AND THE WISDOM TO KNOW THE DIFFERENCE

Made it out for a Sunday evening walk but decided to head home instead of doing my usual little night drive.  Too many clouds obscured the starry night sky.  But the evening sky was very picturesque. 

 A JET'S CONTRAIL ADDS TO THE CLOUD PATTERNS

 DID YOU NOTICE THE HAPPY LITTLE SUN FACE WAVING TO YOU

After thinking about something for a very long time, I reached deep inside myself today and was able to get a good grip on myself and pull myself out of myself long enough to drive myself to the Bayfield Community Center and attend an introductory class on Taoist Tai Chi.  Now, this isn't new to me, having completed a beginner's course twenty-five years ago in St. Marys, Ontario.  And I remember starting another beginner's class again a dozen years or so ago in Bayfield, but I have no recollection of having completed that one.  Maybe it was because we headed off to the Southwest that year earlier than planned.  With my normal short-term memory problem being even more compromised at the age of nearly eighty-two, I'm not so sure I'm up for the challenge because re-learning one hundred and eight continuous Taoist Tai Chi moves will especially be an even bigger challenge for me now than it was back then.  Years ago, when I attended many AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) meetings, I learned a little prayer that is spoken at all meetings.  Before walking into that Bayfield Community Center this afternoon at 1:30, I had to repeat The Serenity Prayer several times. "God grant me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change.  Courage to change the things I can.  And the Wisdom to know the difference."  And with that under my belt, into the Community Center I went.......

 A FEW COTTAGES AND HOMES NEAR BAYFIELD'S PIONEER PARK TODAY

Okay, I wrote the previous paragraph this morning pre-Tai Chi decision, and here's how it went.  Yes, I did make it into the building and up the stairs to the second floor of the Bayfield Community Center, with every step of the way wanting to turn around, go home, and crawl back into my secure and safe little cave.  However, I persisted and walked through the door into a room of strangers.  Always one of my biggest fears these last bunch of years.  Two nice ladies came over right away and made me feel welcome, and that, of course, was a big help.  There was a core group of about ten Tai Chi folks there, and with this being an introductory class, there were four other newcomers beside myself.  With we Newbies taking a seat, several Tai Chi members spoke before putting on a demonstration, often called a set.  Sitting there watching the folks go through the Tai Chi moves, my confidence began to stir with thoughts like, 'Yes, I think I can do this again.  But that positive thought didn't last long.  Soon we Newbies were up on the floor being shown the warm-up exercises and the first three opening Tai Chi moves.  And it was here that my confidence left me.  I had wrongly assumed that, like riding a bicycle, things would come back to me, despite it being so many years since I had last done Taoist Tai Chi.  Not one single thing came back to me, not even the warm-up exercises.  Nothing, zero, zilch.  I was once again totally a fish out of water.  And to think that twenty-five years ago, after successfully completing an introductory course in St. Marys and then attending Tai Chi classes in Stratford Ontario, for a while, I was asked if I would be interested in going further with an eye on being trained as an instructor. I had a lot of things going on in my life at that time, plus the idea of being an instructor scared me.  The basic line was simply this....I had grown a little bit of confidence in myself, but not that much confidence to be an instructor. By the time today's demonstration concluded, I was so disappointed in myself that I was eyeing the door.  But I decided to stay and watch the core group go through one more set of exercises. But still, I just couldn't see myself being able to do this anymore, so when the class wrapped up, I walked over to the registration table.....and signed up for the full four-month Tai Chi class beginning full tilt next Monday. 

Al's Music Box: Monday Monday by the Mamas and the Papas.

GROANER'S CORNER:(( A California Highway Patrolman pulled a car over and told the driver that because he had been wearing his seat belt, he had just won $5,000 in the statewide safety competition. "What are you going to do with the money?" asked the policeman. "Well, I guess I'm going to get a driver's license," he answered. "Oh, don't listen to him," yelled a woman in the passenger seat. "He's always a smart aleck when he's drunk." This woke up the guy in the back seat, who took one look at the cop and moaned, "I knew we wouldn't get far in a stolen car." At that moment, there was a knock from the trunk and a voice said, in Spanish, "Are we over the border yet?"

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Why did the British cross the Atlantic?
To get to the other tide!

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Men say that women should come with instructions. What's the point of that? Have you ever seen a man actually read the instructions?

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A guy bought his wife a beautiful diamond ring for Christmas. A friend of his said, "I thought she wanted one of those sporty 4-wheel-drive vehicles." "She did," he replied. "But where in the world was I gonna find a fake Jeep?"

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I’m on a plane and the lunch choices are white meat chicken or German sausage. Unfortunately, I’m seated in the last row and I’m hoping for the breast, but preparing for the wurst.
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I ain't afraid of the cops around Santa Ana, California. You seen some of these guys? What, cops on bicycles? How intimidating is this: Alright, buddy, pull it over. Ching-ching-ching? What do they do when they arrest somebody? "Alright, get in the basket!!

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Al's Doggy World

Meanings::

Art Gallery

HMMMM, KINDA WISH I HAD A LITTLE CAMPER VAN

 ROUNDED UP THREE MORE FRONT YARD FROGS TODAY AND TRANSPORTED THEM VIA WHEELBARROW TO THE PARK'S LARGE POND

A cloudy morning, but I didn't let that deter me from my morning walk. Home again, and in the carport, I gathered up all my car cleaning supplies, etc., and placed them in a couple of plastic milk crates to be brought into the house for the winter.  (waxes, cleaners, sprays, etc.) I do this every year at this time to keep the liquids from freezing, and bring them all back out again in the Spring.  I once used a lot of that stuff for waxing fibreglass sided RVs.  I know the chances of me ever using any of this stuff again are about nil to none, but I hate to chuck it all in the garbage.  I've learned from experience not to be too hasty in matters like this.  One just never knows.  I'm not dead yet, still have my driver's license, and my driving skills, so maybe, just maybe someday.........Hmmmm, kinda wish I had a little camper van.

 A MONTH FROM NOW MOST OF THESE BOATS WILL HAVE BEEN LIFTED OUT OF THE BAYFIELD RIVER AND PLACED IN STORAGE UNTIL SPRING

 SAW THIS NEAT OLD CAR IN BAYFIELD THIS AFTERNOON

 ALL OF MY VEHICLE CLEANING STILL WILL COME INSIDE FOR ANOTHER WINTER

The lady whose property abuts mine at the back passed away a while back, and that house is now for sale. ($325,000) I noticed on the real estate site that the realtor had taken an overhead drone shot of that house and property.  In the photo below, where the 'blue thingy' points to the house and property for sale, there is a dark round area in the trees to the left and just up a bit from the 'blue thingy'.  That is my property, and that dark round area is my driveway and the narrow darker area beneath it is where we parked our RVs over the years.  And, if you go a bit more left and up, and look carefully, you can actually see the fountain in our Park's pond between the trees.  Also, if you look to the top of the photo, you can see the horizon line and the waters of Lake Huron.  The little village of Bayfield is located on that horizon line to the left, where you see a slight dip in the shoreline.  From my driveway to Rosie's Ice Cream Shoppe on Bayfield's Main Street is three miles.  

Al's Music Box:: Theme From A Summer Place by Percy Faith and his Orchestra.  Also sung by The Lettermen.

 THIS IS WHERE I GENTLY SLIDE THE LITTLE FROGGY FELLERS INTO THE PARK'S POND

GROANER'S CORNER:(( A man returns to his parked BMW to find the headlights broken and his front bumper smashed. There's no sign of the offending vehicle, but he's relieved to see that there's a note stuck under the windshield wiper. He picks up the note. "Sorry. I just backed into your BMW. The witnesses who saw the accident are nodding and smiling at me because they think I'm leaving my name, address, and other particulars. But I'm not."

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- If nothing ever sticks to TEFLON, how do they make TEFLON stick to the pan?
- If you're in a vehicle going the speed of light, what happens when you turn on the headlights?
- You know how most packages say "Open here". What is the protocol if the package says, "Open somewhere else"?
- Why do they put Braille dots on the keypad of the drive-up ATM?
- Why do we drive on parkways and park on driveways?- 
- Why when you transport something by car, it's called a shipment, but when you transport something by ship, it's called cargo?
- You know that little indestructible black box that is used on airplanes; why can't they make the whole plane out of the same substance?

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- “I control the weeds in my lawn with the help of my friend, Herby Side.”

- My grandfather invented the cold air balloon...It never really took off.

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A guy showed up at his friend's costume party carrying a woman on his back. The host asked, "What on earth are you dressed as?" The guy replied, "I'm a snail." The host, looking puzzled, said, "How can you be a snail when all you have is that woman on your back?" The guy responded, "Oh, that's not just any woman, my friend, that's Michelle."

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Al's Doggy World

Meanings::

Al's Art Gallery