A FEW MISTY PHOTOS & MY THOUGHTS ON GROUPS OF PEOPLE

LAMPPOSTS IN THE MIST ALONG BAYFIELD’S SOUTH PIER

I was reminded of Jerry Wallace’s song ‘In The Misty Moonlight’ first thing this morning.  We didn’t have any Moonlight of course but we did have mist & tall pine trees.  That set the song to playing over & over in my head for the next few hours.  Changed the title of course to, ‘In the Misty Pine Trees’.

NOT MUCH ACTIVITY IN THE SAILBOAT COMMUNITY THIS MORNING

With all the recent rains spurring everything to grow like gangbusters I was on the end of my weed whacker again.  We don’t have enough sunlight to grow much grass on our property but that’s Ok I don’t miss those days of noisy fume belching gas lawn mowers.  My weed whacker is battery operated & that is a noise level I can handle.  In place of grass we just have dirt, a whole lotta moss, & a sparse crop of weeds.  Maybe don’t look so swell but awwww what the heck it works for us:))

PHEEBS & I TOOK A STROLL IN THE MIST AROUND PIONEER PARK

I much prefer to use new photos in my posts but there are occasions when I end up empty handed at the end of the day & have to use file photos.  Writing a post without photos included just doesn’t seem right to me.  Knowing I didn’t have any new pics up my sleeve I figured Pheebs & I had better do a short little drive around Bayfield this morning & see what we could see.  Tonight’s photos are from our short drive.

I have written before how uncomfortable I am in a group of people.  Can you imagine how that uncomforableness would unnerve me if I had to stand up & give a talk in front of a gathering of people.  Unimaginable to me of course but yet I’ve actually done it a few times on a small scale.  Never liked having to do it of course but do it I did.  My earliest recollection of ‘speaking in public’ was in about grade 5.  Teacher caught me writing a story in my scribbler when I was supposed to be paying attention to something else.  He made me go up in front of the class & read the story I had written.  Strangely enough the class liked it but that by no means made me want to do it again.  Fast forward about 25 years & there I am in a Church basement in Stratford Ontario up on a small stage behind a wooden podium in front of about 40 very seriously looking upturned faces.  It was my first time speaking at an AA meeting & I was a nervous wreck.  This was not my idea of where an introverted person like myself wanted to be.  Maybe needed to be but certainly not wanted to be.  Being the center of attention for whatever reason has never been something I have been comfortable with.  Except when I was drinking of course & that whole story is a totally different bag of nails & one which I am not comfortable talking about…...or writing about.

NEW BENCHES REPLACING SOME OF THE OLD BENCHES IN BAYFIELD’S PIONEER PARK

 

 

FOLKS GATHER HERE NIGHTLY TO WATCH SUNSETS OUT OVER LAKE HURON 

I have no recollection of what I said that night but I know I would have followed the suggested AA guidelines & talked about where my life had been before AA & where it was now.  AA members are encouraged to give those kinds of talks from time to time & some members take to those speaker meetings like a ducks to water.  Not me.  It was frowned upon not to accept an invitation from a group to speak but I couldn’t seem to help turning down those invitations.  Think I only spoke maybe 4 times in the years I was actively involved with AA with the last time being for a fellow AA member’s one year birthday in a Church basement in a little place called Egmondville Ontario.  I was just about physically sick with nerves over that & it was the last time I ever spoke at an AA meeting. 

One time in the late 80’s I attended a Sunday afternoon travelogue slide presentation at the Stratford Ontario Art Gallery.  Walking out of the building that afternoon I thought to myself, ‘hey I could do that’.  A few months later I wasn’t the one sitting in the audience, I was the one standing in front of a group of seated people one Sunday afternoon in the Art Gallery putting on a slide show of my own.  Again very, very, nervous as I had to start off by introducing myself & telling the audience what my slide show would be about.  I narrated my slides as I went along & at the end of the show I had a question & answer period.  Yes it was a good feeling when it was all over & things had gone well but oh how I didn’t want to do that again.  Two weeks later there I was doing another slide show…….again.  Think I did about 6 shows altogether over a period of a few months.  Best part was taking the photos & putting my presentations together.  But then it was time to stand up front & face the people.  Despite the warm reception I always received I would just get myself wound up so tight I just wanted to get out of the building & go for a quiet walk alongside the river nearby.  In later years I traveled around to several Senior Citizen Centers putting on my ‘Nature Photography’ presentations but even with the Seniors I just could not overcome my uncomfortableness in front of a group of people & I finally stopped doing that about 10 years ago.

That ‘fear of people’ thing I have has not improved over the years.  There has been several funerals where I should have got up & spoke but I simply could not pry myself out of my chair.  And there has been other funerals over the past decade I should have attended but could not talk myself out of the house to attend those funerals & walk into a room full of people I knew.  I’ve also missed other things like family gatherings, weddings, & reunions, etc.  I remember years ago going around visiting people & thinking nothing of it & yet today for me to go & actually visit someone is like pulling teeth.  Not that I don’t like the people…….it’s just me.  Put me in group of people & I can immediately feel the panic setting in.  It’s a hard thing for most people to understand but I know there are others out here who feel as I do when they find themselves in a ‘people’ situation. 

ONE NEVER KNOWS WHO ONE MAY SEE IN BAYFIELD

ANOTHER ‘DRIVE-BY PHOTO’ OF A BAYFIELD HOME

We have found RV folks to be a very socially oriented bunch of people.  Not all of course but I would say the majority.  Pressure for the most part is often on to join in events, campfire rings, happy hours, get togethers, hand shakes, hugs, hanging out together, & the telling of tall tales etc.  Nothing wrong with that for a lot of folks & I do marvel at all the people who so much enjoy that sort of thing but some of us out here are just not built that way & it’s hard for the merry makers to understand that.  Rightfully so I guess but I can tell you a little something I have learned along the way.  A number of of those merry makers are also uncomfortable in many social situations but unlike myself they are much better at putting on a happy face & masking their feelings than I am.  I can sometimes handle one on one situations & maybe just two couples visiting but add any more people to the mix & my personality just withers & withdraws inwardly & I become very quiet anxiously looking at my watch & just not wanting to be there.  “Beam me up Scotty & transport me to a quiet forest where I can be alone with the quietness of nature”…………………………….

HERE’S PHEEBS & I LATE THIS MORNING DISCUSSING WHAT KIND OF A SUB TO GET, SHE WANTED A COLD CUT COMBO & I WANTED A TUNA SUB…WE ENDED UP GETTING A  COLD CUT COMBO:))

GROANER’S CORNER:((  A guy named Pete gets a job as a switchman with the railroad, and undergoes weeks of training. The supervisor then takes him into the switch booth to test his readiness. The following exchange takes place:
Supervisor: "Imagine you were sitting here alone and you learned there was a train coming from the North on that track, and another coming from the South on the same track. What would you do?"
Pete: "I'd throw this switch right here and put one train on the other track."
Supervisor: And what if that switch didn't work?"
Pete: "I'd go down to the track and throw that big switch lever there, putting one train on the other track."
Supervisor: "And what if that switch lever didn't work?"
Pete: "Then I'd come back here and call the dispatcher to stop both trains."
Supervisor: "And what if the phone didn't work?"
Pete: "Then I'd go to that gas station across the street and use their phone."
Supervisor: "And what if their phone didn't work?"
Pete: "Then I'd go get Uncle Joe."
Supervisor: "Uncle Joe??? What would he do?"
Pete: "Nothing, but he ain't never seen a train wreck."

WITH TEMPERATURES OVER A 100 DEGREES IN CONGRESS ARIZONA I’M SURE GLAD WE ARE HERE IN COOL LITTLE BAYFIELD ONTARIO:))

DID YOU KNOW BAYFIELD HAS A VIRTUAL HIGH SCHOOL RIGHT ON IT’S MAIN STREET…YEP THEY DO:))
Can't even begin to imagine living in a climate that has temperatures over a hundred degrees for days on end.  And yet when I checked the Congress Arizona weather this morning that is just the kind of weather they are having for the next 10 days.  Every day over a hundred degrees & not a drop of rain in sight.  I can only imagine what the little plantings I put in just a few months ago will look like by the time we return later in the year.  I will be very surprised if any of the small Joshua trees I dug in will make it.  And what must it be like inside our poor little forlorn ranch house in heat like that.  I hope Spencer & Froggy along with the rest of the teddy bear gang are keeping cool in there.  Tis a harsh summer climate in Arizona just as it is a harsh winter climate here in Ontario during the winter months.  So far we have been lucky enough to dodge both those severities for the past 9 years.  Looking forward to turning that 9 into a 10:))

THOUGHT I WOULD THROW IN ANOTHER SMATTERING OF PHOTOS SHOWING SOME SHOPS ALONG BAYFIELD’S HERITAGE MAIN STREET
With water falling out of the sky for most of the morning I lost my enthusiasm for the rest of the day & spent much of my time in my recliner in front of our television set.  Not my favorite kind of day but I did manage to catch half a dozen interesting biographies.


Talked to Aunt Jean in Sarasota Florida last night & she is pretty excited.  The deal finally went through on her purchase of a newer condo a few weeks ago & she has already had a firm offer on her place where she has been living for the past 25 years.  Moving right along she has had her new digs painted, arranged for new carpets throughout plus new vinyl floors in the 2 bathrooms & also new vanities.  She has been one busy lady getting everything organized.  Friends have come into help & everything is skipping right along.  She hopes to be in her new place by the end of the month.  Pretty darn good for someone in their upper 80's I'd say.

Been a long time since we've seen a post from Jerry at Our Life on Wheels way over there in that Benson Arizona place.  A few health problems temporarily got in their way these past couple years but both Jerry & Suzy are once more looking forward to getting in some RV traveling time again.  Matter of fact they are on the road at the moment with a new RV set up.  Gone is their Class A Motorhome & in it's place is a nice Toyota Tundra pick-up truck & a Prowler travel trailer.   Keep those wheels rolling guys.  Kelly & I spent Christmas Day with Jerry & Suzy back in 2009.  And if you click that link the first photo is not a picture of Jerry:))
 
And long time readers will remember Mike & Pat McFall from Mikes blog a few years ago called Mike & Pat's Travels.  Pat & Mike have been at their winter North Ranch digs in Congress Arizona now since the Fall of 2013.  Due to health problems they had not been able to travel & make it back to their summer place in Custer South Dakota since that time.  Can you imagine the excitement over at Mike & Pat's right now knowing they have finally been medically cleared to head out for South Dakota this coming Thursday.  Thanks for the note in our Shout Box Mike & we are all wishing you, Pat, & Ms Megabyte 2 safe travels:))

GROANER'S CORNER:(( My husband, who is an auto mechanic, was on the kidney- transplant list.  As you can imagine, it was a tense time for our family.  But one day, the phone rang and our teenage son answered. It was the hospital with good news. "Dad" he yelled excitedly, "Your parts are in!"

ANIMAL FARM, LAKE WAWANOSH, & WOBBLY LITTLE HORSE LEGS

Cloudy days are not always inspirational photography days for me but after sitting in the house all day on a rainy Friday Pheebs & I were needing to get ourselves outside & surround us with some clear & fresh country air.  We wandered up to Goderich cause I had seen a few things in the TSC (Tractor Supply Company) flyer I figured I might like to have.  Store was busy, couldn't find what I was looking for as usual & the staff was tied up with customers.  I was in one of my Scrooge moods anyway & with no patience left I exited the store empty handed.  One Burrito, one carrot muffin & one McDonald's coffee later Pheebs & I were soon on our way out of town heading for the peaceful countryside.

NATURE’S EYES ARE ALWAYS UPON US IN OUR SUNROOM

 
Our first stop was at the Animal Farm near Dungannon Ontario so Pheebs could jump out & touch base with all her Llama & Alpaca Pals.  Pheebs has a gentle way with other animals (remember all that cow smooching a few years ago in Arizona) & if the fence hadn't been there I'm sure she would have had some Alpaca-Llama smooches going on. 
 

 

OF COURSE ALL EYES ARE ON THE PHEEBS AGAIN

While standing by the fence I noticed something a few pens away that looked a lot at first like a big bird crash.   On closer inspection after seeing the ball of feathers slowly regain some kind of shape I saw it was a male Peacock & by golly he was soon showing himself off with a full display of feathers.  A female Peacock stood nearby but just ignored Mr. Peacocks colorful advances.  It was indeed quite a display of feathers he had going on for her.

WHEN I FIRST CAUGHT SIGHT OF THIS I COULDN’T FIGURE OUT WHAT IT WAS, THOUGHT MAYBE A LARGE BIRD HAD CRASHED

HERE’S THE MALE PEACOCK FROM THE FRONT

AND HERE HE IS FROM THE BACK…NO I DIDN’T SLIP AROUND BEHIND HIM HE JUST TURNED AROUND & GAVE ME THE FEATHERS

NO THAT BIG WHITE GUY IS NOT MRS. PEACOCK

Stopped to watch 3 Mother horses with 3 Baby horses on a Mennonite farm.  One of the youngsters could not have been too old because it's legs were still wobbly.  I know there is correct terminology for Mother horses & Baby horses but not being a farm boy myself those correct names escape me for the moment.  Yes I know I could Google it…………..

THIS LITTLE FELLOW SURE HAD ITSELF A SET OF WOBBLY LEGS UNDER HIM

Made our way to Lake Wawanosh northeast of Dungannon & took ourselves for a wee walk along the shoreline.  I like stopping here because there is never anyone else around.  Watched a distant Blue Heron doing some fishing.  Always so nice to surround one's self with the quietness of a rural countryside.

A CLOUDY DAY AT LAKE WAWANOSH

A MASTER FISHERMAN

Thanks to folks for letting me know my Live Writer album slide show test worked in Thursday night's post.  Finally a step forward & about time I’d say.   I will continue to use the Live Writer album format to include extra photos in my posts from time to time such as tonight with a few extra photos from today's country drive.

HURON COUNTY COUNTRYSIDE VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

A fine post by Stewart over at Seasons in the Valley as he reflects back & looks forward to the future after the death of his Son last month in a tragic water bomber aircraft accident in Alberta, Canada.  In his latest post Stewart not only writes of his late Son's dreams but writes now of his own as well. Pursuing Your Dreams

AREA FARM CROPS ARE COMING ALONG WELL

In case any of you have lost track of Chinle over at Spotted Dog Ranch the past few months you can find her in Alaska these days.  She's kinda finding it the way she remembered it & yet, it's different.  Might want to catch yourself up on her last few posts to see what she is doing there.  And hey, she must be getting close to Santa's house cause she's got reindeer pictures in her June 12th post:))  Check out Chinle’s latest happenings at Searching For Russia.

GROANER’S CORNER:((     An engineer, a psychologist, and a theologian were hunting in the wilderness of northern Canada.  Suddenly, the temperature dropped and a furious snowstorm was upon them. They came across an isolated cabin, far removed from any town. The hunters had heard that the locals in the area were quite hospitable, so they knocked on the door to ask permission to rest.  No one answered their knocks, but they discovered the cabin was unlocked and they entered. It was a simple place ... 2 rooms with a minimum of furniture and household equipment. Nothing was unusual about the cabin except the stove. It was large, pot-bellied, and made of cast-iron. What was strange about it was its location ... it was suspended in midair by wires attached to the ceiling beams.  "Fascinating," said the psychologist. "It is obvious that this lonely trapper, isolated from humanity, has elevated this stove so that he can curl up under it and vicariously experience a return to the womb."  "Nonsense!" replied the engineer. "The man is practicing the laws of thermodynamics. By elevating his stove, he has discovered a way to distribute heat more evenly throughout the cabin."  "With all due respect," interrupted the theologian, "I'm sure that hanging his stove from the ceiling has religious meaning. Fire LIFTED UP has been a religious symbol for centuries."  The three debated the point for several hours without resolving the issue. When the trapper finally returned, they immediately asked him why he had hung his heavy pot-bellied stove from the ceiling.
His answer was succinct. "Had plenty of wire, not much stove pipe."

OH GREAT DREGS OF DREARY DRUDGERY

RECENT RAINS HAVE REALLY HELPED OUR FLOWERBED VEGETATION

That was the only blog title I could think of for my post tonight as I sat at my computer typing this afternoon.  Skies were gloomily gray & the rain just kept coming down & coming down.  Doesn’t take much for cabin fever to get a hold of me & I’m sure glad we don’t live in a heavily gray rain soaked area of the country.  It was Gloomsville here today:(( 

Often thought if I was a rich guy & could have myself my very own hobby car what make & model of a hobby car would I like.  Well the early 60's cigar shaped Ford Thunderbird has always been a favorite of mine ever since I saw my first one many years ago in the village of Tavistock where I grew up. I still remember when the Sommers family down the street bought a brand spanking new jet black Ford Thunderbird. Might have been a 62 or 63.  Wow, to me it was as sleek as a space ship & in my mind it was one of the best designed cars to ever come out of Detroit. I would often see one of the older Sommers boys driving that bird & like a moonstruck young teen-ager I was totally mesmerized every time Jim Sommers cruised that car down the street where I lived. I would always stop whatever I was doing & watch for as long as I could trying to imagine what kind of heaven Jim must be in driving that long, low, cigar shaped black Ford Thunderbird.  Back in those days, that's what dreams were made of for many a young car-struck teen-age boy like myself.  Hey, even Elvis had one of these for a time:)) 
 

I JUST LOVE THESE EARLY 60’S CIGAR SHAPED FORD THUNDERBIRDS

 

THUNDERBIRD PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE INTERNET
The decade between 1955 & 1965 was the most memorable for me when it came to cars. I was a young boy growing into my early teens & cars in those days were absolutely everything to young fellows like myself. We knew all the cars, makes, & models. Knew about the engines, the carbs, lake pipes, fender skirts, baby moons, 4 speeds, & just about anything else a young teenager needed to know about a cool car.   In the late 60's & into the 70's cars took on a box like sameness & the golden age of the adventurous & daring Detroit auto designs was over. Before that we could tell a Chev from a Ford coming down the road a mile away. We knew who was going by the house just by the sounds of the cars. The old Ford flat head eight's had their own sound just as the Chevy 283's did. (hope I got that engine size right) I remember the big stir when Chevrolet unveiled their 1959 Chevys. What a huge space age change in design that was with it's big sweeping fins & equally sweeping dash. Back in those days we only had basically one small car dealership in the small village of Tavistock & it was a Chevrolet dealer.  Every autumn you could feel the excitement in the town’s air as the anticipated delivery of the new models was expected.  Sometimes the new car or maybe two if the dealer could fit a second one in his showroom were kept under wraps just to heighten everyone’s anticipation until the official day they were unveiled.  It was standing room only in the dealership as the town's people flooded in to see the new cars…..or car. I can still remember that level of excitement & anticipation to this very day. It was a magic time for a young teen-ager.  To see all the other makes & models of new cars for the year we had to drive the 10 miles to Stratford where the bigger dealerships were.  But it was the memory of walking into that small showroom in Tavistock’s southwest end early one September evening & seeing for the very first time that big beautiful ‘out of this world’ looking 1959 Chevy Impala that still sticks with me to this day.  The smell of new paint, those big elongated tail lights & splashy red interior.  And all that chrome.  And OMG those tail fins!!  And holy smokes look at that sweeping panoramic dash which just seemed to travel right round the whole interior.  And oh that new car smell inside……‘WOW’  Yes, it was a level of excitement I remember well & by golly I’ll bet if I had me a 1963 Ford Thunderbird like the Sommers family had that young teen in me would probably be right totally excited all over again:))

So far I am not having much luck with my photo album confusion but I did have a small break through today when I recalled years ago posting a couple photo albums to my blog using Live Writer.  Probably been about 5 years since I tried that & it seems it didn’t work or something at the time.  Anyway below is a short test album of random photos to see if it will work this time.  I’m hoping the slide show feature will kick in.  If not I’ll have to head back to the drawing board to see what I did wrong…………..again.

		Live Writer Blog Test Album VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Kelly ventured off to Clinton this morning taking a box of old coins to an old coins appraisal event.  I couldn’t seem to get myself interested enough to go along.  When Kelly said she hoped there wouldn’t be any long line-ups to have old coins appraised that pretty well took care of any interest I might have had in the first place.  On her way home later she stopped into Elliot’s Liquidation Center to pick up a few things & was recognized by a fellow lady shopper as ‘Kelly’ from The Bayfield Bunch.  Cool:))

It has been well over a month now since I last accompanied Kelly & Pheebs on a morning walk.  It’s only 20 minutes around our pine trail but the last half dozen times I walked my legs felt like they had been on a 3 hour route march by the time we were home again.  Had to come in & sit down until that tiredness left my legs.  Have tried a few afternoon walks with Pheebs & it’s that same heavy stiffness which always brings us back early.  Most everything else seems to be working fine but it’s just that darn arthritis which seems to be wearing out my legs on me:((  Gotta get back to that dry Arizona air:))

 

GROANER’S CORNER:(( And here’s a memo released to all Blackberry employees awhile back……………Due to budget constraints, the following policies are announced regarding employees traveling on official business. These policies are effective immediately:

Lodging:
All employees are encouraged to stay with relatives and friends while on business. If weather permits, public areas such as parks should be used as temporary lodging sites. Bus terminals, train stations and office lobbies may also provide shelter in periods of inclement weather.

Transportation:
Hitch-hiking is the preferred mode of travel, in lieu of commercial transport. Luminescent safety vests will be issued to all employees prior to their departure on such travel. Airline tickets will only be authorized in extreme circumstances and the lowest fares will be used. For example, if a meeting is scheduled in Seattle, but a lower fare can be obtained by traveling to Detroit, the travel to Detroit will be substituted for travel to Seattle.

Meals:
Expenditures for meals will be limited to an absolute minimum. It should be noted that certain grocery and specialty chains, such as Hickory Farms, General Nutrition Centers, and Costco Club stores often provide free samples of promotional items. Entire meals can be obtained in this manner.

Travelers should also become familiar with indigenous roots, berries, and other protein sources available at their destination. If restaurants must be utilized, travelers should utilize "all you can eat" salad bars. This is especially effective for employees traveling together - as one plate can be used to feed the entire group. Employees are also encouraged to bring their own food on official travel. Cans of tuna, Spam and Beefaroni can be consumed at your leisure without the unnecessary bother of heating or costly preparation.

Miscellaneous:
All employees are encouraged to devise innovative techniques in an effort to save our budget dollars. One enterprising individual has already suggested that money could be raised during airport layover period, which could be used to defray expenses. In support of this idea, red caps will be issued to all employees prior to their departure, so that they may earn tips by helping other travelers with their luggage. Small plastic roses and ball point pens will also be made available to employees so that sales may be made, as time permits.