THERE IS A BEGINNING AND THERE IS AN END

 OUR LITTLE FROG POND WATERFALL

Later, after publishing my post Monday night, I quietly slipped out the door and took Subie for a slow drive into and around the sleeping little village of Bayfield.  How peaceful, how serene the feeling, and how soothing the patter of a light rain on the windshield.  Not a creature or a critter to be seen on the quiet backstreets.  With my calming soft ambient music playing low in the background and the soft colorful glow of Subie's dash lights, it once again reminded me of how much I treasure these infrequent but necessary alone times by myself.   It's a time to reflect, remember, and reassure myself that things are eventually going to be okay.  There is a beginning and there is an end, and in between those two times, we all travel our journeys of life as best we can.

 A NIGHT TIME GARDEN LIGHT?? NOPE, A SHAFT OF SUNLIGHT SHINES THROUGH AN UNFOLDING HOSTA LEAF

 NOTICE THE LITTLE 'SHADOW CAT' ON THE RIGHT

FRONT YARD FERNS ARE UNFOLDING

I probably fell asleep too early last night because I was wide awake at five and up by five thirty this morning.  Maybe it was the steady sound of rain on our roof, or maybe it was simply my mind waking me up and encouraging me to step up and take charge of the day.  Whatever it was, I was awake and yet another day had begun.  And, I felt okay about that.  However, by 10 a.m. my body obviously thought it was about midnight already, well past my bedtime, and tried its best to shut me down.  Sitting down in my livingroom recliner, I had a hard job of getting out of it again.  Soooo tired.  But eventually, out of it, I did get and ventured outside.  I didn't get anything substantial done today, but I did raise up a fuss with my putterings in the metal shed and the carport.

 EVENING SUN SLIPPING THROUGH THE TREES INTO OUR FRONT YARD

BACK-LIT HOSTAS

It was already 7:30 this evening when I realized I had not taken any photos today for the blog.  Looking out the sunroom window, I saw a few shafts of sunlight from the setting sun filtering through the pine trees into our front yard.  With that....out the door with my camera I went to snap a few quick pics before those sunny rays were gone.

 FRONT YARD FROG POND PLANTS

Al's Music Box:)) It's All In The Game  is a pop song whose most successful version was recorded by Tommy Edwards in 1958. Carl Sigman composed the lyrics in 1951 to a wordless 1911 composition titled "Melody in A Major", written by Charles G. Dawes, who was later Vice President of the United States under Callvin Coolidge. It is the only No. 1 single in the U.S. to have been co-written by a U.S. Vice President or a Nobel Peace Prize laureate (Dawes was both).  The song has become a pop standard, with cover versions by dozens of artists, including Cliff Richard whose version reached No. 2 in the U.K. in 1963.  Edwards' song ranked at No. 47 on Billboard's 2018 list of "The Hot 100's All-Time Top 600 Songs".   In summer 1951, the songwriter Carl Sigman had an idea for a song, and Dawes's "Melody" struck him as suitable for his sentimental lyrics. Dawes had died in April of that year. The range of the classical melody would have made it "difficult to sing", so Sigman also rearranged the song.  The song was recorded that year by Dinah Shore, Sammy Kaye and Carmen Cavallaro but the first release was by Tommy Edwards in August.  Edwards's version reached No. 18 on the Billboard Records Most Played by Disk Jockeys survey dated September 15, 1951.  A jazz arrangement was recorded by Louis Armstrong (vocals) and arranger Gordon Jenkins, with some of Armstrong's most honey-tinged singing. In 1956, Jenkins would produce a version with Nat King Cole along the same lines.  In 1958, Edwards had only one session left on his MGM contract.  Stereophonic sound recording was becoming viable, and MGM executive Morty Craft asked Edwards to cut a stereo version of "It's All in the Game". Edwards updated the song with a rock and roll ballad arrangement.  The single was released in July and became a hit, reaching number one for six weeks beginning September 29, 1958, making Edwards the first African-American to chart at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. It would also be the last song to hit number one on the R&B Best Seller list.   The single sold over 3.5 million copies globally, earning Edwards a gold disc.  The gold disc was presented in November 1958.  It is one of few number one songs to reach the top 30 three times. The single helped Edwards revive his career for another two years, The success of the song also led other artists to re-record older songs in the newer styles.

 THERE'S A HYACINTH IN THERE

Groaner's Corner:(( At one point during a game, the coach said to one of his young players, "Do you understand what cooperation is? What a team is?" The little boy nodded in the affirmative. "Do you understand that what matters is whether we win together as a team?" The little boy nodded yes. "So,"the coach continued, "when a strike is called, or you're out at first, you don't argue or curse or attack the umpire. Do you understand all that?" Again, the little boy nodded."Good,"said the coach. "Now go over there and explain it to your mother."

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- If electricity comes from electrons... does that mean that morality comes from morons?

- In a relationship one person is always right and the other person is a male.

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"If you had one dollar and you asked your father for another, how many dollars would you have?" "One dollar.""You don't know  your arithmetic." "You don't know my father!"

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Al's Doggy World

Meanings::

Kelly and Pheeb's Corner

Al's Art Gallery

AND THAT I TAKE AS A GOOD SIGN

It has been a week since Pheebs trotted off to be with the rest of the Bayfield Bunch, Kelly, Max, Checkers, and Cora, the little Motormouse.  It has been a difficult week for me, and I am going to tell you about a couple of unexpected things that happened that I did not see coming, had not even thought about, or expected.  Last Monday was a traumatic day, to say the least.  After agonizing over the difficult decision in my mind daily for the previous weeks and days, I finally picked up the phone Monday morning and called our Zurich Vet.  It was time.  I knew it was time, and Pheebs knew it was time.  An appointment was made for 2:10 in the afternoon.  I was grateful it wasn't for the next day.  Once that kind of decision has been made, it is time for all concerned to get on with what has to be done.  It was around 1:30 when I picked up Pheebs and carried her to the car.  Lorraine wanted to come along but I said no, I wanted to do this myself.  Just Pheebs and I.  It was a slow tearful drive to Zurich because I knew it was our last car ride together.  This day had been coming since we first brought our sweet girl home on August 9th, 2011.  After sitting in the car for a few minutes, Pheebs, under her own steam, walked with me into the Zurich Vet Clinic.  Everything went well and Pheebs was a true Trooper right to the end.  I lay down on the floor with her on a blanket and we were about face to face from then till the end.  It was peaceful.  When it was over, the Vet left the room and I kissed Pheebs goodbye, looked at her for one last time, told her I loved her, and sadly left the room, walked through the lobby, and headed outside into a beautifully big bright sunny day.  I said a silent 'thank you ' for that.  I slowly made my way home along a few dusty old country roads.  Mentally, I felt  reasonably okay, but physically I felt like I had been hit by a speeding freight train and then run over by all eighty-five loaded train cars it was towing.  My whole body just felt wrecked.  And it felt that way until later that night when something suddenly happened that I had not expected and had never happened to me before.  It was about 10:15 when I stood up from the couch, took a few steps, and felt a cold chill go through my body like a rifle bullet.  I began to shiver, and within seconds I was shaking uncontrollably.  I felt so cold.  The only thing I could think of was that I had probably gone into a delayed shock reaction.  I've read about this happening to people after traumatic events like car accidents, etc.  In hindsight, I think it was the culmination of Kelly's death, Richard's death, and Pheeb's death that my mind and body finally succumbed to.  The violent shaking lasted for well over an hour until I finally fell asleep with the help of a couple of sleeping pills.  The night did not go well.  With a driving thirst earlier, I had consumed a lot of water so I was constantly running to the washroom all night every hour.  By the time morning rolled around I was exhausted, but somehow felt a touch better.  At least the shaking had stopped sometime in the night.  I made it through the day sort of okay, but Tuesday night a second odd thing happened.  Although I slept straight through the night without having to get up once, (that hasn't happened in decades) my upper body was soaked with sweat in the morning.  My T-shirt was wet, as were my pyjama tops.  Even my housecoat felt damp.  I had never ever had anything like this happen to me before either.  Luckily, since that body trauma, I've been feeling better despite tiring a lot more easily and occasionally feeling very run down.  Mentally, I think I am still doing okay, but some days I do have my moments of doubt.  I was so thankful to have Lorraine here with me through all this, and her help was paramount.  I had suggested she go home to avoid all the stress last week and a half ago but she was having none of that.  She was determined to stay by my side no matter what.  She sometimes gets pretty frustrated with me when I don't eat right or don't eat at all, but it has been hard for me to retain an appetite lately. When I stepped on the scale this morning, I was 169 pounds, and that hasn't happened in decades either.  Physically, I did not have a good evening Sunday night but I slept well and felt better this morning.  I know I'm nowhere out of the woods yet, but typing this earlier at 2:15 this afternoon, I was so glad it wasn't last week at this exact time.  For the first time in a while, I had a wee inkling of interest in my blog again.  And, that I take as a good sign.................

THIS IS THE LAST PHOTO OF PHEEBS AND I MOMENTS BEFORE WALKING INTO THE VET CLINIC

With sunshine pouring through the living room this morning, I felt a wee surge on the bright side of things.  Grabbed a tank of gas at the Bayfield Garage, snagged a coffee at Bayfield's Tim Hortons, accompanied by a 'lemon-seed poppy muffin (they didn't have carrot) and headed north up Highway 21 to Goderich.  First stop was at the St. Vincent de Paul center to drop off a carload of stuff, and then it was down to the harbor I went.  Following that, it was a quick stop at Walmart to pick up a prescription and grab a few grocery items.  It wasn't long before I soon skeedaddled myself for home.  Decided to take a break from the backyard clean-up project today so I doddered around a bit outside in the carport.  

THIS ALGOMA'S BRAND NEW SHIP THE ALGOMA ENDEAVOUR IN THE PORT OF GODERICH FOR THE FIRST TIME TAKING ON A LOAD OF SALT

 BARELY A SCRATCH ON ALL THAT NEW PAINT

 AT THIS POINT I DECIDED TO WALK OUT TO THE END OF THE PIER FOR A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE OF THE SHIP AND SURROUNDING LANDSCAPE

LOOKING SOUTH ALONG BAYFIELD'S MAIN BEACH TO ROTARY COVE AT THE EXTREME RIGHT A MILE AWAY

 YOU WILL BEGIN SEEING MY PHOTOS FROM DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES NOW

I DIDN'T MAKE IT TO THE END OF PIER BECAUSE WHILE TAKING THIS PHOTO IT BEGAN TO RAIN AND I HAD TO TUCK MY CAMERA UNDER MY JACKET AND MAKE A BEELINE BACK TO THE CAR

 A SECOND SHIP IN THE HARBOR LOADING GRAIN WAS THE OSOGOVO

 TULIPS IN GODERICH TODAY ALONG THE WAY

Al's Music Box:)) Let's Dance sung by Chris Montez was written by Jim Lee, who produced and released the song on his own Monogram Records. The personnel on the original 1962 recording included Joel Hill on guitar, Ray Johnson on Philicordaorgan, Ray Pohlman on bass guitar and Jesse Sailes on drums. When initially released, the song shot to #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the U.S., and to No. 2 in the UK Singles Chart.

Groaner's Corner:(( Judi and Gayle were walking down the street. Judi noticed a compact on the sidewalk and leaned down to pick it up. She opened it, looked in the mirror, and said, "Hmmm, this person looks familiar." Gayle said, "Let me look." So Judi handed her the compact.  Gayle looked in the mirror, then turned to Judi. "You dummy -- that's me!!!

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A German asks a Mexican if they have any Jews in Mexico. The Mexican says, “Sí, we have orange jews, apple jews, and grape jews!”

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A little boy asked his grandmother what year she was born.  She told him she was born in 1935.  "Wow!" the boy exclaimed. "If you were a baseball card, you'd be worth lots of money!"

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A guy walked into his friend's office, he found him sitting at his desk, looking very depressed.  "Hey, what's up with you?", he asks.  "Oh, its my wife," replied the man sadly. "She's hired a new secretary for me."
"Well, nothing wrong in that. Is she blonde or brunette?"  "Neither, He's bald."

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Al's Doggy World

Meanings::

Kelly and Pheeb's Corner

Al's Art Gallery