Tuesday, June 06, 2023

TO LONDON AND BACK USING A SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT AND MUCH BETTER ROUTE

 SOME FOREST TRAILS ARE DARKER AND MORE FAIREY LIKE THAN OTHERS AND THAT'S QUITE ALRIGHT WITH ME 
Knowing Pheebs and I would be walking a few forest trails at London's Westminster Ponds area this afternoon we only did half of our country road walk this morning.  I didn't want to push my leg luck in the morning and not be able to walk in the afternoon.

 THERE ARE A LOT OF HAY BALES IN THE FIELDS THESE DAYS
 THIS FARMER IS BUSY RAKING UP THE ROWS OF HAY IN PREPARATION FOR BALING

 THIS MACHINE WITH ITS LONG BOOM ARMS IS SPRAYING FERTILIZER
 I SURE HOPE THE 'TEXTING WHILE DRIVING' POLICE DON'T COME ALONG AND GIVE THIS FELLOW A TICKET:))
 I THINK THIS MIGHT BE ROWS OF CORN POPPING UP OUT OF THE GROUND
 LAZY PRE-SUMMER DAYS
It was 11 a.m. when all three of us piled into the Subaru and pointed her nose for London's Victoria Hospital.  We took our usual route to the north end of Adelaide Street but we did not turn south onto Adelaide and instead traveled another couple miles east to Highbury Ave and began our southern trek into London from there.  It didn't take long to realize that this Highbury route was far better than the Adelaide route we had been struggling back and forth on.  That Adelaide route is nothing more than a tightly packed stock car race through the city on a narrow construction-infested rough road.  We will not be traveling that way again.  Much less traffic on Highbury with wide newer roads and way more food stops along the way.  Pheebs and I dropped Kelly off at the usual time and quickly headed across the road to the Westminster Ponds area.

 'COME ON DAD FOLLOW ME'
 THE FOREST PATH LEADS DOWN INTO A RAVINE
 A COUPLE DAISIES ALONG THE WAY
 I'M SURE AN OLD TROLL LIVES HERE
 FOREST TRAILS ARE MY FAVORITE PLACE TO WALK.....PHEEBS TOO
 WE WALKED OUT OF THE FOREST AND UP A HILL INTO A MEADOW
 FOLLOWING ANOTHER WALKER HEADING BACK INTO THE FOREST
It was a great afternoon for a walk with much cooler temperatures and a nice breeze.  To be on the safe side, I took my walking stick/cane with me as Pheebs and I walked across the big baseball diamond and picked up a familiar trail leading into the forest.

 LAST MONTH'S MAYAPPLES ARE AT THEIR END
 MANY OLD CARVINGS IN A COUPLE BEECH TREE
 HEADING WEST ALONG THE MAIN TRAIL 
The trail we were on wasn't the main trail and wended its way along the forest trail up and over through several ravines.  We exited the forest into a meadow and then headed back into the forest again.  We only came across three other walkers as we linked up with a couple other trails and made our way back through the woods coming out near the area where we had left the car.  Our walk had taken fifty minutes and my hip did surprisingly well.

 SOME SECTIONS OF THE TRAIL ARE DENSER THAN OTHER SECTIONS

Back to the Subaru I hauled my gravity chair out of the back, set it up behind the car, left the hatch open so I could hear my music then opened my Kindle and tilted myself back.  Pheebs stretched out in the grass beside me for a big snooze.  We hung out there for an hour before I decided to phone in and see if Kelly was ready yet.  The nurse said she was just finishing up and would be ready for pick-up in ten minutes.  In the meantime, I heard a helicopter coming in low so I knew it was the Ornge Ambulance bringing someone to the hospital.  On the way to pick Kelly up I saw the helicopter on its landing pad.

 PHEEBS HAS A SNOOZE WHILE I READ MY KINDLE
 'I WASN'T SNOOZING DAD'
 I HEARD A HELICOPTER COMING AND THEN THERE IS WAS
 THE AIRBORNE AMBULANCE ANGLES DOWN TOWARDS ITS LANDING PAD IN FRONT OF THE HOSPITAL
 ON THE WAY TO PICK UP KELLY I SPOTTED THE HELICOPTER ON ITS PAD

It was three o'clock when Kelly, Pheebs, and I began our journey home using the new Highbury Ave route.  Traffic was much less congested than Adelaide and we briefly stopped at an A&W along the way for take-out coffee and a few snacks.  Heading north out of London the haze in the air from the Quebec forest fires was very evident.  That haze remained in the air all the way home.  Oh, and there was one more stop.  Kelly was feeling the need for a chocolate milkshake so she grabbed me one too.  Well, needless to say, my clean shirt and jeans that I had put on this morning are right now in the washing machine.  I hope chocolate milkshake stains come out.  Tomorrow morning I will be in Exeter for my hip physio and we'll be back in London on Monday.                

 HERE COMES LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE

 HERE'S PHEEBS IN THE PASSENGER SIDE REAR VIEW MIRROR WAITING FOR THE A&W DOOR TO OPEN
 STILL IN THE CITY OF LONDON, WE ARE HEADING NORTH UP HIGHBURY AVE
Al's Music Box:)) Age Of Aquarius by the Fifth Dimension from the album 'The Age Of Aquarius'.  1969

 AND HERE'S THE BAYFIELD BUNCH HEADING HOME
GROANER'S CORNER:(( Advertisements::   

- Guitar, For Sale Cheap...No Strings Attached.  

- Ad in a Hospital Waiting Room:  Smoking Helps You Lose Weight One Lung At A  Time!   

- On a bulletin board: Success Is Relative.  The more The Success, The more The  Relatives.   

-When I Read About The Evils Of Drinking.... I Gave Up Reading   

- My Grandfather Is Eighty And Still Doesn't Need Glasses....He Drinks Straight Out Of The Bottle.   

Sign In  A Bar: 'Those Of You Who Are Drinking To Forget, Please Pay In Advance.'     

Sign At A Driving School:  If Your Wife Wants To earn To Drive, Don't Stand In Her Way....  

- Behind Every Great Man, There Is A Surprised Woman.  

- The Reason Men Lie Is Because Women Ask too Many Questions.  

- Getting Caught Is The Mother Of Invention.   

- Laugh And The World Laughs With You,  Snore And You Sleep Alone  

- The Surest Sign That Intelligent Life Exists  Elsewhere In The Universe Is The Fact That It Has Never Tried To Contact Us.  

Sign At A Barber Shop : We Need Your Heads To Run Our Business.

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Monday, June 05, 2023

REGARDLESS OF WHICH PATH WE TAKE TO GET THERE

YOUNG CANADA GEESE
Under cool morning skies, Pheebs and I took the Jeep for a drive into and around Bayfield.  On the way down to the beach and harbor area we came across two Canada Geese families out for a morning walk.
 CALM LAKE HURON WATERS AT BAYFIELD'S BEACH 

 BOAT BUTT REFLECTIONS
 IT LOOKS LIKE SAILBOAT PARKING CONGESTION BUT IT REALLY ISN'T, IT'S JUST THE CAMERA ANGLE

 ONE OF TWO GOOSE FAMILY'S OUT FOR A MONDAY MORNING WALK
 THEY WERE REALLY STRUTTING THEIR STUFF
 STAYING CLOSE TO MOM IN CASE IT RAINS
 A PROUD LITTLE FAMILY
 TWO SETS OF PARENTS HERE
Heading over to Bayfield's cemetery we took ourselves for a walk in the nearby forest along the cemetery's East side.  No problems with my hip.

 A QUIET MONDAY MORNING FOREST

 THE FOREST FLOOR
 A TOUCH OF SUNLIGHT MAKES IT THROUGH THE FOREST CANOPY
 NEW GROWTH
Because of the earlier day's pleasant coolness, it was a good time for catching up on some more June yardwork.  Took my weed whacker for a walk.  With a poor night's sleep under my belt, I wasn't long in falling asleep for a couple hours in my sunroom recliner this afternoon.

It has been a few months since I last posted anything about the books I'm reading.  I guess I sort of felt, 'well I don't think readers are really interested in what I am reading anyway'.  The subject matter I have found so fascinating these past number of years is certainly not everybody's cup of tea and especially so the last dozen books I have read about NDE's (Near Death Experiences)  However, for what it's worth I will give you the titles of the books I have recently read on the chance that somebody might be interested.  Most of these books I have read cover to cover and a few I have had to bail out on.  NDEs are world -wide numbering in the millions now and a lot of dedicated medical and personal scientific research has gone into this phenomenon in the past nearly 50 years since resuscitation methods have increased dramatically these past few decades.  Here are the books I have read about this subject in the past 6 months. 'Dying To Be Me' by Anita Moorjani, 'Near Death In The ICU': by Dr, Laurin Bellg, 'Evidence Of The Afterlife' by Jeffrey Long, 'The Crossover Experience' by DJ Kadagian, 'Awakenings From The Light' by Nancy Rynes, 'Near Death Experiences' by Wayne Purdin, 'Afterlife, The Whole Truth' by Stephen Hawley Martin, 'The Self Does Not Die' by Titus Rivas, 'Light and Death' by Michael Sabom, 'Proof Of Heaven' by Dr. Eben Alexander, 'The Light Beyond' by Dr. Raymond Moody, 'Life At Death' by Kenneth Ring, 'Life After Life' by Dr. Raymond Moody, 'On Death and Dying' by Elizebeth Kubler-Ross, '24 Minutes On The Otherside' by Tessa Romero, and 'After' by Dr. Bruce Greyson.  I highly recommend several of these aforementioned books...'Dying To Be Me' by Anita Moorjani, 'Proof of Heaven' by Neurorososurgeon Eben Alexander, 'Near Death In The ICU by Laurin Bellg, and 'After' by Dr. Bruce Greyson.  This last book impressed me to the point that I also purchased a printed copy of it.  Not for me to read again but to lend to anyone else genuinely interested in this subject who I may meet along the way.  This book, in a practical thinking manner clearly cuts through the fog of misunderstandings, bafflegab rumors, and doubts and fears around this subject.  It casts a positive and uplifting light into the dark mysteries surrounding the reality of NDE's.  I also want to mention these books I have read are not written with strong religious agendas.  Religious views are touched upon in a common sense and fair logical manner no matter whether you are a Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddist, Agnostic, or Atheist, etc.  The uniting thread with all NDEs around the world is the love and caring and common wellness that all experiencers feel and share with their fellow man regardless of religion, race, or any of all the other things we human beings conjure up against each other.  None of these books I have read are written from a biased religious point of view (my way is the only way!!) and because of that these books and their findings in my opinion have credibility.  And a word about the word 'Heaven'.  My thoughts of heaven or Nirvana, or Paradise, or The Celestial City, or Bliss, or Elysium, or Afterworld, or Valhalla, or Hereafter, or Lotus Land, or Camelot, or Shangri-la, or Dreamland or Blessedness, etc. may not be your thoughts but keep in mind they all refer to a common goal so call and think of it as you will in your own mind.  The word Heaven encompasses all the other defining words just as each of them encompasses the word Heaven.  We all have our own thoughts, interpretations, conclusions, and differences of opinion, but what is important to know is that we are all as one and in this together.  We may travel different paths and believe in different things to reach the same goal but the more I read about this subject, the more I believe that yes, there is definitely the same goal for all of us regardless of which path we take to get there.  

Al's Music Box:)) Sailing by Christopher Cross from the album 'Christopher Cross'.  1980

GROANER'S CORNER:((  As the storm raged, the captain realized his ship was sinking fast. He called out, "Anyone here know how to pray?" One man stepped forward. "Aye, Captain, I know how to pray." "Good," said the captain, "You pray while the rest of us put on our life jackets. We're one short."

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If the 7-11 is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, why are there locks on the doors?

If nothing ever sticks to teflon, how do they make teflon stick to the pan?

If you're in a vehicle going the speed of light, what happens when you turn on the headlights?

Why do you need a driver's license to buy liquor when you can't drink and drive?

Have you ever imagined a world with no hypothetical situations?

How does the guy who drives the snowplow get to work in the mornings?

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