TO LONDON'S UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL AND BACK TODAY

 CRUISING A FEW MUDDY COUNTRY ROADS NORTHWEST OF LONDON ONTARIO THIS MORNING

It was barely light and with the threat of freezing rain in the air, it was all three of us in the Subaru rolling out our driveway this morning at 7:18 a.m.  Our destination was London's University Hospital where Kelly had an endoscopy appointment scheduled for 9 o'clock.  Luckily, the wet drizzle in the air didn't turn to freezing rain and if it had, the roads were well-salted.  We were plenty early as we dropped Kelly off at the big main door at about 8:20 a.m.  Pheebs and I soon headed ourselves back out into the countryside north of London where we stopped at a country cemetery for a short walkabout.

I liked the poetic inscription on the back of this farmer's tombstone called 'Close The Gate'.  Unfortunately, some of the words and letters were very hard to read so I hope I got it right.......

For this one farmer the worries are over, Lie down and rest your head.  Your time has been, Now let's put the tractor in the shed.

Years were not easy, Many downright hard.  The animals have all been tended.  Put away your tools and sleep in peace.  The fences have all been mended.

You raised a fine family, worked the fields well, And always followed the Sun.  Hang up your shovel inside the barn. Your work here on Earth is done.

Farming led your journey through life. Often a jagged and stony way.  The Sun is setting the cows will be bedded.  And here now is the end of your day.

Your love of farming has passed on to your kids.  The stories now like fine wine.  Wash off your work boots in the puddle left by the rain one final time.

Take off your gloves and put them down.  No more sweat and worry for you.  Your labour is done, your legacy lives on.  And we will close the gate.    

 MAYBE THIS WAS THAT FARMER'S HOME

 SO GREAT TO SEE THE SNOW DISAPPEARING

Country roads were a soupy mess but we cruised around a few of them anyway northwest of London.  Despite the cloudy day, it was just nice seeing the countryside slowly emerging from under its blanket of winter snow.  For sure we will get more snowy weather between now and mid-April but for today, it was just nice being out in the changing countryside.

 YES, THE COUNTRY ROADS SURE WERE MUDDY ALRIGHT

 I THINK GREEN IS MY FAVORITE COLOR THIS MONTH

MELTING SNOW AND RECENT RAINS POOLING AT A LOW SPOT IN A  FARMER'S FIELD

Slowly working our way back towards London we pulled into a churchyard in Arva and awaited Kelly's phone call.  We weren't there five minutes when my cell phone rang.  It was the hospital calling saying Kelly could be picked up in about 10 minutes.  Arriving at the hospital it was the usual traffic chaos at the entrance and I kept driving around and around watching the front door for Kelly every time I went by.  On the twelfth pass through the congestion I spied a parking spot and while wiggling my way into it I saw Kelly in the passenger side mirror being wheeled along the sidewalk in a wheelchair by a hospital attendant.  They had been out front for most of my circle attempts but Kelly had told the attendant to watch for a brown Jeep Liberty so they never saw Pheebs and I in the white Subaru going by again and again and again.  And I of course didn't see them because they were watching from behind the glass doors.  Anyway, we finally made the connection and got Miss Daisy loaded into the back seat and away we went.  With a stop in the town of Lucan at Tim Hortons for some lunch and coffee to go, and with snowflakes in the air, we were home about 45 minutes later.  Dropping Pheebs and Kelly off I headed for the carwash to get all the mud washed off Subie.  Even remembered to do the floor mat and even more amazing, I remembered to put the floormat back into the car.

 PHEEBS IS LASER-FOCUSED ON THAT TIM HORTONS DOOR

 YAAAAY, HERE COMES MOM WITH THE SNACKS:))))

 OH-OH THOSE ARE SNOWFLAKES IN THE AIR

 AND HERE WE ARE HEADING HOME WITH PHEEBS  STRETCHING BACK  BETWEEN THE SEATS TRYING TO MOOCH SOME EXTRA SNACKS FROM KELLY

I did something this morning that I have not done in years.  I left the house without my main camera in hand. (Nikon Coolpix P900)  I just plumb forgot it.  I don't know how I forgot it but I did.  We were about twenty miles from home when I realized my folly and I'm not the type of guy to turn around and go back for stuff.  Luckily, I always travel with a spare camera which in this case happened to be a Sony RX90 in my coat pocket.  Whewwww, close call.  For me going anywhere without a camera is like somebody else going somewhere without pants on.    

 OUR EARLY FEBRUARY THAW

GROANER'S CORNER:((    My wife and I went into town and visited a shop. When we came out, there was an officer writing out a parking ticket.. We went up to him and I said, "come on man, how about giving a senior citizen a break?" He ignored us and continued writing the ticket. I called him a "nasty name." He glared at me and started writing another ticket for having worn-out tires. So my wife called him an "even nastier name".  He finished the second ticket and put it on the windshield with the first. Then he started writing more tickets.  This went on for about 20 minutes. The more we abused him, the more tickets he wrote. He finally finished, sneered at us, and walked away. Just then our bus arrived, and we got on it and went home.  We always look for cars with out of State stickers. We try to have a little fun each day now that we're retired. It’s so important at our age!!

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Someone threw a bottle of mayonnaise at me yesterday...I was like, "What the Hellmann?!?!"

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HUSBAND: When I get mad at you, you never fight back. How do you control your anger?
WIFE: I clean the toilet.
HUSBAND: How does that help?
WIFE: I use your toothbrush.

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CLOUDY DAY RAIN AND BLUE SKY SUNSHINE

 A LATE AFTERNOON WALK

Lots and lots of water falling out of the sky last night, this morning, half of this afternoon, and again tonight.  Pheebs and slipped up to Goderich earlier today, picked up a few things, and came home.

THIS PRETTY WELL SUMS UP THE MAJORITY OF OUR DAY AS PHEEBS AND I HEAD FOR GODERICH THIS MORNING

 SO NICE TO LOOK OUT OVER THE FIELDS AND SEE MORE GREEN THAN WHITE

A WET MORNING ON DECK FOR THE CREW ABOARD THE ALGOMA INNOVATOR

 THE CREW MEMBER ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE FELLOW IN THE YELLOW JACKET IS SAYING..."GEEEEZZZZ BILL, THE WATER IN THE ENGINE ROOM WAS THIS HIGH"

DOCKED NEAR THE ALGOMA INNOVATOR ALSO TAKING ON A LOAD OF SALT WAS THE ALGOMA CONVEYOR

A WET DRIVE OUT TO ROTARY COVE AND AMAZINGLY ENOUGH I DIDN'T SEE ANY PEOPLE HIKING ALONG THE BOARDWALK

 LAKE ICE IS IN THE PROCESS OF RAPIDLY MELTING

I was totally surprised when around 3:30 this afternoon our front yard suddenly lit up with a fine burst of welcome sunshine.  Minutes later Pheebs and I were out the door for a walk around the Park's pond under clear blue skies.  With today's rain and nearly 50F temps, the snowpack is much diminished and walking was pleasantly doable.  We certainly have a lot less snow this year than we did last year at this time.  At the time of posting tonight, it is raining again.

 AN AFTERNOON WALK AROUND THE PARK'S POND

AS THE WARMER AIR MEETS THE COLDER SNOW IT CREATES A MIST

 PHEEBS CASTS A LONG SHADOW IN THE LATE AFTERNOON SUN

 CHECKING OUT SOME BUNNY TRACKS

 OUR LANDSCAPE IS SLOWLY CHANGING FROM WHITE TO GREEN

 BACK IN OUR FRONT YARD 

Thirteen years ago today we were boondocked south of Quartzsite Arizona and decided to head out looking for some crystals.  In Search Of Crystal Hill....And We Found It:))

 YES, IT'S THAT RED CANOE AGAIN

GROANER'S CORNER:(( A priest, a doctor, and a professional golfer were waiting one morning for a particularly slow group of golfers.

GOLFER: What's with these guys? We must have been waiting for 15 minutes!  DOCTOR: I don't know but I've never seen such ineptitude!
PRIEST: Hey, here comes the greenskeeper. Let's have a word with him. Say George, what's with that group ahead of us? They're rather slow aren't they?
GEORGE: Oh yes. That's a group of blind firefighters. They lost their sight while saving our clubhouse last year. So we let them play here anytime free of charge.
(Silence)
PRIEST: That's so sad. I think I will say a special prayer for them tonight.
DOCTOR: Good idea. And I'm going to contact my ophthalmologist buddy and see if there's anything he can do for them.
GOLFER: Why can't these guys play at night?

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SUNSHINE.....NEED I SAY MORE:)))))

From my recliner first thing this morning I could see the makings of a pink sunrise through our pine trees and it wasn't long before we had long fingery shafts of sunlight playing warmly across our living room floor into the kitchen.  A mighty fine way to start the day.

 MORNING'S SUNRISE CAST SHADOWS THROUGH OUR PINE TREES

 TURNING EAST OUT OF OUR PARK WE HEAD FOR THE SUN

 THOSE SNOWMOBILE TRACKS WILL SOON BE GONE

 HOW GREAT TO SEE FIELDS RE-APPEARING THROUGH THE MELTING SNOW AND HEY, DID YA SEE THAT BIG BLUE SKY:))

 SOAKING UP SOME MORNING SUNSHINE

An hour later, Pheebs and I headed east into the sunrise keeping an eye out for temporary Springlike conditions.  And we did find them.  Earth beginning to show through farmer's fields again as the snow continues to melt.  Rivers and streams are bulking up and breaking through their ice and snow boundaries.  It was sounds and gurgles of running water I could hear and I also thought I heard the chattering of a Northern Flicker Woodpecker in a nearby forest.  Even came across a number of trees already tapped with buckets awaiting sap to begin making maple syrup.  Seems a bit early to me but there are a number of signs suggesting an early Spring.  Thought I saw a Robin in our front yard later but it may have been a male Cardinal.  It was a shadowy fleeting glimpse.

 AREA CREEKS AND RIVERS ARE FLOWING AND GURGLING ALONG THEIR WAY AGAIN 

 PAILS COLLECTING SAP FROM THE MAPLE TREES

 THE MAPLE SYRUP SHACK IS BACK THERE IN THOSE TREES

Stopped at the Porters Hill Wild Bird Seed Co in Bayfield's Southend on our way home to pick up some more bird seed and I said to Steve the owner, "I'm going to either have to put the birds on a diet or I am going to have to get a job to pay for all the birdseed".  However, I have noticed these past few days and especially today there have been fewer birds at the feeders and that  I think is a direct result of the current milder temperatures.  Thursday is predicted to be 50F with lots of rain.  Adios snow:))

 AT THE BANNOCKBURN CONSERVATION AREA

 IT LOOKS LIKE ONE OF OUR LOCAL SENIOR CITIZENS MAY HAVE LOST HIS BATMAN CAP 

 NO, THIS IS NOT A RAILROAD TRACK. IT'S AN ICE-COATED BOARDWALK SO PHEEBS AND I DIDN'T GO ANY FURTHER.....TOO TREACHEROUS

Facebook threw me another memory from our RVing days and this time it took me back 13 years ago at this time while we were boondocked at the foot of the Kofa Mountains in southern Arizona.  Castle Dome Mine Museum And Western Ghost Town  

 A VERY GENUINE CANADIAN CROP CIRCLE

 I THINK THERE IS A GOOD CHANCE THAT BY NEXT WEEK AT THIS TIME MOST IF NOT ALL OF THAT ICE AND SNOW WILL BE GONE

With my UAP (unidentified aerial phenomena) hat back on I just finished a book about Lieutenant Colonel Philip J Corso an American Army officer.  The book by author Paola Harris entitled, Conversations With Colonel Corso if credible, blows more doors off all the usual UFO cover-up and denial stuff.     

QUITE A BUNDLE OF BRANCHES

GROANER'S CORNER:((  It was the first time they had flown together, and it was obvious by their silence that they didn't get along. After 30 minutes, the Captain finally spoke.  He said, "I don't like Chinese."  The First Officer replied, "Ooooh, no like Chinese? Why that?"  The Captain said, "You bombed Pearl Harbor. That's why I don't like Chinese."  The First Officer said, "Nooooo, noooo ... Chinese not bomb Pearl Harbour. That JAPANESE, not Chinese."  And the Captain answered, "Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese ... it doesn't matter. They're all alike."  Another 30 minutes of silence. Finally the First Officer said, "No like Jew."  The Captain replied, "Why not? Why don't you like Jews?"  "Jews sink Titanic."  The Captain tried to correct him, "No, no. The Jews didn't sink the Titanic, it was an iceberg."  "Iceberg, Goldberg, Rosenberg, Spielberg ... no mattah ... all same."

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COOKIES

On this gloomy-looking day, my usual daily photo inspiration went missing and the only photo available is one Kelly took Monday of her Short Bread cookies which incidentally are the best-tasting cookies of ever.  By tonight I was out of luck trying to come up with something of interest to write about so I'll see what happens Wednesday.....................

GROANER'S CORNER:((  In class, the teacher was trying desperately to get the students to think. He asked, “If the Pilgrims were alive today, what would they be most famous for?”One student quickly responded, “Their age.”

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A man was giving a speech at his lodge meeting. He got a bit carried away and talked for two hours. Finally, he realized what he had done and said, "I'm sorry I talked so long. I left my watch at home."
A voice from the back of the room replied, "There's a calendar behind you..."

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