NOT EXACTLY A GREAT DAY

I remarked a few posts ago about sometimes ending up at the end of the day with an empty head & no idea what to write about.  Well surprisingly, tonight I am having one of those rare nights.  I had forgot to touch wood when I wrote that so of course this is now the result!!

SUNRISE.....WEST OF PILOT KNOB.....YUMA, CALIFORNIA 
Can't tell you I had a great day because I didn't.  Can't tell you about the day's accomplishments because I never accomplished anything.  OK, how about all the places I went today.......nope, never left the house.  How about I tell you about the great warm sunny day we had....nope, cloudy, cold & gloomy takes care of that one.  How about the wonderful light & fluffy banana cream strawberry pie I made this morning.....nope, that didn't happen either.

OK, OK, I KNOW I'M GOING TO BE IN TROUBLE WITH THE BOSS FOR PUTTING THIS ONE IN!! 

But, here's what did happen.  Went to start the Motor Home & the battery was dead again.  Because of the dead battery I couldn't start the generator to boost our dead solar batteries.  Our 4 coach batteries were dead because every time I plug the Motor Home into shore power now something trips the breaker in the house.  Some days ya just can't seem to win for losing!!

  

KELLY'S TWIN 'GRANDS' IN VANOUVER , BRITISH COLUMBIA 

Did I mention we are entering our 6th week of waiting to have our new kitchen counter top  plus leaking bathroom & kitchen faucets installed.  Don't ask me about the email I had written to a fellow blogger this morning about some camera info & then had Gmail totally wipe it out on me.  And then there is my ongoing battle of trying to deal with thousands & thousands of photos stretched out over 3 computers & an external hard drive.  Might have had a chance at figuring all that out & dealing with it a few short years ago but this old memory of mine just doesn't seem to be hitting on all 7 & a half cylinders anymore.

  

WHEN I DROVE SCHOOL BUS YEARS AGO THIS WAS MY FAVORITE LITTLE PASSENGER  

And 'NO' I am not complaining!!  Just chatting away at the keyboard here tonight telling ya a little bit about my not so great day.  Every day isn't totally perfect you know, despite what some people would have you believe!!

MEMORIES OF HAPPIER DAYS 

Noticed a couple fellow bloggers had some close tornado concerns over the past couple days.  CHUCK & ANNEKE along with KIMBERLY & JERRY have been on the tornado fringe with one of the couples having a tornado touch down within a mile of them.

HERE I AM LAST SUMMER PUTTING OUR 'BAYFIELD BUNCH' STICKER ON THE WINDSHIELD

I see we have another Blog Follower today so the Bayfield Bunch happily welcomes Debbie Murphy aboard.  Nice of you to drop by Debbie:))   And no, this is not Debbie's picture below.

ALWAYS THOUGHT THIS WAS A NICE PICTURE OF KELLY'S YOUNGEST DAUGHTER, REBECCA 

Well, that's about it for me tonight.  Maybe, with a little bit of luck, I will stumble over myself tomorrow & aptly remind my stumbled over self what a wonderful day it had better be.....................10-4:))

AND THIS IS THE HAPLESS LITTLE OWL WE  DESPERATELY TRIED SO HARD TO SAVE LAST SUMMER.......BUT DIDN'T:(( 

GROANER'S CORNER:(( 

Doctor, I think I'm a moth"
"You think you're a moth?"
"Yes"
"Well I think we'd better get you down to the Psychiatrist"
"Actually, I was on my way down there but I noticed your light was on."

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EMAIL THE BAYFIELD BUNCH:))
stargeezerguy@gmail.com
OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/
The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right
now...... AL.

IT'S A LIFESTYLE, NOT A VACATION.....PART 2

HIKING THE WILLIS SLOT CANYON NEAR CANNONVILLE, UTAH
Woke up to rain again this morning & on checking the on-line weather map could see it was a large system stretching all the way back down into Kansas City. Lots of rain but not even a whisper of wind. All this moisture sure is good for all the plants & trees I have been planting & moving around these past few weeks. 

 
HICKIWAN TRAILS IN WHY ARIZONA 
In regards to last night’s post about the time it takes me to put a post together let me quickly say that the time I spend on my blog is all enjoyable time for me. If it wasn’t, I wouldn’t do it. As said before, I like writing & photography. I also happen to like typing & it’s always an enjoyable challenge for me to put things together whether it be editing photos or pulling thoughts together in a meaningful way. I see my blog as an enjoyable hobby so I don’t mind spending the time on a hobby I enjoy.  It gives my day purpose & it gives me something to do at night while Kelly watches her television shows.  Same applies when we are traveling.
 
GRAND CANYON, SOUTH RIM.....ARIZONA 
In keeping with my Southwest ‘It’s Not A Vacation…..It’s A Lifestyle’ theme a couple days ago I have a few additional thoughts on the diversity of culture between our Ontario home & our Southwest home. I will focus my thoughts on Arizona because that is where we have spent most of our time these past few years. Let me first direct you to my post on February 1rst of this year entitled, DON'T LET POLITICS STOP YOU FROM COMING TO ARIZONA. This post address’s my thoughts on guns & attitudes & goes hand in hand with tonight's post.

HELL HOLE CANYON NEAR BORREGO SPRINGS, CALIFORNIA
Before I go any further let me emphasize that the following thoughts & opinions are mine alone. It is my lightly humorous & slightly exaggerated take on why I like the Southwest culture. (but, only slightly exaggerated:))

GILA CLIFF DWELLING, NEW MEXICO 
The old wild west history of the American Southwest has intrigued me all my life & is one of the many attractions that draws me to the West each winter. That history is still alive & well to this very day in various parts of Arizona & can be experienced by anyone traveling there. Now, just as I mentioned a couple days ago, I am not talking about the big cities here. Big cities are big cities no matter where you go. I am talking about the small towns & rural populations. This is where the true feeling of the old west is still alive & well. This is where you can see horses on the main streets of dusty little western towns. Clumps of sagebrush can be found resting in doorways on their tumbling way through town. You can walk into small stores & restaurants that haven’t changed for decades. They are not restored & fancy versions of their former selves, they are the buildings & interiors that in some cases have been there from the beginning. You can still see old wooden barns, sheds & houses being held up by nothing more than a stiff southern breeze.

SPLASHING ACROSS THE SAN PEDRO RIVER IN SEARCH OF A LONG FORGOTTEN GHOST TOWN.........CHARLESTON, ARIZONA 
Most folks in these here parts live their whole lives underneath their cowboy hats with button up shirts, blue jeans & dusty desert boots to match. Guns & holsters are occasionally seen as well & gun racks in pick trucks may carry old Winchester rifles. It’s a part of the old west that is still very much alive to this very day. It’s a place where the day's dust that settles on a feller, stays on a feller.

BOON DOCKING BETWEEN SIERRA VISTA & TOMBSTONE, ARIZONA
  
GAZING AT THE HUACHUCA MOUNTAINS & SIERRA VISTA, ARIZONA & LISTENING TO 'THE SONS OF THE PIONEERS.' 
Free range cattle in the fields, sometimes on the road. Old broken down pick up trucks & new SUV’s loaded to the axles with bales of hay. A big bag of feed over an old timers stooped shoulder coming out of the town’s general store is not an uncommon sight. No fancy manicured malls or glittering Big Box stores in the towns. No fashionably trendy shops in the outback either. Houses, barns & old wooden fences may look as well weathered as the locals themselves. Personalities are neighborly, downright homespun & friendly. And, every town & rural area has it’s own unique cast of ‘colorful characters.’ Some of them right out of the wild west days themselves. It is this very kind of setting that draws us, year after year to the Southwest because it is sooooo different from our area & culture here in southwest Ontario Canada.
 
  
EAST OF CANNONVILLE UTAH   
By comparison, Ontario is very ruled & regulated. A place for everything & everything in it’s place, very proper like. Wear a cowboy hat here & somebody is liable to call the police saying there is a nut bar loose. And, if you can find a horse to ride into town you are probably going to get yourself arrested. Not that you would ever find a horse nearby!!   And if your shirt happens to be ripped up in a few places you might want to put on a different one before going into town.
 
MEETING FELLOW HIKERS ON THE COCHISE TRAIL IN THE DRAGOON MOUNTAINS, ARIZONA
No, no, no, I am not running down our beautiful area of southern Ontario. We happen to have a very nice place here in a great area that we like very much. I am just drawing some slightly exaggerated comparisons as to why I find the southwest more to my liking because of the type of person I am & the type of lifestyle I prefer.
  
HIKING IN THE CHIRICAHUA MONUMENT, ARIZONA  
I understand very well society’s need for rules & regulations. We support & live that lifestyle very well here in Ontario but it is the less constraining lifestyle & feeling of freedom that we so much love about the Southwest. People don’t seem to take their lives as seriously there as we do here. Just seems to be less hassles, less fuss & muss,  with less emphasis on prim & proper. A far greater laid back lifestyle in Arizona & that appeals to me in a very, very big way. 
 
A SCENIC RAINY DAY DRIVE UP THE MOUNTAIN TO JULIAN CALIFORNIA FROM BORREGO SPRINGS   
If I had hair down to my ankles, a beard down to my knees & wore a big 10 gallon cowboy hat, rumpled plaid button up shirt with dusty jeans, a shootin iron & muddy cowboy boots I would be arrested by the local constabulary here right quick. But, in small town Arizona I would fit right in.  And that, is one of the main reasons I love Arizona so much. I feel the freedom to just be me. I feel the freedom of the 1800’s & I feel the freedom of the people to be themselves. No fancy schmanzy, no keeping up with the Jones’s & no feeling of having to keep up fashionable appearances. And, if at the end of the day I end up with more dust & dirt on me than my Jeep does then that’s a bonus & something to feel good about. It is the way of the West, And, I love it to bits……..10-4:))

CHRISTMAS DAY DINNER AT THE SENIOR CENTER IN COLUMBUS NEW MEXICO....2006
 
HANGING OUT AT THE 'PINK STORE' IN PALOMAS MEXICO & THE KIND OF SOUTHWEST COLORFUL DECOR IN COLUMBUS NEW MEXICO THAT WE LIKE SO MUCH....2007

A NEW MEXICAN SUNSET FROM PANCHO VILLA  STATE PARK IN COLUMBUS NEW MEXICO
GROANER’S CORNER:(( More than anything, Bob wanted to be a cowpoke. Taking pity on him, a rancher decided to hire the lad and give him a chance. "This," he said, showing him a rope, "is a lariat. We use it to catch cows." "I see," said Bob, trying to seem knowledgeable as he examined the lariat. "And what do you use for bait?"
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EMAIL THE BAYFIELD BUNCH:))
stargeezerguy@gmail.com
OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/
The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right
now...... AL.

AND YEP, WE BOTH WATCHED OPRAH'S LAST SHOW TODAY:))

I WONDER WHY OUR MOTOR HOME CAN'T LOOK THIS GOOD AFTER WE'VE BEEN LIVING IN IT FOR 5 MONTHS!!
Thermometer said it was just 10 degrees above freezing this morning around 6 a.m. as our furnace came on for about the third time. We are so fortunate to even have a furnace compared to the countless poor folks who now have nothing down in those Tornado ravaged sections of the United States.

Noticed Blogger was having a few problems with itself again earlier today. Still seems to be in regards to the comment section where glitches are still happening.

YES TOTO, WE DO HAVE WHITE SQUIRRELS HERE IN ONTARIO....TOOK THIS PHOTO IN THE TOWN OF EXETER  NEARBY WHERE THEY HAVE A LOT OF THE LITTLE WHITE CRITTERS
Kelly hasn’t been working quite as many hours at Deer Park Lodge so far this year so we have had some time together getting things done around the house. Had planned on heading to London this morning to have a look at some new carpet for our front porch. A last minute check of our live weather feed told us…..we would not be going to London today. We could see rain cells heading our way from the southwest so knew we would not be driving home from London in a downpour with a long carpet sticking out the back of the Santa Fe. Our carpet trip will have to wait for a totally dry day.

AND THIS IS DEER PARK LODGE WHERE KELLY WORKS & THAT LITTLE CABIN OVERLOOKING LAKE HURON IS CALLED, 'THE HUTCH.'  KELLY'S MOM & DAD LIKED TO STAY THERE WHEN THEY CAME TO VISIT US......
Back on May 11th, Eve from the Grapevine Canyon Ranch near Pearce Arizona wrote her final post from her beloved ranch. Kelly & I were so fortunate this past winter to have Eve take the time out of her busy day to show us around the Grapevine Canyon Ranch. OUR TOUR OF GRAPEVINE CANYON RANCH.
OregonMike & CARLOS 'CHARLIE' REVERA join us as our latest Blog Followers. Maybe one day we will get ourselves on out to Oregon Mike but not too likely we’ll make it down to the warm Caribbean, Charlie. Thanks for climbing aboard guys:))

I remember a time when I was able to sit down & write my day's post complete with a few photos in about 30 minutes.  Nowadays it takes me hours to put it all together each day. I used to start & finish my posts after supper & often just before going to bed. Now, I generally start the day’s post early in the morning on my Windows 7 laptop in my recliner, just after I get up. That is, if I happen to think of anything. I generally add to it again in the late afternoon around 5 p.m. After supper around 7 I copy & paste what I have written on the laptop so far & email it to our desktop computer in the Sunroom. There, I copy & paste my post into Live Writer & unload my day’s photos from the cameras to Picasa. I edit the photos & then place them into the blog. I have an external hard drive standing by in case I have to use any file photos. (like tonight) All & all, the blog takes me about 2 to 4 hours from the first keystroke to the last keystroke when I hit the 'Publish' button.
   
AND HERE'S A CABOOSE FOR SAM OUR FELLOW RV BLOGGER TRAIN GUY DOWN THERE IN Dardenne Prairie, MO.
My typing hasn’t slowed down any but I do take more photos than I used to. I don’t think my ‘thinking’ has slowed down either but I sure seem to have become a bit long winded over the past few years. I never plan or write anything ahead of time or save anything for the next day.  Each morning my thought process starts anew making my daily posts rather spontaneous.  (maybe that's why I get myself into trouble sometimes) I generally have no idea what I am going to write about for that day unless something occurs to me sitting in my recliner.  If that happens it generally ends up as my post’s first paragraph. Sometimes a post idea will come to me as I am reading other blogs in the morning.  Occasionally I still walk into the Sunroom after supper with an empty head & nothing on my mind to write about.  Somehow, I write a post anyway. Now, how does that happen!!
 
If I was a professional writer I would do it differently.  If I wrote an article on something I would let it sit & 'cook' for awhile.  Maybe a few days or maybe a few weeks.  I would keep coming back to it, making changes, re-writing this, restructuring that & adding or subtracting thoughts I deemed relevant.  I would work on it until it was the best I could make it be.  But, it's just a silly little personal blog each day & the challenge & fun of it is just that......fun & challenging.  Oh, & sometimes a little bit silly too..................10-4:))

BAYFIELD'S SUNSET PARK OVERLOOKING LAKE HURON.....FOLKS GATHER HERE NIGHTLY TO WATCH THE SUN GO DOWN OVER LAKE HURON 
GROANER’S CORNER:(( The stockbroker received notice from the IRS that he was being audited. He showed up at the appointed time and place with all his financial records, and then sat for what seemed like hours as the accountant pored over them. Finally the IRS agent looked up and commented, “You must have been a tremendous fan of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle” “why would you say that?” wondered the broker. “Because you’ve made more brilliant deductions on your last three tax returns than Sherlock Holmes made in his entire career.”
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EMAIL THE BAYFIELD BUNCH:))
stargeezerguy@gmail.com
OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/
The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right
now...... AL.