I BROUGHT PHEEBS ASHES HOME TODAY

 OUR GOOD NEIGHBOR MONICA'S MAGNOLIA TREE IS IN BLOOM

After publishing Tuesday's post, I slipped out the door, fired up Subie, and headed for Bayfield to have me a look at the sunset.  Noticed a couple sailboats tied up on the east side of the Bayfield River.  A handful of people were out strolling along the south pier in the final rays of the big orange setting Sun.  Colorful sunsets are always a nice way to end the day.

 TUESDAY NIGHT'S SUNSET NEAR BAYFIELD'S BEACH

I didn't bother with a car ride this morning and instead headed out the back door to resume my major clean-up.  It wasn't long before I had a fire going in the fire pit.  Aside from Aunt Jean, my cousin Norma and I are the last two remaining family members left in our family line-up from my Mother's side so with all the family memorabilia I've kind of hung onto over the years, I have had to understand, act accordingly, and make some difficult decisions along the lines of 'the buck has to stop here'.  And, with that in mind, many old things have gone into the firepit.  That way, it doesn't put the burden on someone else having to deal with all this stuff when I'm gone.

The Zurich Vet Clinic called late this morning, saying Pheebs' ashes were ready to be picked up.  So, without further ado, I headed off to Zurich.  Pheebs was the fourth Bayfield Bunch doggy I have brought home over the past nearly 30 years.  Picking up Pheebs' ashes, I placed the box on the passenger seat and put the window down for the drive home.  Pheebs always liked her window down.  A quick stop at Jerry Raders just up the road for a few things, including our customary turkey salad sandwich, which we always shared.  Pheebs and I communicated all the way home.  It was a bright spot in the day and I'm glad to have her home and will place Pheebs ashes beside Max, Checkers, and Cora. (Motormouse)

 BRINGING PHEEBS ASHES HOME

And then another bright spot today.  Lorraine is back from her 3-day stay at home in Stratford.  I am so thankful to have her here for a while again.  She makes better coffee than I do, and she makes way better meals than I do. I have no interest in cooking, so when I'm on my own, I have a tendency not to eat much.  Lorraine is a very warm and caring person, and I am so fortunate to have her back in my life again in these often difficult Senior years.  She brings humor, laced with a quick wit.  She's a very health-conscious, no-nonsense kind of gal, always putting others' needs ahead of her own.  Anyone passing through Stratford's Liquor Store years ago will surely remember her exuberant, bubbly cheerfulness at the check-out.  Yes, I am truly fortunate to have her by my side through all these troubling times of late.  I sure hope she sticks around:))  

 SPRING HAS ARRIVED AT OUR PARK'S POND

 A GREEN-BACKED HERON ON THE EAST SIDE OF THE PARK'S POND

Al's Music Box:)) The Warmth Of The Sun is a song written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love for the American rock band the Beach Boys. It was released on their 1964 album Shut Down Volume 2 and as the B-side of the "Dance, Dance, Dance" single, which charted at No. 8 in the U.S. and No. 24 in the UK. Brian Wilson produced the song, and the rest of the album.  Wilson and Love began composing the song on November 22, 1963, the day of the assassination of John F. Kennedy, although the two co-authors give different accounts of the timing and whether it was begun before or after the killing. The subsequent recording of the song was informed by the emotional shock felt by its authors in the wake of Kennedy's death."The Warmth of the Sun" was started in the early morning hours of the same morning that President Kennedy was killed in Dallas. The melody was so haunting, sad, and melancholy that the only thing that I could think of lyrically was the loss of love, when interest slips and feelings aren't reciprocated…though I wanted to have a silver lining on that cumulus nimbus cloud so I wrote the lyrics from the perspective of, "Yes, things have changed and love is no longer there, but the memory of it lingers like the warmth of the sun." I think it's really impactful and memorable…one of my favorite songs from an emotional and personal point of view.— Mike Love, 2007.  In the 2016 autobiography, 'I Am Brian Wilson' he recalled that the song was written the day of the assassination, in response to it:  When the shooting happened, everyone knew instantly. It was all over the TV and on every kind of news. I called Mike and he asked me if I wanted to write a song about it. I said sure. It seemed like something we had to think about, and songs were the way I thought about things. We drove over to my office and in a half hour we had "The Warmth of the Sun." We didn't think of it as a big song. It was a personal response. But it got bigger over time because of the history linked to it. Cash Box described it as "an ultra-lovely, lazy-paced ballad that the boys deliver in oh-so-smooth, ear-arresting fashion."  Reviewing the song for AllMusic, Donald A. Guarisco stated, "The sublime balance of lush vocals and sensitive songwriting made 'The Warmth of the Sun' one of the Beach Boys' finest and most moving ballads."Bri an Wilson pioneered the use of adventurous chord changes in pop—"The Warmth of the Sun"'s transitions from C to A-minor to E-flat, were unheard of in 1964.  Among the session musicians who played on the recording were Hal Blaine and Ray Pohlman.

 A WHITE MAGNOLIA TREE IN BLOOM IN OUR FRONT YARD

Groaner's Corner:(( This guy arrives at the Pearly Gates. He has to wait to be admitted, while St. Pete leafs through his Big Book.  He's checking to see if the guy is worthy of entry or not. Saint Peter goes through the books several times, furrows his brow, and says to the guy, "You know, I can't see that you did lots of good in your life but, you never did anything bad either.  Tell you what, if you can tell me of one REALLY good deed that you did in your life, you're in."  The guy thinks for a moment and says, "Well, there was this one time when I was drivin' down the highway and I saw a Biker Gang assaulting this poor girl. I slowed down my car to see what was going on, and sure enough, that's what they were doing. There were about 50 of 'em torturing this chick.  Infuriated, I got out my car, grabbed a tire iron from my trunk and walked straight up to the leader of the gang. He was a huge guy with a studded leather jacket and a chain running from his nose to his ear. As I walked up to the leader, the Gang formed a circle all around me.  So I ripped the leader's chain off his face and smashed him over the head with the tire iron. Then I turned around and yelled to the rest of them, 'Leave this poor, innocent girl alone, you slime! You're all a bunch of sick, deranged animals! Go home before I teach you all a lesson in pain!'"  St. Peter, extremely impressed, says, "Really? Wow, when did all this happen?"  "Um.. about two minutes ago."

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Pappy sees Elmer walking with a lantern and asks, "Where ya going boy?" The son smiled and replied, "I'm a-going courting Peggy-Sue." The Father said, "When I went a-courtin', I didn't need me no dang lantern." "Sure Pa, I know." the boy said. "And look what you got !"

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My wife and I were comparing notes the other day. 'I have a higher IQ, did better on my SAT's, and make more money than you,' she pointed out.  'Yeah, but when you step back and look at the big picture, I’m still ahead,' I said.  She looked mystified. 'How do you figure?'  'I married better,' I replied.

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A golfer and his buddies were playing a big round of golf for $200.  At the eighteenth green the golfer had a ten foot putt to win the round, and the $200.  As he was lining up his putt, a funeral procession started to pass by.  The golfer set down his putter, took his hat off, placed it over his chest, and waited for the funeral procession to pass.  After it passed, he picked up his putter and returned to lining up his putt, and completed it, thus winning the game and the money.  Afterwards, one of his buddies said, "That was the most touching thing I have ever seen.  I can't believe you stopped playing, possibly losing your concentration, to pay your respects."  "Well," said the golfer, "we were married for 25 years."

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Al's Doggy World

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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

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