IT'S LOOKING A BIT LIKE EARLY SPRING AROUND HERE

No sunshine this morning but we woke up to 53F temperatures with light rain falling.  Looking out our living room window I was surprised at how much snow had melted overnight. The only small piles of white were where I had previously shoveled the snow into piles.  On our morning Jeep ride, I noticed all the farm fields were completely devoid of snow and the only piles of snow left were where it had accumulated along tree and fence lines in the form of deep drifts.  And to think it was less than a week ago that we had the worst winter snowstorm in decades.  It's looking a bit like early Spring around here with temperature records broken today for this date.

 QUITE A CONTRAST TO JUST A WEEK AGO AT THIS TIME

 THIS IS WHAT OUR DRIVE THROUGH THE COUNTRYSIDE LOOKED LIKE THIS MORNING

 THERE IS STILL SNOW ON THE FOREST FLOORS AND ALONG THE CREEKS

Despite another poor night Kelly was feeling better this morning and insisted on driving herself to Goderich for her Nurse Practitioner appointment. 

 KELLY EXITING THE DYNACARE BLOOD LAB EARLY THURSDAY AFTERNOON

Finished my Rocket Boys book Thursday night and I have to say what a great book this was.  So much so that I have already downloaded Homar J. Hickam Jr's follow-up book Don't Blow Yourself Up.  That second book title comes from the first book, Rocket Boys when his Mother kept saying to him when he was a boy, 'Don't Blow Yourself Up'.  I absolutely love these non-fiction autobiographical books.  I recommend 'Rocket Boys' to anyone.  It was one of those books that the closer I got to the end, the more I didn't want it to end. 

Ellen's Groove:)) In this last video of the year, Ellen and her Dad are promoting Mark Bass guitar amps.  Ellen plays a little diddy at the end of the video so if you are not interested in the amps just skip ahead.  Ellen Plays Bass

GROANER'S CORNER:((  A little boy had been pawing over the stock of greeting cards at a stationery store.  After a few minutes, the clerk became curious and asked, "Just what is it you're looking for, sonny? Birthday greeting? Message to a sick friend? Anniversary congratulations to your mom and dad?"  The boy shook his head, "No."  "Then what kind of card is it that you want?" asked the clerk.  The boy answered wistfully, "Got anything in the line of blank report cards?"

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I work in a busy office, and when a computer goes down it causes quite an inconvenience. Recently one of our computers not only crashed, it made a noise that sounded like a heart monitor.  "This computer has flat-lined," a co-worker called out with mock horror.
"Does anyone here know how to do mouse-to-mouse?"

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PHEEBS AND I WILL BE ON STANDBY

'Holy gee-wilikers,' we had sunshine on the eastern horizon for the second day in a row.  It only lasted until about noon but at least we had us a mighty fine sunny morning.  Pheebs and I weren't long in getting out the door and heading off for destinations unknown.

 SO NICE TO SEE BIG BLUE SKIES EARLIER TODAY

As it turned out we made our way toward Clinton then turned off on the Bannockburn Line.  The Bannockburn Conservation is down that way but the parking lot was all snowed in so we slowly rolled on by snapping a few pics along the way.

A SNOWMOBILE TRAIL HEADS OFF INTO THE FOREST

Home again around 10:30 I puttered around outside doing half a dozen nothings.  Moved some more melting snow around just because I could I guess.  I double-checked the Subaru to see if it had a radiator and it does.  A comment in our comment section threw me for a loop when it said the Subaru had an air-cooled engine.  I think that is more of a Volkswagen thing on some models maybe.  All the VW Beetles I drove years ago for sure had air-cooled engines.

 CREEKS ARE WAKING UP

 NICE TO SEE SNOW MELTING OFF THE CEDAR AND PINE BOUGHS

Kelly had a 1:30 appointment at the Dynacare Blood lab in Goderich today but wasn't feeling well enough to drive there so it was Pheebs and I to the rescue.  We drove Miss Kelly to the lab and back.  Friday she has an appointment with her Nurse Practitioner in Goderich so Pheebs and I will be on standby in case she needs another ride.  

 THIS IS THE LARGEST SNOWDRIFT I HAVE COME ACROSS SO FAR SINCE THE STORM

 THIS MACHINE WAS MOVING SNOW FROM ONE SIDE OF THE ROAD TO THE OTHER

 OOOOOO THAT FEELS SO GOOD

Not much else going on for the rest of the day and despite the cloud cover, it was nice to see snow melting for the second day in a row.  Rain is predicted Friday and that's okay.  It sure beats last week at this time when we had that big nasty winter storm bearing down on us.

 JUST GOTTA LOVE THAT BIG BLUE SKY:))

GROANER'S CORNER:((  The devil meets a newcomer at the gate and says, "Alright, you have died and come to hell. You will spend eternity here, but you get to choose how to spend it. You may choose one of these three doorways. Once you choose a door, you may not change it. So let's get started."  The devil opens Door One. The guy looks in and sees a couple of people standing on their heads on a Concrete floor. The guy says, "No way, let's move on."  The devil opens Door Two. The guy sees a few more people standing on their heads on a Wood floor. The guy says, "No way, let's move on."  The devil opens Door Three. The guy sees a bunch of people standing knee-deep in cow manure drinking coffee. The guy says, "Great, this is the one I will choose." The devil says, "OK, wait right here, I will get you some coffee."  The guy settles in with his coffee thinking that this isn't so bad. What's the big deal?  After about 10 minutes a voice comes over the loudspeaker saying, "Coffee break's over. Back on your heads!"

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OH TIS QUITE A DREAMER I ARE SOMETIMES

 ICE CONTINUES TO BUILD ALONG BAYFIELD'S SHORELINE

How encouraging this morning after our recent go-around with icy cold gray weather and wintery snow storms to see an orange glow on the horizon through our pine trees.  Sunshine:)))))  And along with that marvelous sunshine today has come much-appreciated rising temperatures as well, and those temperatures are predicted to remain above freezing for the next couple of weeks.  How nice today to see and hear the sounds of melting snow.  Drip, drip, drip:))

 LITTLE RED HAS BEEN AROUND THE LAST FEW DAYS AND UNCHARACTERISTICALLY HAS NOT BOTHERED WITH TEARING DOWN ANY OF THE BIRD FEEDERS......YET

It was a Jeep ride into and around Bayfield this morning.  Desperately needing some exercise for my legs we plowed our way into the Bayfield cemetery and ran some tracks around the unplowed roads.  I had to crack on a little extra power to make it through a line of small drifts but the Jeep took it all in stride.  Following that, I parked the Jeep and we were able to get out and walk along in the tracks I had made.  Well, not Pheebs so much because she is always flying around all over the place, tracks or no tracks.  I could really feel our walk by the time we got back to the Jeep.  Oh, how I and my legs miss those long morning winter walks and rock scrambles in the deserts and mountains of the great American Southwest.

 ICE FORMATIONS ALONG THE NORTH SIDE OF THE BAYFIELD RIVER NEAR THE HARBOR MOUTH

 RETRACING OUR TIRE TRACKS IN THE CEMETERY TO MAKE THEM WIDER FOR WALKING

Home again I felt the need to move some snow around.  Actually, it wasn't really a need because rising temperatures and rain over the next couple of weeks will take a lot of it away anyway.  But, with that touch of morning sunlight, I felt invigorated enough to just get outside and do something, anything.  Checked the oil in all three of our vehicles plus the rig's generator.  All was okay.  Our carport was a mess with blown-in snow and slush dropped from the Jeep and Subaru.  I got all that out with a snow shovel and leaf blower.  I was outside for nearly 2 hours doing stuff simply because the sun was shining which in turn boosted me just enough to enjoy being outside doing stuff:))

Facebook threw me half a dozen memories of places we have been on this day during our RVing years.  December 2010 found us in Tombstone Arizona.  It wasn't the first or last time we were in Tombstone but on this day we walked through the infamous Birdcage Theatre where no less than 27 people had died in Tombstone's turbulent wild west days.  I found this building genuinely eerie as Kelly and I, the only ones there slowly made our way through the dimly lit stone silent interior.  It was as if, in that silence, I could hear the loud raucous laughing, shouting, angry, and excited mumbling voices of the packed crowd as the dance hall girls on stage whirled and twirled for the alcohol-fueled patrons and the men in the balcony box seats with their ladies of the night in attendance.  I took pictures, but I didn't use the flash on my camera in an attempt to capture the subdued dim lighting of a small town's turbulence of yesteryear.  Tombstone Arizona        

 DARK-EYED JUNCO

Sitting in the RV a few days ago while we were enduring our power outage I said to Kelly, 'no matter what, we gotta somehow take this rig and go someplace in the Spring'.  Whether near or far, we just have to get away to see and do something new for a change.  I wished we knew someone with a little piece of land up along Georgian Bay or the Bruce Peninsula where we could go, park the rig for a few days or a week and have ourselves some campfires while sitting quietly alongside Lake Huron, Georgian Bay, a little inland lake, or no lake at all but just enjoying the peacefulness of nature with no people nearby to ruin the silence.  Sunrises, Sunsets, and big starry nighttime skies.  And if we were lucky, maybe we could even hear the call of a lonesome Loon.  Oh, tis quite a dreamer I are sometimes.

GROANER'S CORNER:((  Cannibals::

Two cannibals are eating a clown. One says to the other, 'Does this taste funny to you?'

That reminds me of the cannibal that passed his friend in the woods.....

When do cannibals leave the table? When everyone's eaten.......

What is a cannibal's favorite type of TV show? A celebrity roast.....

Where do cannibals shop for fine furniture? Eatin' Allen's......

What do cannibals eat for dessert? Chocolate-covered aunts......

What do cannibals make out of politicians? Baloney sandwiches......  Well ain't that the truth!!

Have you heard about the cannibal restaurant? Dinner costs an arm and a leg......

Did you hear about the cannibal who loved fast food? He ordered a pizza with everybody on it.......

Cannibal's recipe book: How to Serve Your Fellow Man.......

One cannibal to another: I never met a man I didn't like...........

Two cannibals were sitting by a fire. The first says, 'Gee, I hate my mother-in-law.' The 2nd replies, 'So, try the potatoes.'

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