I KNOW, BECAUSE I'M HERE, AND I SEE IT

After Saturday's late afternoon sunshine, it was so disappointing to once again wake up under cloudy skies with cold and damp temperatures.  And fog.  The only good thing about all that was the Hoarfrost the damp air left on the trees.  Pretty as it was, it would have been a magical fairyland if a morning's sunshine had turned all that icy hoarfrost into glittering diamonds.

 DID WE TURN LEFT HERE AND HEAD WEST TO BAYFIELD

 OR DID WE TURN EAST AND HEAD OUT INTO THE COUNTRYSIDE

 IT WAS OUT INTO THE COUNTRYSIDE WE WENT BEFORE HEADING TO GODERICH

As disappointed as I felt about this morning's gray skies, Pheebs and I piled into the Jeep and headed off to Goderich.  With gas, coffee, the harbor and beach areas, Pet Value and Walmart checked off my list we were later homeward bound and rolled into our driveway shortly before noon.

 ENJOYING MORNING'S SCENERY 

 A FEW TOUCHES OF COLOR ALONG THE WAY

 NO PROBLEM STAYING WARM WITH A WOOLY SWEATER LIKE THIS

 THE NARROW CHANNEL BETWEEN LAKE HURON AND GODERICH'S INNER HARBOR IS NOW FREE AND CLEAR OF ICE

 STILL SOME ICE ALONG THE NORTH SIDE OF THE HARBOR AND NOTICE A BLACK DOT TO THE TOP RIGHT OF CENTER ALONG THE ICE EDGE....THAT BLACK DOT IS THE CANADA GOOSE BELOW

Aside from topping up the bird feeders, I accomplished about the square root of nothing this afternoon.  Most of my time was again spent reading.  Some days my hip bothers me a lot and other days hardly at all.  Today was a bad hip day so Pheebs and I didn't get out for an afternoon walk.

Kelly hasn't been able to get in touch with her volunteer live liver donor for a while now and our hopes of a live liver transplant for Kelly are now fading.  Kelly has an appointment in London on February 21st for another stress test so maybe they will have some answers for her.  She is still on the liver transplant list but it could be a long time before a suitable cadaver liver is found.  In the meantime, her condition steadily worsens.  I know, because I'm here, and I see it.  

Al's Music Box:)) The Good, The Bad And The Ugly is the theme to the 1966 film by the same name, which was directed by Sergio Leone. Included on the film soundtrack as "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (main title)", the instrumental piece was composed by Ennio Morricone. A cover version by Hugo Montenegro in 1967 was a pop hit in both the US and the UK.  It has since become one of the most iconic scores in film history.  Hugo Montenegro was an American composer and orchestra leader who began scoring films in the 1960s. After hearing the music from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, he decided to create a cover version of the theme. Musician Tommy Morgan is quoted in Wesley Hyatt's The Billboard Book of #1 Adult Contemporary Hits as saying that Montenegro's version "was done in one day. I think it was all day one Saturday at RCA."  Similar to Morricone's original composition, Montenegro and a few session musicians sought to recreate this record using their own instrumentation. The opening two-note segment was played on an ocarina by Art Smith; Morgan provided the sounds that followed on a harmonica. He was quoted as saying: "I knew it was live, so I had to do this hand thing, the 'wah-wah-wah' sound."  Hyatt's book states that Montenegro himself "grunted something which came out like 'rep, rup, rep, rup, rep'" between the chorus segments.  Other musicians heard on the record include Elliot Fisher (electric violin), Mannie Klein (piccolo trumpet) and Muzzy Marcellino, whose whistling is heard during the recording.  Much to the surprise of Montenegro and the musicians who worked with him, this cover of the film theme became a hit single in 1968.  

GROANER'S CORNER:((  One night a husband and wife were sleeping and suddenly the wife woke up.  "Honey, wake up! I think there are burglars downstairs, and it sounds like they're eating the chocolate cake I made!”.  Half asleep, the husband answers, "So should I call the police or an ambulance?”

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- “By the time someone says, ‘To make a long story short,’ it’s too late.” 

- “The nice thing about egotists is that they don’t talk about other people.”

- “People who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.” 

- “An optimist is someone who falls off the Empire State Building, and after 50 floors says, ‘So far so good!'” 

- “My definition of an intellectual is someone who can listen to the William Tell Overture without thinking of the Lone Ranger.”

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THAT DIDN'T HAPPEN

Well, I guess my first mistake of the day was believing the weatherman when he said we would have sunny periods beginning Friday afternoon.  That didn't happen.  My second mistake was in believing the same weatherman when he said skies would clear overnight.  That didn't happen.  Then he said skies would begin to clear late Saturday morning.  That didn't happen either.  I think we need a new weatherman!!!!  But wait......what is that I see in the sky to the southwest late this afternoon.  Something bright beginning to peer through the thinning cloud cover.  Could it be a UFO, a UAP, is it a bird, is it a plane????  Noooooo, it's 'SUPERSUN':)))))

Five years ago today we were boondocked on Yellowbird Road near Bouse, Arizona.  On our morning Jeep ride, Pheebs and I found some Army Tanks And A Mine Shaft.

 THERE IS A MY OF JEEP ROADS  IN THE BOUSE AREA

Al's Music Box:)) Fools Rush In is a popular song with lyrics written by Johnny Mercer and the music by Rube Bloom.  In 1963, Rick Nelson recorded his version, which was included in his Rick Nelson Sings "For You" LP and was an enormous hit, reaching #12 on the Billboard pop chart and #24 on the Hot R&B Singles chart. This recording became the most well liked version of this song.

GROANER'S CORNER:(( A student at a management school came up to a pretty girl and hugged her without any warning.  The surprised girl said, “What was that?”  The guy smiled at her, “Direct marketing!”  The girl slapped him soundly.  “What was that?!” said the boy, holding his cheek.  “Customer feedback.”

I made a beginner’s mistake and went shopping on an empty stomach. I am now the happy owner of aisle 7.

When I drink coffee I can’t sleep.  Really? I have the exact opposite.  Wow, seriously?  Yes, when I sleep I can’t drink coffee.

The doctor says to his patient at the end of a checkup, “OK, let’s do a stress tolerance test. Nurse, the bill please.”

Two company owners are chatting, “You know John, I’m really impressed with your staff’s work morale. How on Earth do you do it that they’re always on time in the mornings, many even early?”  John says, “It’s simple really. I have 25 employees – so I built a parking lot with 20 spaces.”

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CANADA'S 'WIARTON WILLY' HAS PREDICTED AN EARLY SPRING:))))

 NO, THIS IS NOT WIARTON WILLY...THIS IS ONE OF OUR RASCALLY FRONT YARD SQUIRRELS

Under overcast skies at 8:07 a.m. on this February 2nd Friday morning, Wiarton Willy, Canada's greatest living Prognogtiscator did not see his shadow.  Therefore, it is quite safe to say we are in for an early Spring.  Now how's about that for something positive to look forward to eh:)))))

 ALL PHOTOS TODAY ARE FROM MY FILES  (TUNDRA SWANS)

Kind of another nothing day and I again chucked the few photos I took this morning into the garbage.  With the trail across the road leading to the pond free of snow now, I took Pheebs and my cane for a much-needed walk around the pond and beyond.  I did good most of the way but my hip was sure barking by the time we got back.  Today's hoped-for Sun never happened.  Maybe tomorrow.............  

Fifteen years ago today in Arizona's Huachuca Mountains we took ourselves for a Rough & Tumble Drive In Carr Canyon.  We had a Hyundai Santa Fe at the time.

Al's Music Box:)) Sunny  is a soul jazz standard written by Bobby Hebb in 1963.  Hebb's parents, William and Ovalla Hebb, were both blind musicians. Hebb and his older brother Harold performed as a song-and-dance duo in Nashville, beginning when Bobby was three and Harold was nine. Hebb performed on a TV show hosted by country music record producer Owen Bradley.  Hebb wrote the song after his older brother, Harold, was stabbed to death outside a Nashville nightclub. Hebb was devastated by the event and many critics say it inspired the lyrics and tune. According to Hebb, he merely wrote the song as an expression of a preference for a "sunny" disposition over a "lousy" disposition following the murder of his brother.  Events influenced Hebb's songwriting, but his melody, crossing over into R&B together with the optimistic lyrics, came from the artist's desire to express that one should always "look at the bright side". Hebb has said about "Sunny":  All my intentions were to think of happier times and pay tribute to my brother, basically looking for a brighter day, because times were at a low. After I wrote it, I thought "Sunny" just might be a different approach to what Johnny Bragg was talking about in "Just Walkin' in the Rain".

 GRACKLE

GROANER'S CORNER:(( I was walking past a clothes shop and saw a beautiful dress in the shop window. I went in and asked the shop assistant, “Hi, can I please try on the dress in the shop window?”  “Of course,” nodded the shop assistant, “but you know we also have changing rooms, right?”

Wow, honey, I never thought our son would go that far!  Yeah, the catapult is really amazing. Let's go get our daughter!

Waiter, there’s a fly twitching in my soup!”  And what do you expect for the price? A ballet?!”

A Texan tourist stands under the Eiffel tower in Paris and looks upon it in awe.  “Amazing tower,” he comments to a French guy nearby, “how many barrels does it get out in a day?”

Paul: “I’ve got problems with mathematics.”  Michael: “Me too.”
Eric: “Yeah, that makes four of us.”

Why is women’s soccer so rare?  It’s hard to find enough women willing to wear the same outfit.

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LOOKING FORWARD TO BLUE SKIES IN COMING DAYS

 FOGGY MORNING

With temps slowly on the rise, it was a foggy morning here along the shores of Lake Huron.  Despite that, Pheebs and I made our way to Goderich and back.  While there we hit all the usual places plus a stop at the Canadian Tire Store Auto Department to get a burnt-out rear tail light replaced.  Not much else going on today but I'm bolstered by this thought....one short month from now we will already be into the first week of March.  And, looking ahead at our long-range forecast it tells us we have 10 mostly sunny days coming up beginning tomorrow. (Friday)  Well, I guess we'll believe that when we see it.................  

 GODERICH'S ROTARY COVE

 DESPITE ALL THE REFLECTIONS YOU CAN SEE A FELLA FIXING THE LIGHT AT THE REAR OF THE JEEP

 PHEEBS IN THE CANADIAN TIRE STORE

 HEADING HOME IN THE FOG

Back we go with our time machine once again to ten years ago on this February 2nd day in 2014 for another adventuress day in the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge.  It was days like this that always made our travels memorable for us. Remember to click on the smaller photos to enlarge them.  We Found Sleeping Man Cave, Grinding Stone Cave, and More 

Al's Music Box:)) Bye Bye Love is a popular song written by Felice and Boudleaux Bryant and published in 1957. It is best known in a debut recording by the Everly Brothers,  The Everlys' "Bye Bye Love" is ranked 210th on Rolling Stone magazine's list of "The 500 Greatest Sons of All Time.  In 1998, The Everly Brothers version of "Bye Bye Love" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.  The guitar intro was not originally part of the song, but was something that Don Everly had come up with and was tacked on to the beginning.  Chet Atkins was the lead guitar player on the session.  Floyd Chance was the upright bassist and Buddy Haran was the drummer.

 OUR SNOW IS SLOWLY DWINDLING AWAY.....AGAIN

GROANER'S CORNER:(( In the men's room at work, the boss placed a sign directly above the sink. It had a single word on it: "Think!"  The next day, when he went to the men's room, he looked at the sign, and right below it, immediately above the soap dispenser, someone had carefully lettered another sign which read, "Thoap!"

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“You are only young once. After that you have to think up some other excuse.” 

 “By the time you’re 80 years old you’ve learned everything but now you can't remember it.” 

 “You can’t believe everything you hear—but you can repeat it.” 

For her birthday present, I took my wife to an apple orchard, and we stood there looking at the trees for half an hour.  Not the Apple Watch she was expecting apparently.

“A gossip is a person who creates the smoke in which other people assume there’s fire.” 

“It’s so much easier to suggest solutions when you don’t know too much about the problem.” 

“People can’t drive you crazy if you don’t give them the keys.”

 “Never eat more than you can lift.” 

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