lake ice continuing to break up and melt.

 SO GREAT TO SEE ALL THE SNOW GONE FROM FARMER'S FIELDS
 THIS FIELD OF WINTER WHEAT IS ALREADY GREEN
 WON'T BE LONG AND THAT BROWN GRASS ALONG GODERICH'S SHORELINE WILL TURN GREEN
 I'M GUESSING WORKERS WILL SOON BE BACK TO RESUME WORK ON THE LONG BOARDWALK AGAIN

 ICE CONTINUES TO BREAK UP AND MELT  ON THE COOL GREEN AQUA COLORED WATERS OF LAKE HURON......AND THE BROWN IN THE ICE AND SNOW OUT THERE IS SAND
All three of us were in the Jeep headed to London Ontario by 1:30 this afternoon.  Kelly had an appointment with a dental surgeon to see if they can determine the cause of a jawbone problem.  Roads were bare and dry and today's forecasted rain never materialized.  We arrived at the Interface Centre For Oral And Maxillofacial Surgery at 2:40 with time to spare.  Pheebs and I waited in the parking with a short walk thrown in.  Luckily I had remembered to take my Kindle reader along.  Kelly was back out at 4:15 having been diagnosed with Degenerative Arthritis of the TMJ Joint in her jawbone. (Bone on bone) Her next appointment will be with her Exeter Ontario dentist to have a special guard made to insert in her mouth while sleeping.  Hopefully, this will help because she doesn't want to go the 'cortisone shot' route.
 HEADING TO LONDON ON A FINE SPRING LIKE DAY
 CHECK OUT THOSE TWO BUMS CARRYING ON THERE
 KELLY TAKES PHEEBS FOR A SPIN AROUND THE PARKING LOT BEFORE CHECKING IN
From the Interface Centre parking lot, we launched ourselves right into London's afternoon rush.  Been a long time since I've been in a big city traffic crush so it was kind of fun mixing it up with the locals.  Quick stop at McDonalds and we were on our way home.  Undoubtedly the nicest day of the year so far and how nice it was to be out and about doing something and going somewhere.  And how nice to see countryside fields finally free of snow.  Even the sky with its big summery-looking clouds was a joy to see.  All in all, it was just one of those great feeling good old Spring Tonic days..................:))

 A QUICK STOP AT McDONALDS 
 THE SKY WAS LOOKING A LITTLE 'IFFY AS WE HEADED NORTH OUT OF LONDON AND SHORTLY AFTER TAKING THIS PHOTO WE GOT ELEVEN AND A HALF DROPS OF RAIN ON THE WINDSHIELD
 WITH THE BIG SNOW MELT GOING ON THIS WEEK WE SAW SIGNS OF FLOODING ALONG THE WAY
 PHEEBS HAS A SNOOZER ON THE WAY HOME
 AND I DON'T THINK PHEEBS WAS THE ONLY ONE CATCHING A FEW WINKS
 AND HOW NICE IT WAS TODAY NOT BEING ENCOMBERED BY A HEAVY WINTER COAT
GROANER'S CORNER:((  A group of bats, hanging at the ceiling of a cave, discovers a single bat standing upright underneath on the floor of the cave.  Surprised by this unusual behavior, they ask this fellow: "What the heck are you doing down there?"  And the fellow shouts back: "Yoga!"

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One morning the phone rang at 3:00 a.m. in Jeff's house. He picked up the phone and a woman asked, "Is this 555-1111?"  "No, this is 555-1112." Jeff replied.  "Oh, I'm so sorry for disturbing you." The woman said.
"That's alright," Jeff said. "I had to get up to answer the phone anyway."

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Wednesday, March 10, 2021

SOUNDS OF SPRING IN THE AIR

 COMMON GRACKLE

I am hearing and seeing more birds these last few mild days.  Flocks of Canada Geese and groups of Crows can be seen overhead in our March skies.  I noticed some of the geese are already pairing up.  We even have Common Grackles on our bird station and I heard a couple of Red-winged Blackbirds in the countryside this morning.  Sights and sounds of Spring are very prevalent now.  And, the annual migration of Tundra Swans have stopped by the Thedford Bog south of Grand Bend on their way south from the Arctic.
 'ME BATMAN.'...;YOU JANE'
 'WOW THAT'S BATMAN UP THERE'
 'BATMAN? WHERE??'

GROANER'S CORNER:(( Just spent $300 on
a limousine and discovered that the fee doesn't include a driver...
Can’t believe I’ve spent all that money and have nothing to chauffeur it!

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Tuesday, March 09, 2021

ONE REALLY NEEDS TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE LITTLE THINGS

 HOW NICE TO SEE  CHILDREN OUT ON THE PLAYGROUND AT THIS MENNONITE SCHOOL SOUTH OF BAYFIELD ON THE BRONSON LINE
Alone in the Jeep I made my way through lite patches of thin fog on my way to Clinton this morning.  My denturist appointment was at 9:30 and of course I was there on the early side.  A final fitting today and maybe next Tuesday morning I will head home with some new teeth.  And I have to say again, there is no comparison to having dentures made in Mexico and dentures made here at home in Canada.  I think it is a good example of you get what you pay for.  The people at Clinton's Albert St, Denture Clinic are just the best.

 A FOGGY SUNRISE AT OUR HOUSE
 A SLIGHT MIST IN THE AIR ON MY DRIVE TO CLINTON
Home again shortly after 10 I picked up Pheebs and we took ourselves for a wee drive south of Bayfield.  How nice to see farm fields finally appearing out of the snow.  Some plowed fields were already free of the white stuff.  Our Park with all its shadowy pine trees will be one of the last places to lose all its ice and snow.  It happens that way every year.  Checking late morning's temps I saw that it was already 42F.  Our high today topped out at 46F with Wednesday predicted to possibly be 50F plus.  Needless to say, about 95% of the snow is gone off our roof.

 HOW NICE TO SEE FARM FIELDS AGAIN
 NO, I DIDN'T STOP TO TAKE THESE PHOTOS AND MAKE PEOPLE UNCOMFORTABLE

 THESE ARE ALL 'DRIVE-BY' PHOTOS
 ALL THE BIG LIFTING CRANES HAVE BEEN REMOVED FROM THE BAYFIELD BRIDGE SITE
 I'M GUESSING THEY MAY BE DOING MORE CEMENT WORK
We have a lot of ice in our driveway so I keep going out and chipping away at it with my ice chopper.  Yes, I could simply wait until it melts but I like to think I am personally helping the melt by chipping the ice into smaller chunks.  One really needs to take advantage of the little things.  

 MY ICE CHOPPER
 OH HOW I LOVE TO SEE PUDDLES OF MELTING SNOW:))))
GROANER'S CORNER:((   If God Had Voice Mail::  Thank you for calling heaven.  I am sorry, all of our angels and saints are busy helping other sinners right now. However, your prayer is important to us and we will answer it in the order it was received. Please stay on the line.  If you would like to speak to:  God, press 1.  Jesus, press 2.  The Holy Spirit, press 3.  If you would like to hear King David sing a Psalm while you are holding, press 4.  To find a loved one who has been assigned to Heaven, press 5, then enter his or her social security number followed by the pound sign. (If you get a negative response, please hang up and try area code 666.)For reservations in heaven, please enter J-O-H-N 3:16.  For answers to nagging questions about dinosaurs, the age of the earth, life on other planets, and where Noah's Ark is, please wait until you arrive.  If you are calling after hours and need emergency assistance, please contact your local pastor.

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Wife: "I am going out for two hours. Do you want anything?"  Husband: "No, that's enough."

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Men are like a pack of Cards:
A "heart" to love them
A "diamond" to marry them
A "club" to smack them and
A "spade" to bury the body...

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Monday, March 08, 2021

FLIPPING OVER THE UFO/EXTRATERRESTRIAL COIN AND NAILS IN THE TIRES

SPOTTED THIS COYOTE RUNNING NEAR A BUSHLINE
Huron Tirecraft in Clinton Ontario was our first stop this morning.  Both passenger-side tires on the Jeep have been losing air so it was time to find out 'why'.  I suspected the usual culprit...valve stems, but no that is not what it was.  Nails in both tires caused the problem!!  I don't know where I am picking up these nails but out of the past four Jeep tire problems three of them have been nails in the tires.  Although 9 a.m. temps were slightly below freezing while at Tirecraft, Pheebs and I were able to comfortably sit outside on the sunny side of the building out of the wind.

 'IS THE JEEP REALLY IN THERE DAD'
 LAYING DOWN FOR A REST AFTER A WALK AROUND THE PARKING LOT
 'IS IT ALMOST TIME TO GET GOING DAD'
After picking up a coffee to go at Clinton's Tim Hortons coffee shop we traveled a few scenic country roads on the way home snapping a couple photos along the way.

 A LONE SNOWMOBILE TRACK LEADS ACROSS THE LANDSCAPE
 PATTERNED SNOW
After finishing Jacques Vallee's book Revelations a few weeks ago I decided I needed a break from my UFO research so returned to the jungles of South Vietnam for another well-written book by a young soldier.  Diary Of An Airborne Ranger by author Frank Johnson.  I appreciated the honesty of this young man's thoughts and feelings.  It wasn't until I started reading these books on Vietnam this winter that I really understood what actually happened over there, how it happened, and why.  When I finished that book I was in a quandary as to where to go for my next read.  Still reeling from the whole UFO research thing I didn't really want to go back there just yet, but drawn like a moth to a flame that is exactly where I went.  I am currently finishing up UFOs: Reframing The Debate.  This book by Robbie Graham and eight other authors, like Jacques Vallee's book, 'Revelations' readily flips the UFO coin onto its other side and hangs many question marks over all the other books I have read.  I flipped that coin over for a reason because I rightfully needed to look at the whole UFO/Extraterrestrial subject from a different viewpoint.  Glad I did.  I had reached a point where I couldn't see the forest for the trees anymore.  I needed a new perspective on everything to balance my thoughts, ideas, and conclusions.  These last two UFO books have done that but they were not easy reading for me.  My age-challenged mind is limited to what it can absorb and understand now and I bogged down half a dozen times or more especially in this latest book, 'UFO's Reframing The Debate'.  Keep in mind, I am a long way from being a clever fellow so even on my best days it is a stretch for me to make sense of things at times.  However, having said all this, I am much further ahead in my knowledge and thinking than I was before I started out on this quest for more UFO knowledge.  But I must say, having gone pretty much full circle with this subject I am once again standing here in a thin fog clinging to yet another big question mark.  Not the exact same question mark location I was at before I began but still, a big question mark just the same.  I think what I really need now is a big fat UFO to come down out of the sky, land right in front of me, and have a short little google-eyed Alien come out, walk up to me, shake my hand, and say "Hey how's it going eh'...............:))

 NOT OFTEN ONE SEES A TRUCK TRAVELING ALONG RAILWAY TRACKS (SPECIAL WHEELS)
 TREE TRIMMING IN VARNA ONTARIO THIS MORNING
With temps reaching a balmy 50F today we had a good melt going on but with so much snow and ice on the ground we do have a ways to go before it's all gone.  Temperatures are predicted to be in the high 40's and low 50's for the next 4 days so we should certainly get rid of a big bunch of it.  And with snow levels slowly going down Pheebs and I did manage an afternoon walk.  Biggest problem right now isn't the snow, it's the mud and with that new road muck trying to suck my boots right off I had to be careful where I stepped.  Pheebs just plopped right through it.  Luckily, we had to trudge through some large patches of snow on the way back so paws and boots were free of mud and clean by the time we got home. 

AFTERNOON WALK

GROANER'S CORNER:((  During a terrible storm, all the highway signs were covered with snow. The following spring, the state decided to raise all the signs twelve inches at a cost of six million dollars. “That’s an outrageous price!” said a local farmer, “but I guess we’re lucky the state handled it instead of the federal government.” “Why’s that?”  “Because knowing the federal government, they’d decide to lower the highways.”

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Answering Machine Greeting::
“I am not available right now, but thank you for caring enough to call. I am making some changes in my life...Please leave a message after the beep. If I do not return your call, you are one of the changes.”

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Saturday, March 06, 2021

DANCING SHOES

 LITTLE RED KEEPS AN EYE ON ME WHILE PLANNING HIS LATEST ASSAULT ON OUR HANGING BIRD FEEDER
I haven't had a haircut since the Fall of 1993.  A commercial haircut that is.  The summer of 93 is when I met Kelly and she has been cutting my hair ever since.  Today was haircut day:))  

Better put on your Saturday night Dancing Shoes for this one and be sure to check out this Hologram. (Sorry, the Hologram didn't work).  
 GODERICH'S ROTARY COVE THIS MORNING
GROANER'S CORNER:((  A few years ago the prime minister of India was at the White House.  One embarrassing moment happened when President Bush said to the prime minister, 'Could you take a look at my computer?'  'I'm having some problems with it and I can't seem to get through on the tech line.'

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