OH TIS QUITE A DREAMER I ARE SOMETIMES

 ICE CONTINUES TO BUILD ALONG BAYFIELD'S SHORELINE

How encouraging this morning after our recent go-around with icy cold gray weather and wintery snow storms to see an orange glow on the horizon through our pine trees.  Sunshine:)))))  And along with that marvelous sunshine today has come much-appreciated rising temperatures as well, and those temperatures are predicted to remain above freezing for the next couple of weeks.  How nice today to see and hear the sounds of melting snow.  Drip, drip, drip:))

 LITTLE RED HAS BEEN AROUND THE LAST FEW DAYS AND UNCHARACTERISTICALLY HAS NOT BOTHERED WITH TEARING DOWN ANY OF THE BIRD FEEDERS......YET

It was a Jeep ride into and around Bayfield this morning.  Desperately needing some exercise for my legs we plowed our way into the Bayfield cemetery and ran some tracks around the unplowed roads.  I had to crack on a little extra power to make it through a line of small drifts but the Jeep took it all in stride.  Following that, I parked the Jeep and we were able to get out and walk along in the tracks I had made.  Well, not Pheebs so much because she is always flying around all over the place, tracks or no tracks.  I could really feel our walk by the time we got back to the Jeep.  Oh, how I and my legs miss those long morning winter walks and rock scrambles in the deserts and mountains of the great American Southwest.

 ICE FORMATIONS ALONG THE NORTH SIDE OF THE BAYFIELD RIVER NEAR THE HARBOR MOUTH

 RETRACING OUR TIRE TRACKS IN THE CEMETERY TO MAKE THEM WIDER FOR WALKING

Home again I felt the need to move some snow around.  Actually, it wasn't really a need because rising temperatures and rain over the next couple of weeks will take a lot of it away anyway.  But, with that touch of morning sunlight, I felt invigorated enough to just get outside and do something, anything.  Checked the oil in all three of our vehicles plus the rig's generator.  All was okay.  Our carport was a mess with blown-in snow and slush dropped from the Jeep and Subaru.  I got all that out with a snow shovel and leaf blower.  I was outside for nearly 2 hours doing stuff simply because the sun was shining which in turn boosted me just enough to enjoy being outside doing stuff:))

Facebook threw me half a dozen memories of places we have been on this day during our RVing years.  December 2010 found us in Tombstone Arizona.  It wasn't the first or last time we were in Tombstone but on this day we walked through the infamous Birdcage Theatre where no less than 27 people had died in Tombstone's turbulent wild west days.  I found this building genuinely eerie as Kelly and I, the only ones there slowly made our way through the dimly lit stone silent interior.  It was as if, in that silence, I could hear the loud raucous laughing, shouting, angry, and excited mumbling voices of the packed crowd as the dance hall girls on stage whirled and twirled for the alcohol-fueled patrons and the men in the balcony box seats with their ladies of the night in attendance.  I took pictures, but I didn't use the flash on my camera in an attempt to capture the subdued dim lighting of a small town's turbulence of yesteryear.  Tombstone Arizona        

 DARK-EYED JUNCO

Sitting in the RV a few days ago while we were enduring our power outage I said to Kelly, 'no matter what, we gotta somehow take this rig and go someplace in the Spring'.  Whether near or far, we just have to get away to see and do something new for a change.  I wished we knew someone with a little piece of land up along Georgian Bay or the Bruce Peninsula where we could go, park the rig for a few days or a week and have ourselves some campfires while sitting quietly alongside Lake Huron, Georgian Bay, a little inland lake, or no lake at all but just enjoying the peacefulness of nature with no people nearby to ruin the silence.  Sunrises, Sunsets, and big starry nighttime skies.  And if we were lucky, maybe we could even hear the call of a lonesome Loon.  Oh, tis quite a dreamer I are sometimes.

GROANER'S CORNER:((  Cannibals::

Two cannibals are eating a clown. One says to the other, 'Does this taste funny to you?'

That reminds me of the cannibal that passed his friend in the woods.....

When do cannibals leave the table? When everyone's eaten.......

What is a cannibal's favorite type of TV show? A celebrity roast.....

Where do cannibals shop for fine furniture? Eatin' Allen's......

What do cannibals eat for dessert? Chocolate-covered aunts......

What do cannibals make out of politicians? Baloney sandwiches......  Well ain't that the truth!!

Have you heard about the cannibal restaurant? Dinner costs an arm and a leg......

Did you hear about the cannibal who loved fast food? He ordered a pizza with everybody on it.......

Cannibal's recipe book: How to Serve Your Fellow Man.......

One cannibal to another: I never met a man I didn't like...........

Two cannibals were sitting by a fire. The first says, 'Gee, I hate my mother-in-law.' The 2nd replies, 'So, try the potatoes.'

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WITH MY USUAL MIX OF OPTIMISTIC SKEPTICISM

Another cold, dull, and gray morning as Pheebs and I fired up the Subaru and headed off to Goderich.  I don't think Subies heater is as good as the Jeep Liberty.  Usually, we can crank up the Jeep's heater to the point of melting steel within a few miles but after the same few miles in the Subaru, the heater isn't warm enough to melt ice cream.  Of course, those are two extreme exaggerations but you get my drift.  The Subaru does warm up after a while but it takes its time.  Or, more likely it is just me not understanding how to correctly figure out all that advanced Japanese Subaru heater technology.

GOING OUT TO WARM UP THE CAR I HAD FORGOTTEN THE SHOPPING BAG INSIDE SO KELLY GAVE THE BAG TO PHEEBS AND TOLD HER TO BRING IT OUT....AND SHE DID:)) 

 I HAD A LITTLE HELP WITH THE DRIVING TODAY

 'WHAT GEAR DO YOU WANT ME TO PUT IT IN DAD'

Arriving in Goderich I topped up the gas tank, grabbed a small Mcdonalds' decalf coffee to go, and down to the harbor we went.  I hadn't realized how really cold it was until I stepped out of the car to take a photo and was pummeled by an icy blast of wind coming in off Lake Huron.  Shore ice is building up quickly and is about half a mile out into the lake already.

 ICE IS BUILDING UP FAST ALONG THE SHORELINE

 ONLY SAW ONE WALKER OUT THIS MORNING AND SHE WAS CLIPPING RIGHT ALONG

 NOW, HOW'S THAT FOR A NICE BURST OF COLOR ON A DRAB GRAY LATE DECEMBER DAY

A stop at Walmart and the Canadian Tire Store netted me about a dozen things and it was off for home we went.  Coming out of Walmart I had a momentary scare when I couldn't find the Jeep.  Where I thought I had parked sat a blue car, a white SUV, and a black pick-up truck.  My heart missed a few beats until it clicked in that I wasn't driving the brown Jeep today.  The white car was the Subaru.  Would you believe fifteen minutes later walking out of the Canadian Tire Store I almost did the same darn thing again!!  

 USE YOUR IMAGINATION HERE FOLKS BUT DON'T MISS THE CUTE LITTLE WHITE BIRD ON THE RIGHT

 A CLOUDY GRAY DAY INDEED

 THESE TWO STRUCTURES A MILE AWAY AT THE HARBOR ENTRANCE ARE TOTALLY ENCRUSTED WITH ICE

Kelly's feeling better today and regaining her strength.  New medications can always knock a person for a loop and I don't think Kelly's body is as tolerant to some meds as other people's.  We're looking forward to better days ahead.

 THESE CANADA GEESE ARE TRUE WINTER SNOWBIRDS

I'm about two-thirds of the way through my current book and am really enjoying it.  In the style of Bill Bryson's The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid, Homer Hickams Rocket Boys also reminds me of the movie Stand By Me.  Come to think of it the book also reminds me of a television series years ago.  I think The Wonder Years starred a young fella by the name Fred Savage.

 THE ALGOMA MARINER WAS IN PORT TODAY AT THE GODERICH SALT MINE

Picking a December 27th day at random from the past I see we were at our Congress Arizona house in 2016 where I leisurely spent some time that day tipped back in my recliner taking a few bird photos.  TODAY WAS FOR THE BIRDS

THE HARBOR TUG OCEAN A. SIMARD IS WARMING UP IN THE BULLPEN BEFORE VENTURING OUT TO BREAK UP SOME HARBOR ICE

 AND HERE IT COMES NOW

 WITH PROPELLERS IN REVERSE THE TUG BEGINS BACKING THROUGH THE ICE TOWARD THE LAKE

 INSTEAD OF BREAKING UP THE ICE WITH ITS BOW, IT IS USING ITS STERN

 THE TUG IS SWARMED BY A HERD OF SEAGULLS

 I AM GUESSING THE TUG DOES THIS EVERY SO MANY HOURS TO PREVENT THE ICE FROM SOLIDIFYING AND TRAPPING THE BIG SHIP IN THE HARBOR

BY THE TIME I GOT BACK INTO THE CAR THE ICY WINDS HAD PRACTICALLY FROZEN MY FINGERS TO THE CAMERA......WELL OKAY, NOT THAT BAD BUT YOU DO KNOW HOW I LIKE TO EXXAGERATE LITTLE THINGS FROM TIME TO TIME:))

I always enjoy the psychological boost of letting go of one old year and grabbing onto one new year.  With only four more days left in 2022, I look forward to 2023 with my usual mix of optimistic skepticism seasoned with a generous helping of doubts, fears, hopes, and dreams bolstered of course with the usual sprinkles of anxiety, worry, confidence, and assurances added at critical times.     

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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What do you call a person that is Happy on Monday?...........RETIRED!

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