IT WILL NO DOUBT BE A CHALLENGE FOR ME

 IT'S GOING TO BE A BIG SPRING CLEAN-UP AROUND OUR PLACE

How encouraging today to at least have the temperature above freezing.  44F.  Although it will be short-lived I was able to make some headway outside by moving some heavy snow off the front and rear decks.  I also slipped over to see how Gayle and Richard were doing but Richard had gone to Goderich.  She said he is feeling better.  Gayle and I had a twenty-minute chat and it was back home I went.

 THE HEAVY SNOWS OF TEN DAYS AGO HAVE BROKEN DOWN A LOT OF TREE BRANCHES

 IT SURE DOESN'T LOOK LIKE SUMMERTIME OUT THERE NO MORE

As many readers know, Kelly and I were never on the leading edge of socializing whether it be here at home or on the road during our RV traveling years.  But, during our travel years, we did meet and make some great friends along the way and some of these friends have paid tribute to Kelly on their blogs.  Janna and Mike were two of our favorite people and Janna wrote this in her blog, Kelly. The last time we saw Janna and Mike was at their winter home on the east side of Arizona's Chiricahua Mountains.  Ivan, a single traveler with his cat Bailey, was another friend who we met in different places over the years.  Ivan writes, Blogging Community Loses Another. The last time we both saw Ivan was somewhere south of Patagonia in Arizona.  A short time later after Ivan moved to the Las Cienegas National Conservation Area (the Grasslands I always called it) not far from where Kelly and I were boondocked I went over one morning to have a coffee with him at his campsite.  Another RV Blogger who was inspired by our travels through my blog also set out to discover the Great American Southwest following in our footsteps.  Doug Lanning writes, Been Awhile.  The last time we saw Doug was on Darby Well Road west of Ajo, Arizona.  You can read and see photos of this day in my 'A Blast From Our Past' segment below.

 BY THE END OF TODAY THE BIG SNOW LOAD ON OUR FRONT DECK WAS GONE AND DID YOU NOTICE THE LITTLE DOGGY FACE PEERING OUT THE PATIO DOOR

 AND, A LOT OF SNOW HAS ALREADY MELTED OFF OUR BACK DECK TOO

A Blast From Our Past:)) Atop The Plops With Kelly And Pheebs And Then Atop The Plops Again With Doug, Pheebs, and Yuma.  There are more nice photos of Kelly here.

 I WAS ABLE TO FREE THIS LITTLE CEDAR TREE FROM THE SNOW AND THE SMOKY BACKGROUND IS JUST ME BURNING A FEW PAPER PRODUCTS IN OUR BURNING BARREL

 OUR NEIGHBOR ACROSS THE STREET IS GOING TO BE BUSY THIS SPRING AS WELL AND THAT IS THE PARK'S CLUBHOUSE IN THE BACKGROUND

Kelly, like her Mother, was an avid reader and spent many contented hours with her books.  It was nothing to see a stack of three or four books in her room on the nightstand beside her bed.  She loved the Bayfield Library where she found her favorite books through the Huron County Library System.  It was suggested by Kelly's brother Peter, also an ardent library supporter that if anyone felt they would like to make a donation in Kelly's name to the  Bayfield Public Library they could do so.   Saturday morning I stopped into the Library and inquired how that might be done and the nice lady there sent me a form via email which I think could be copied and printed off.  The Bayfield Public Library is part of the Huron County Library system.  Tribute-form.pdf   And, while on the topic of the Bayfield Library, I have made an appointment there for this coming Thursday afternoon to have someone help me with the basic operation of Kelly's iPhone. That is if my short-term memory will absorb and retain anything.  It will no doubt be a challenge for me.  I don't even know how to turn it on or off......... 

 I WAS ABLE TO FREE THIS LITTLE CEDAR TREE FROM THE ICY SNOW AS WELL

 ALTHOUGH BENT, IT WILL PULL ITSELF UP STRAIGHT AND STRONG AGAIN

Al's Music Box:)) The Twelth Of Never is a popular song written in 1956 and first recorded by Johnny Mathis the following year. The title is a popular expression, which is used as the date of a future occurrence that will never come to pass.  In the case of the song, "the 12th of Never" is given as the date on which the singer will stop loving his beloved, thus indicating that he will always love them.  Mathis initially disliked the song, which was released as the flip side to his number 1 hit single "Chances Are".  It was written by Jerry Livingston and Paul Francis Webster, the tune (except for the bridge) being adapted from "The Riddle Song" (also known as "I Gave My Love a Cherry"), an old English folk song. Mathis's original version reached number 9 on what is now called the Billboard Hot 100 in the USA in 1957.

GROANER'S CORNER:(( A wife went to the police station with her next-door neighbor to report that her husband was missing. The policeman asked for a description.  She said, "He's 35 years old, 6 foot 4, has dark eyes, dark wavy hair, an athletic build, weighs 185 pounds, is soft-spoken, and is good to the children."  The next-door neighbor protested, "Your husband is 5 foot 4, chubby, bald, has a big mouth, and is mean to your children."  The wife replied, "Yes, but who wants HIM back?"

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Why don't some couples go to the gym?
Because some relationships just don't work out.

A minister stood in front of his congregation and announced, "I have good news and bad news. The good news is we have enough money to pay for our new building program. The bad news is that it’s still in your pockets.”

"Madam, your husband must have absolute rest." "Well, Doctor, he won't listen to me."
"A very good beginning, madam, a very good beginning."
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Al's Doggy World

Meanings::

Kelly's Corner

ATOP THE COW PLOPS NEAR DARBY WELL ROAD EAST OF AJO ARIZONA

 THROWING SNOWBALLS IN THE EMORY PASS EAST OF SILVER CITY NEW MEXICO

 A VERY WINDY MORNING WEST OF OCOTILLO WELLS NEAR BORREGO SPRINGS CALIFORNIA

OH HOW WE LOVED BOONDOCKING IN THE SONORAN DESERT NEAR INDIAN ROAD WEST OF AJO ARIZONA AND THOSE ARE ALL SAGUARO CACTUS YOU SEE SO TALL AND STATELY

 BEV, KELLY, AND JANNA.....BOTH BEV AND KELLY ARE GONE NOW

 KELLY, PHEEBS, AND I AT OUR WINTER HOME IN CONGRESS ARIZONA...PHOTO BY DOUG LANNING

Al's Art Gallery 

 THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS

HAD MYSELF A GREAT CHRISTMAS DINNER WITH ALL THE FIXINS' AND I DIDN'T EVEN HAVE TO DO ANY COOKING

 A LONE WALKER MAKES HIS WAY ACROSS ICE COATED ROCKS OUT AT ROTARY COVE

It is the little things that quietly slip up behind me and gently tap me on the shoulder.  It was the sounds of her making coffee in the morning, her comments about how her night went when she lightly sat my coffee on a table beside my chair.  Sometimes we idly chatted back and forth and sometimes we sat quietly with our morning laptops.  No matter, it was her presence in the room that contented my heart.  I miss her so much.

HERE'S A SQUIRREL THIS MORNING TRYING ITS LUCK ON THE TILT-A-WHIRL WHIRLY-GIG

With morning's sunshine trying its best to break through the overcast (but never did) and temperatures trying to reach above the freezing mark, Pheebs and I climbed into the Subaru, maxed out the heat controls, and slowly rolled out of our driveway heading north to Goderich.  One prescription to drop off and one to pick up at Walmart's Pharmacy.  I like going to Walmart on Sunday mornings.  Not as much pushing and shoving and hustle and bustle.  Of course with it only being 10 days until Christmas, the place was a Zoo.  Luckily I was able to quickly get in and out of there without getting hurt.  Christmas shoppers can be brutal!!

 SOME OF THE SECONDARY ROADS THIS MORNING WERE COATED IN HARD-PACKED SNOW AND ICE

 A FEW DOG WALKERS ON THE BOARDWALK HEADING OUT TO ROTARY COVE

 A SHORELINE WALKER HEADS THE OTHER WAY BACKGROUNDED BY THE LARGEST UNDERGROUND SALT MINE IN THE WORLD

I spend most of my time in the living room now.  It's a touch warmer there.  With our sunroom's big windows and high ceiling, it's always cooler there unless I have the gas fireplace stove turned on.  Like I said before, I run a tight ship now and see no point in spending money on extra gas to keep the room warm if I can use the existing furnace heat in the living room.  When Kelly was here I never worried much about anything like that but now that I am in charge of expenditures I have to be carefully frugal with the expenses.  I don't want Pheebs and I to end up living in a cardboard box behind a Walmart store. somewhere.  As I've said many times before, Kelly was the one with the most good brains in our Bayfield Bunch family.

 FLAT SHORELINE ROCKS COATED IN ICE

 DID YOU NOTICE THE ABOMINABLE SNOWMAN PEERING OUT ON THE LEFT

 THERE HE IS PEEKING OUT AGAIN

Our Park's annual Christmas Party was today in the clubhouse.  Sarah, co-owner of our Park messaged me on Facebook last week wondering if I would be coming to the Christmas Party.  As I've said before, I'm not comfortable in groups of people, and with this germ factory of a head and chest cold still hanging on I messaged back a few days later saying, I would not be going.  Sarah said that was okay and would drop off a turkey dinner for me.  Not knowing if I would be home or not I said thank you and that I would leave a cooler on our porch if someone dropped a dinner off.  Didn't want the squirrels snatching my Christmas dinner.  While in the washroom I thought I heard a light knock at the door this afternoon.  By the time I got to the door, nobody was there.  Thought I'd better check the cooler and sure enough there was a whole turkey dinner with all the fixins' in there on an aluminum plate with a lid on it.  And, that's what I had for supper tonight:))  Thank you Sarah for thinking of me.  I'll get out to one of those clubhouse functions one of these days......

 MY DELICIOUS CHRISTMAS DINNER

 AND THESE TWO FINE-LOOKING FOLKS ARE OUR PARK OWNERS SARAH AND ADAM

A Blast From Our Past Back in December of 2010 I wrote a post called Sir Frog-A-Log, Lady Flop-A-Lot And Little Weinerly Beans and here's one I wrote on this day also in 2010.  Hi-Ho Hi-Ho It's A Jeeping We Did Go  Remember to click on the small pictures to enlarge them.  There are a few nice ones of Kelly.

Al's Music Box:)) I Got A Name is a 1973 single recorded by Jim Croce with lyrics by Norman Gimbel and music by Charles Fox. It was the first single from his album of the same title and also Croce's first posthumous single, released the day after his death in a plane crash on September 20, 1973.  While the single was released in September 1973, it was first heard as the theme song for the movie The last American Hero, released in July 1973. Croce composed most of his own material; however, he did not write "I Got A Name." In an interview with Billboard writer Norman Gimbel, it was revealed that Croce chose to record the song "because his father had a dream for him but had died before his son's first success."  The song features a narrator who is proud of who he is and where he is going in life, undeterred by the naysaying of others. He begins by declaring that like any plant or animal, he has a name of which he can be proud. The narrator acknowledges, however, that not all people take pride in who they are in such a way: for instance, he carries his name with him "like my daddy did," but the narrator, choosing to handle life differently, is "living the dream that he kept hid." The narrator, unlike his father, is able to have a proud connection with his name, and live out the dreams that his father was unable to accomplish in life.  In the second verse, the narrator goes on to note that like the wind, birds, or even crying babies, he has a song to sing. Much like he does with his name, he holds his song up as a proud part of his identity, and resolves to sing it no matter what. Even if singing "gets me nowhere," by declaring his identity and worth to the world, the narrator can go to "nowhere" proudly.  In the final verse, the narrator declares that he will go forward in life "free," acknowledging that he will forever thus be a "fool." However, he happily chooses this path of foolish freedom, because moving through life this way can only help him achieve his "dream." This dream is clearly as much a part of the narrator's identity as his name or the song he sings, and he holds it up just as proudly to others. He then notes that while others may "change their minds" about him and his dream, their naysaying can never change his identity. Even so, the narrator is willing to "share" his dream with others, and announces that if anyone else is "going my way"—i.e. they believe in his dream as well—then he will go forward in life along with them.  However, the culmination of the narrator's beliefs and pride in his identity is really in the chorus, as he declares that no matter what, he is joyfully "moving" and "rolling" himself "down the highway" of life. All in all, as he moves forward in life, carrying his name, his song, and his dream as part of him, his biggest goal is to simply not focus on the past, but look to the present and future instead. The narrator ends by sharing his hope that he can live each day to the fullest, "moving ahead so life won't pass me by."  Jim Croce performed the song live on an episode of The Midnight Special in 1973. 

GROANER'S CORNER:(( If you are on Facebook, I am sure you will find this familiar.......The 76-year-old woman walked down the hallway of Clearview Addictions Clinic, searching for the right department. She passed signs for the "Heroin Addiction Department (HAD)," the "Smoking Addiction Department (SAD)" and the "Bingo Addiction Department (BAD)." Then she spotted the department she was looking for: "Facebook Addiction Department (FAD)."  It was the busiest department in the clinic, with about three dozen people filling the waiting room, most of them staring blankly into their Blackberries and iPhones. A middle-aged man with unkempt hair was pacing the room, muttering,"I need to milk my cows. I need to milk my cows."  A twenty-something man was prone on the floor, his face buried in his hands, while a curly-haired woman comforted him.  "Don't worry. It'll be all right."  "I just don't understand it. I thought my update was LOL-worthy, but none of my friends even clicked the 'like' button."  "How long has it been?"  "Almost five minutes. That's like five months in the real world."  The 76-year-old woman waited until her name was called, then followed the receptionist into the office of Alfred Zulu, Facebook Addiction Counselor.  "Please have a seat, Edna," he said with a warm smile. "And tell me how it all started."  "Well, it's all my grandson's fault. He sent me an invitation to join Facebook. I had never heard of Facebook before, but I thought it was something for me, because I usually have my face in a book."  "How soon were you hooked?"  "Faster than you can say 'create a profile.' I found myself on Facebook at least eight times each day -- and more times at night. Sometimes I'd wake up in the middle of the night to check it, just in case there was an update from one of my new friends in India . My husband didn't like that. He said that friendship is a precious thing and should never be outsourced."  "What do you like most about Facebook?"  "It makes me feel like I have a life. In the real world, I have only five or six friends, but on Facebook, I have 674. I'm even friends with Juan Carlos Montoya."  "Who's he?"  "I don't know, but he's got 4,000 friends, so he must be famous."  "Facebook has helped you make some connections, I see."  "Oh yes. I've even connected with some of the gals from high school -- I still call them 'gals.' I hadn't heard from some of them in ages, so it was exciting to look at their profiles and figure out who's retired, who's still working, and who's had some work done. I love browsing their photos and reading their updates. I know where they've been on vacation, which movies they've watched, and whether they hang their toilet paper over or under. I've also been playing a game with some of them."  "Let me guess. Farmville?"  "No, Mafia Wars. I'm a Hitman. No one messes with Edna."  "Wouldn't you rather meet some of your friends in person?"  "No, not really. It's so much easier on Facebook. We don't need to gussy ourselves up. We don't need to take baths or wear perfume or use mouthwash. That's the best thing about Facebook -- you can't smell anyone. Everyone is attractive, because everyone has picked a good profile pic. One of the gals is using a profile pic that was taken, I'm pretty certain, during the Eisenhower Administration. "  "What pic are you using?"  "Well, I spent five hours searching for a profile pic, but couldn't find one I really liked. So I decided to visit the local beauty salon."  "To make yourself look prettier?"  "No, to take a pic of one of the young ladies there. That's what I'm using."  "Didn't your friends notice that you look different?"  "Some of them did, but I just told them I've been doing lots of yoga."  "When did you realize that your Facebooking might be a problem?"  "I realized it last Sunday night, when I was on Facebook and saw a message on my wall from my husband: 'I moved out of the house five days ago. Just thought you should know.'"  "What did you do?" "What else? I unfriended him of course!"

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A young deer in the woods learned to use all four hooves equally well...He was known to be bambidextrous.

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Al's Doggy World

Meanings::

Kelly's Corner

Al's Art Gallery