LONDON'S VICTORIA HOSPITAL TODAY ..... BECAUSE OF A YAKKY-DOODLE I HAD TO MOVE

 PICKING UP KELLY THIS AFTERNOON AT LONDON'S VICTORIA HOSPITAL

Cold, cold, cold, this morning so with a stiff northwesterly breeze and temps sitting at 32F Pheebs and I skipped our walk and headed straight away to Goderich.  A quick swing down around the harbor, a stop at Walmart, and we were home again.

 WITH OUR BIG MAY 24TH HOLIDAY WEEKEND NEARLY UPON US CREWS WERE BUSY READYING THE BEACH FOR AN INFLUX OF BEACH GOERS

 THE DOG WALKING AREA REMAINS CLOSED AS WORK CONTINUES ON THE BANK RESTORATION

It was 10:50 a.m. when all three of us piled into the Subaru and rolled out the driveway heading for London's Victoria Hospital.  Another Plasmapheresis treatment for Kelly.  Dropping her off at 12:15, Pheebs and I headed on over to the Westminster Ponds Area.  I was glad I had worn my Winter coat as we made our way across the double-diamond baseball fields and picked up a trail at the edge of a forest on the East side.  It was good to get out of the wind.  

 WE SNAGGED OURSELVES A CHOICE PARKING SPOT TODAY

 WE HEADED ACROSS THIS BASEBALL DIAMOND AND A SECOND DIAMOND BEYOND TO REACH THE EDGE OF THE FOREST ON THE HORIZON

 I JUST LOVE WALKING IN A FOREST

 WE STOPPED TO LOOK AT THIS HUGE HERITAGE TREE

 I LEFT MY HAT IN THE PHOTO TO SHOW HOW BIG THIS TREE IS

 FROM THE EDGE OF THE FOREST I COULD SEE VICTORIA HOSPITAL NEARLY A MILE AWAY

WITH ALL THE ELECTRONICS ATOP THIS BUILDING EAST OF THE HOSPITAL I FIGURE IT MUST BE CANADA'S VERSION OF AMERICA'S PENTAGON

I generally keep an eye out for side trails running off the main trails and we did find a couple new ones this morning that wandered through several steep ravines.  The one trail reminded me of our great Southwest hikes that we did years ago.  Aside from a few tweaks and twinges from my hip today, it did me good.

 I LIKE TO WALK THE PATHS LESS TRAVELLED

 THERE WERE SEVERAL RAVINES IN THIS AREA

Forty minutes after leaving the car we were back and with my hip twinging a bit it felt good to sit down, prop my Kindle on the steering wheel and relax with my SiriusXM radio's quiet instrumental music.  No other cars around and no people.  Well, that is until a car pulled in and parked right next to us.  A woman gets out of the car talking loudly on her cell phone.  I think she might have been Italian because I couldn't understand what she was saying.  She puts her phone on the hood of the car on speakerphone and continues yammering loudly non-stop.  I felt sorry for the person on the other end of her phone because they were sure taking a tongue-lashing.  I put my windows up, closed the sunroof, and turned my music up but it didn't work.  Some people would have got out and told her to pipe down!!  But, that's not me.  It is imperative that I avoid people confrontations so I simply moved to another area......grumbling as I went.

BACK TO THE CAR

 IT WAS QUIET AND PEACEFUL HERE UNTIL MISS YAKKY-DOODLE ROLLED IN!!

 WHILE READING IN THE CAR I HEARD THE UNMISTAKABLE 'WHUP' 'WHUP' 'WHUP' SOUND OF A HELICOPTER COMING IN LOW AND KNEW RIGHT AWAY IT WAS THE AN ORNGE AIR AMBULANCE DESCENDING INTO VICTORIA HOSPITAL

 COMING IN TO LAND IN FRONT OF THE HOSPITAL

 THIS WAS A LONG 950MM TELEPHOTO SHOT WITH MY NIKON COOLPIX P900  (THANKS KA:))

 THIS WAS OUR QUIET SECONDARY PARKING SPOT THIS AFTERNOON

Read my Kindle for a while then Pheebs and I headed off on a second shorter walk down to the shoreline of Walker Pond.  I could smell a skunk in the air and that had me nervously keeping a close high on Pheebs.  We made it back to the car without any stinky confrontations.

WALKER POND

 A BIG OLD LOG GATOR

 APPLE BLOSSOMS AND TEAZLES

 HERE IS THE ORNGE AIR AMBULANCE LEAVING THE HOSPITAL AN HOUR LATER HEADING EAST

It was 2:35 when my cell phone rang with a Nurse on the other end saying Kelly was ready to be picked up.  Five minutes later we were all in the Subaru again heading north up Adelaide Street making fast tracks out of the city with our only stop being at Merla Mae Ice Cream where Kelly got a milkshake and Pheebs and I had a couple small vanilla cones.  We were home by 4:15 p.m.  The highest our temperature got today was 43F.  But hey, it was a big bright sunny day:))         

Al's Music Box:))  Wicked Game by Chris Isaak from the album 'Wicked Game'.  1991

 HERE IS PHEEBS WITH HER LITTLE PUPPY FACE ON

GROANER'S CORNER:(( I was feeling depressed. So my wife put her hand on my shoulder and said: "Earth."  That meant the world to me.

- I have a pen that can write underwater.  It can write other words as well.

- Why did the skeptic suffer from high blood pressure?  He was taking everything with a grain of salt.

- My doctor just prescribed me blood pressure medication.  It was a tough pill to swallow.

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EXETER'S MACNAUGHTON PARK AND NATURE TRAIL

 MACNAUGHTON PARK, EXETER ONTARIO

A chilly west wind blowing our 48F temps around this morning had me donning a nylon jacket over my two shirts for our country road walk.  All three of us in the Subaru later headed to Exeter Ontario for Kelly's 10:30 dental appointment. (teeth cleaning)  It's 22 miles to Exeter.  Dropping Kelly off, Pheebs and slipped over to the nearby MacNaughton Park and Nature Trail area and had ourselves a second morning walk. Today we followed the trail on the north side of the river.  A few days ago when there we followed the southside trail that began with a boardwalk.  We spent half an hour on the trail before returning to the car and heading back to the Dental Clinic.  Kelly was finished about 11:30 and we were soon on our way home.  With a light cloud cover overhead and a cool wind, it still turned out to be a very doable day. So, after arriving home and feeling a bit on the tired side I sank into my sunroom recliner, propped my Kindle against a small lap pillow.......and fell asleep.  In the morning we will be on the road again.

 INSTEAD OF RE-WALKING THE BOARDWALK TRAIL WE CROSSED THE RIVER TO THE NORTH SIDE AND PICKED UP THE TRAIL THERE WHICH CAN BE SEEN AT THE TOP LEFT THROUGH THE TREES

 THIS IS A STEEPLY ARCHED STEEL AND CONCRETE BRIDGE OVER THE RIVER

 IT LOOKS LIKE A FEW LOOSE GOOSE FEATHERS HERE

 HEADING EAST ALONG THE PATHWAY

 THE TRAIL HEADS EAST TO THE MORRISON DAM CONSERVATION AREA A MILE  AND A QUARTER TO THE EAST

 WE HAVE TURNED AROUND AND ARE HEADING BACK TO THE CAR

THERE IS A PHEEBERS IN THE THIS PHOTO

 AND THERE IS A PHEEBS IN THE PHOTO TOO

Al's Music Box:)) No More Cloudy Days by The Eagles live from their Melbourne Australia Farewell Tour.  2004

GROANER'S CORNER:(( Advice from An Old Hillbilly:

Your fences need to be horse-high, pig-tight and bull-strong.

Keep skunks, bankers, and politicians at a distance.

Life is simpler when you plow around the stump.

A bumble bee is considerably faster than a John Deere tractor.

Words that soak into your ears are whispered, not yelled.

The best sermons are lived, not preached.

Forgive your enemies; it's what GOD says to do.

If you don't take the time to do it right, you'll find the time to do it twice.

Don't corner something that is meaner than you.

Don’t pick a fight with an old man. If he is too old to fight, he’ll just kill you.

It don’t take a very big person to carry a grudge.

You cannot unsay a cruel word.

Every path has a few puddles.

When you wallow with pigs, expect to get dirty.

Don't be banging your shin on a stool that's not in the way.

Borrowing trouble from the future doesn't deplete the supply.

Most of the stuff people worry about ain’t never gonna happen anyway.

Don’t judge folks by their relatives.

Silence is sometimes the best answer.

Don‘t interfere with somethin’ that ain’t botherin' you none.

Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a rain dance.

If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop diggin’.

Sometimes you get, and sometimes you get got.

The biggest troublemaker you’ll ever have to deal with watches you from the mirror every mornin’.

Always drink upstream from the herd.

Good judgment comes from experience, and most of that comes from bad judgment.

Lettin’ the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier than puttin’ it back in.

If you get to thinkin’ you’re a person of some influence, try orderin’ somebody else’s dog around.

Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you’ll enjoy it a second time.

Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. Leave the rest to God.

Most times, it just gets down to common sense.