AUNT JEAN SURVIVED THE FLORIDA HURRICANE LAST WEEK

Starting our morning out at 67F is quite a change from a few mornings ago when we woke up to temps in the mid 40s.  We are actually under a heat and humidity advisory for the next four days.  Not my kind of weather:((

 A LOT OF PLASTIC-WRAPPED HAY OR STRAW BALES HERE

Pheebs and I took Subie for a spin into and around Bayfield.  Other than that we didn't venture far.  My hip is still too sore to stop for a walk anywhere.

 IT LOOKS LIKE A FAMILY OUT FOR A SUNDAY MORNING SAIL

 THIS CAPTAIN AND CREW HEAD UP THE BAYFIELD RIVER TOWARD THE MARINA

 A QUIET MORNING ALONG BAYFIELD'S MAIN STREET

Home again, I puttered around slowly in the front yard being careful not to exert myself.  I didn't move any rocks or do any digging to relocate plants.  I took a few photos around our frog pond and that was about it for me today.  It was hot, humid, and and the mosquitos were out in force.  And there weren't many birds flying about or at the feeders.  Too hot for them too.

 AND TO THINK IN ANOTHER MONTH I WILL HAVE TO ROUND ALL THESE FELLOWS UP AND TRANSPORT THEM TO OUR PARK'S BIG POND

Aunt Jean in Sarasota Florida survived last week's hurricane okay.  She said at times the rain was going sideways outside her window but being safely tucked away at Sunnyside Village she felt much safer than if she had still been in her condo.  She also said that Sunnyside was a very busy place as all the residents and their caregivers from another Senior center closer to the coast were bused to Sunnyside for safety's sake during the hurricane.  Jean said every available space was filled with cots for those people.  Even the hallways outside Jean's door.  She said there were people everywhere but everything was very well organized and it was no problem.  

I recently finished three additional books about the NDE (Near Death Experience) phenomenon and found all three enlightening, encouraging, and educational.    

 SORRY ABOUT ALL THE FROG PICS BUT WE DON'T HAVE ANY GIRAFFES OR ELEPHANTS IN THE FRONT YARD AT THE MOMENT

Al's Music Box:)) The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face by Roberta Flack from the 1972 album, 'First Take.  I, with a few friends saw Roberta Flack onstage at the Stratford Festival Theater many years ago.

GROANER'S CORNER:(( Ever wonder WHY:

- the sun lightens our hair, but darkens our skin?
- women can't put on mascara with their mouths closed? 
- is the time of day with the slowest traffic called rush hour?
- didn't Noah swat those two mosquitoes?
- do they sterilize the needle for lethal injections
- they don't make the whole plane out of the stuff that is used to make that indestructible black box that is used on airplanes?
- don't sheep shrink when it rains?
- are they called apartments when they are all stuck together?

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- My wife isn’t very good in the kitchen. Last time she cooked she burned the salad.

- Jimmy! I thought I told you to do the dishes after you do your homework! Why are you watching television?  It's okay, Mom! I haven't done my homework yet.

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HERE IT IS SEPTEMBER ALREADY

 GOING BY OLD LONESOME'S HOUSE THIS MORNING I SPOTTED HIM OUT IN A FIELD OF GOLDENROD

With a lot of pain emanating from my right hip earlier today, I had to work extra hard at not doing anything.  Well, not anything physical that is.  I stayed completely away from our front yard except to put a few gardening tools away.  An overhead morning cloud cover threatened rain.  

 LARGE STRAW BALES BEING LOADED ABOARD TRUCKS

Not stopping for a walk, Pheebs and I headed off to Goderich for our usual coffee, harbor, beach, and Walmart stops.  And Pheebs even got a snack at the new Esso/Solo gas bar so I guess we will keep that location as our main gas source.  Well, unless the doggy treats dry up that is.

 DOGGY TREATS AT THE ESSO GAS BAR

 WHAT THE HECK IS THAT??

IT LOOKS LIKE PHEEBS WASN'T THE ONLY DOGGY DOOGANS AT McDONALDS DRIVE-THRU THIS MORNING

Home again with a bit of drizzle in the air, I climbed aboard my recliner with my Kindle book reader and it wasn't long before I was again wandering my way through Dreamland.  Oh my, the adventures I do go on.  I think I may have been on Safari in deepest, darkest Africa somewhere this afternoon.  Or maybe I was just lost in our backyard.

 PEOPLE GATHERING AT GODERICH'S ROTARY COVE FOR A DAY AT THE BEACH

 THE ALGOMA INTREPID TAKING ON A LOAD OF SALT

Isn't it amazing that here it is September already, and it's the long Labor Day Week-end to boot.  It seems like only a few weeks ago in Bayfield they were putting all the sailboats in the water leading up to the May 24th week-end.  Soon, they will begin taking them all out of the water again.  Shouldn't I be getting out my long checklist of what to load into the RV for our southwestern winter travels?  No, I guess not:((  

Al's Music Box:)) Theme From Mahogany by Dianna Ross from the movie Mahogany starring Dianna Ross in 1975. 

GROANER'S CORNER:)  Two morons stand on a cliff with their arms outstretched. One has some budgies lined up on each arm, the other has parrots lined up on his arms.  After a couple of minutes, they both leap off the cliff and fall to the ground.  Laying next to each other in intensive care at the hospital, one moron says to the other, "I don't think much of this budgie jumping."  The other moron replies, "Yeah, I'm not too keen on this paragliding either."

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Diner: "I would like a cup of coffee, please."

Waiter: "I'm very sorry, sir, but I'm afraid we're fresh out of coffee today; our coffee maker has been completely exhausted."

Diner: "I'm not surprised, due to how weak it's been lately."

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A Canadian preacher was preoccupied with thoughts of how he was going to ask the congregation to come up with more money than they were expecting for repairs to the church building. Therefore, he was annoyed to find that the regular organist was sick and a substitute had been brought in at the last minute.  The substitute wanted to know what to play.  ‘Here's a copy of the service,' he said impatiently. ‘But, you'll have to think of something to play after I make the announcement about the finances.' During the service, the minister paused and said, ‘Brothers and Sisters, we are in great difficulty; the roof repairs cost twice as much as we expected and we need $4,000 more. Any of you who can pledge $100 or more, please stand up.'
At that moment, the substitute organist played, 'O Canada.'  And that is how the substitute became the regular organist!

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OUR INTERNET CRASHED FRIDAY AFTERNOON

 I ONLY MANAGED ONE PHOTO TODAY AND IT'S THIS RIPENING BEAN FIELD 

It was around 2 p.m. Friday afternoon when our Eastlink Internet crashed knocking out our TV reception as well.  From what we could gather, it was a widespread knock-out.  The internet/TV came back on sometime in the night so I woke up to music this morning.  Maybe we will find out more about what happened today.  Anyway, that is why my post is so late...........  

My main mission today was to get all the rocks I had lying around, gathered up and dropped on my growing rock pile.  I was aided in this by my wheelbarrow and my fridge cart.  Pheebs and I did go for a short spin but I was anxious to get back and take advantage of the morning's cool air.  By 11 o'clock temperatures were rising and the humidity was building.  Along with the heat and humidity came the mosquitos again and with both my legs hurting I had to call it quits on my front yard project and wait until Saturday morning's cool air makes being outside comfortable for me again.  

Al's Music Box:)) Sea Of Heartbreak by Don Gibson was released as a single in 1961. 

GROANER'S CORNER:(( After Quasimodo's death, the bishop sent word through the streets of Paris that a new bellringer was needed. The bishop decided to conduct the interviews personally and went up into the belfry to begin the screening process. After observing several applicants demonstrate their skills (or lack thereof), he decided to call it a day when a lone, armless man announced that he was there to apply for the bellringer's job.  The bishop was incredulous. "You have no arms!"  "No matter," said the man, "observe!"  He then began striking the bells with his face, producing a beautiful melody on the carillon. The bishop listened in astonishment, then told him he had the job. Dancing with joy, the armless man tripped and plunged from the belfry to his death in the street below. The stunned bishop rushed to his side.  When he reached the street, a crowd had gathered around the fallen figure, drawn by the beautiful music they had heard only moments before. As they silently parted to let the bishop through, one of them asked, "Bishop, who was this man?"  "I don't know his name," the bishop sadly replied, "but his face sure rings a bell."  The following day, despite the sadness that weighed heavily on his heart due to the unfortunate death of the armless campanologist, the bishop resumed interviews for the job of bellringer of Notre Dame.  The first man to approach him said, "Your Excellency, I am the twin brother of the poor, armless wretch that fell to his death from this very belfry yesterday. As you can see, I'm more blessed than he in that I have two strong arms, the better to strike the bells. I pray that you honor his life by allowing me to replace him in this duty."  The bishop agreed to give the man an audition, but as the armless man's brother stooped to pick up a mallet to strike the first bell, he groaned, clutched at his chest, and died on the spot. Two monks, hearing the bishop's cries of grief at this second tragedy, rushed up the stairs to his side.  "What has happened?", the first breathlessly asked, "Who is this man?"  "I don't know his name," sighed the bishop, "but he's a dead ringer for his brother."

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HERE'S WHAT WE'VE DECIDED TO DO ABOUT THE JEEP

OUR FRONT YARD FROGS WERE KEEPING A CLOSE EYE ON ME TODAY

Ever since the Jeep failed to start a couple weeks ago and we had to get it towed, we've been trying to decide what to do.  Replace it or get it fixed.  Back and forth and around and around we have been going.  We may have finally reached a decision and have decided to do......'nothing'.  The Bayfield Garage did get back to us with an estimate to replace the starter, which incidentally had just been replaced three years ago.  Both Kelly and I had forgotten about that.  The Jeep's engine has a slow oil leak somewhere, the back window hatch latch is broken, there is a hair-line crack in the windshield from top to bottom, and the Jeep is rusting.  To make a long story short, we have decided to keep the Jeep as it is and use it as a backup vehicle for now.  We will make more use of the Subaru.  In other words, we are going to see how we make out transitioning from a two-car family to a one-car family. Circumstances have changed here over the past couple of years and we think this just might be the right move for us at this time.  So, under bright sunny skies this morning it was off in the Subaru Pheebs and I did go.  And, with my hip not feeling too bad, we actually got some boots and paws on the ground at our country road walking spot.

ANOTHER TRAILER LOAD FOR THE PARK'S REYCYCLING AREA

Home again, I spent the next number of hours intermittently working on my front yard project.  Relocated some hostas, hauled a bunch of Basswood branches to the recycling area, and continued digging out a large number of rocks I had used years ago as flowerbed borders.  By the time I'm finished, I will have quite a rock pile gathered up.  What I am doing is making our front yard more Senior-friendly when it comes to future maintenance.  These cooler mornings have been a big help and with the cooler weather season approaching I shouldn't have any problem finishing the project.      

 I FINISHED ROTO-TILLING THIS AREA

 A COUPLE RELOCATED HOSTAS

A FEW OF THE MANY ROCKS I HAVE BEEN MOVING AROUND

 MY SURPLUS ROCK PILE IS GROWING

Al's Music Box:)) For What It's Worth by Buffalo Springfield from the 1967 album,   'Buffalo Springfield.  Although "For What It's Worth" is often considered an anti-war song, Stephen Stills was inspired to write the song because of the  Sunset Strip curfew riots in Los Angeles in November 1966, a series of early counterculture era clashes that took place between police and young people on the Sunset Strip in Hollywood California, the same year Buffalo Springfield had become the house band at the Whisky A Go Go.  

GROANER'S CORNER:((  John Smith was the only Protestant to move into a large Catholic neighborhood. On the first Friday of Lent, John was outside grilling a big juicy steak on his grill.  Meanwhile, all of his neighbors were eating cold tuna fish for supper. This went on each Friday of Lent. On the last Friday of Lent, the neighborhood men got together and decided that something had to be done about John. He was tempting them to eat meat each Friday of Lent, and they couldn't take it anymore. They decided to try and convert John to Catholicism. They went over and talked to him. John decided to join all of his neighbors and become a Catholic, which made them all very happy. They took him to church, and the priest sprinkled some water over him, and said, "You were born a Baptist, you were raised a Baptist, and now you are a Catholic."The men were so relieved, now their biggest Lenten temptation was resolved. The next year's Lenten season rolled around. The first Friday of Lent came, and, just at supper time, when the neighborhood was settling down to their cold tuna fish dinner, the smell of steak cooking on a grill came wafting into their homes. The neighborhood men could not believe their noses! WHAT WAS GOING ON?  They called each other up and decided to meet over in John's yard to see if he had forgotten it was the first Friday of Lent. The group arrived just in time to see John standing over his grill with a small pitcher of water. He was sprinkling some water over his steak on the grill, saying, "You were born a cow, you were raised a cow, and now you are a fish."

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As a musician, I was in a job interview the other day and they asked if I could perform under pressure.  I said, "No, but I can perform Bohemian Rhapsody!"

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REMEMBERING MY TIME DRIVING FOR THE STRATFORD AIRPORTER

It was a cold gray, windy, damp, and drizzly morning, feeling like late October.  Knowing Pheebs and I wouldn't be stopping for a walk anywhere we took the Jeep for a drive into Bayfield to drop a book off at the library for Kelly.  Needless to say, the Jeep started okay.  I couldn't drum up any photo enthusiasm so the only photo I have is the header pic showing an old dead tree down across the road just east of our Park's entrance this morning.

Facebook threw me a 2010 memory this afternoon reminding me it was 23 years ago today that I made my last trip toToronto's Pearson International Airport when I drove for the Stratford Airporter.  Here is a paragraph from my 2010 post. "It was 10 years ago today that I worked my last day for the Stratford Airporter.  That marked the end of my years there.  It also marked the end of the many hundreds of thousands of miles I spent in the madness & chaos of Canada's infamous 401 super highway.   Known for having the heaviest traffic in all of Canada, I fought my way in & out of Pearson International Airport day after day running the gauntlet of endless heavy truck traffic & frenzied drivers.  Always under heavy stress to get my passengers to the Airport on time in one piece and to catch their various flights to destinations all over the world.  Unpredictable winter storms day or night & punching through heavy morning fog.  Rain, sleet, freezing rain, no matter.  People had to make their flights on time or lose expensive vacations.  Businessmen could not afford to miss meetings in Dallas, Vancouver, Atlanta or London England.  It was an extremely stressful job but I loved it then.  I was very good at the job knowing all the shortcuts to the airport between Goderich and Toronto.  I knew the alternate routes and the alternates to the alternet routes.   And I knew the traffic patterns like the back of my hand.  For the most part I had developed sort of a sixth sense as to what other drivers were thinking & doing before they did it.  I could slip through traffic like a ghost in the night.  In the 13 years I worked that job I do not recall ever having any of my passengers miss their flights.  Oh, the traffic stories I could tell.  It was a crazy time back then & so different from the relaxed lifestyle I live now.  To this very day, I still avoid driving through major cities or heavy traffic areas but when I have occasion to do so I trot out my old driving skills and shift into my Airporter mode and get on with it."       

Al's Music Box:)) Travelin' On by Hagood Hardy from the 1975 album, 'The Homecoming'.  I've always liked this little-known song by Hagood Hardy.

GROANER'S CORNER:((  While enjoying an early morning breakfast in a northern Arizona cafe, four elderly ranchers were discussing everything from cattle, horses, and weather to how things used to be in the "good old days."  Eventually, the conversation moved on to their spouses. One gentleman turned to the fellow on his right and asked, "Roy, aren't you and your bride celebrating your 50th wedding anniversary soon?" "Yup, we sure are," Roy replied.  "Well, are you gonna do anything special to celebrate?" another man asked.  The old gentleman pondered this for a moment, then replied, "For our 25th anniversary, I took the misses to Tucson. For our 50th, I'm thinking about going down there again to pick her up.

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- My wife says I only have two faults.  I don't listen and some other stuff she keeps rattling on about.

- "I started dating a zookeeper, but it turned out he was a cheetah."

- "The most British thing I've ever heard?  A lady who said 'Well I'm sorry, but I don't apologize.'"

- "Last year I had a great joke about inflation.  But it's hardly worth it now."

- "I thought I'd start off with a joke about The Titanic just to break the ice."

- "I entered the 'How not to surrender' competition and I won hands down."

- "Nationwide must have looked pretty silly
when they opened their first branch."

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