MORE WASHING & RINSING TODAY PLUS A CORVETTE BREAK

It was nice walking in cooler temperatures this morning.  50F keeps the Mosquitoes & biting flies down.  We could walk along quietly enjoying summer bird songs overhead without wildly flailing our arms about our heads shooing away bugs for a change.  Bonus.

CLOSE TO OR MAYBE OVER 300 CHEVY CORVETTES IN BAYFIELD’S CLAN GREGOR SQUARE TODAY
I was anxious to finish my TSP job on the rig today so spent the best part of the morning washing & rinsing, washing & rinsing.  Took a break around 11 to drive into Bayfield to meet a couple blog readers who are in the early stages of building their RV dreams.  It's the annual Vette Fest week-end in Bayfield & all's we had to do was find a black Corvette with the license plate saying, GRAYSGRL.  The Vettes had all congregated on Bayfield's CLAN GREGOR SQUARE & when we arrived they had just checked in the 259th Corvette.  Most popular Corvette color we noticed was red but there were a lot of black ones there as well.  Took us about 15 minutes of weaving in & out the many sleek beasty looking high powered machines to finally find GRAYSGRL.

Sue & Gray from Waterloo Ontario were sitting beside their spotless black Corvette under a big shady Maple tree.  Nice to meet these folks after exchanging a few emails over the last little while.  Both school teachers they are looking forward to a fun summer.  Our conversation mainly centered on the RV life & real estate availability & prices in the Bayfield area.  They knew I was working at shining up the Big EEE's fiberglass exterior so we asked Gray how he kept his car so shiny.  Corvettes are fiberglass as well so he showed us the products used on his Vette.  Gray likes MEGUIAR'S Wax & I was familiar with that name from the forums I have been reading.  It's a popular quality product.  We walked over to one of the booths & looked at the type of electric polisher/buffer he uses to keep his Vette gleaming.  I had noticed Canadian Tire had a couple Simonize polishers on sale this week but was leery of them because of their low price.  After reading the reviews on the polishers I decided I did not need the aggravation buyers were complaining about.  It was a clear cut case of 'you get what you pay for'.  Talked to Sue & Gray for a bit more & then headed for home.  I still had about a third of the rig to finish TSPing & rinsing.  Grabbed a hot dog & hamburger from a vendor & away we went.  Sue & Gray will fit well into the RV community when they both retire in a few years & begin their RV life.  And why will they fit well??  Because just like all the other RV people we have met over the years…………….they are nice people:))

 

LOTS OF FELLAS SHINING UP THEIR VETTES TODAY
It was another couple of hours before I was finally able to step back & put the TSP water bucket & garden hose down.  I had probably been up & down my 10' step ladder about 643 times with this project & I was pooped.  Sun had swung round, shade was gone & the heat had built up.  Enough for today & I headed for my recliner to stretch myself out in the cooling cross breezes of my strategically placed fans.  Ahhhhhhhhh:))

  

Now my next dilemma is what product to buy & how best to apply that product to the rig.  Kelly phoned 2 equipment rental places & neither one rented the type of polisher best suited for applying & buffing wax.  That surprised me.  I could attempt at applying the wax & buffing by hand but I do understand a polisher/buffer machine is the better way to go for better satisfactory results.  It's the sheer size of the area to be done that lends itself being done by a machine designed to do that specific job.  Just hate to spend over $200 for a machine applicator I may only ever use just a few times.

We talked to Fred the owner of the 04 Sunbird Friday afternoon & he had the A/C topped up in the car a few days ago & said it was working great. Also said he wanted to keep the car over the week-end to make sure it was working properly & not leaking.  We will talk further with Fred early this coming week.

VENTURING INTO VETTE COUNTRY THE 2 BOYS IN THIS ALL CHROME DODGE VIPER TURNED LEFT OUT OF THIS INTERSECTION THEN LIT UP THE TIRES & HEADED ON OUGHTA TOWN

GROANER’S CORNER:((   A few words of wisdom for all you aviation buffs::

-Take-off's are optional. Landings are mandatory.

-If you push the stick forward, the houses get bigger, if you pull the stick back they get smaller. (Unless you keep pulling the stick back -- then they get bigger again)

-Flying is not dangerous; crashing is dangerous.

-It's better to be down here wishing you were up there, than up there wishing you were down here.

-The propeller is just a big fan in the front of the plane to keep the pilot cool. Want proof? Make it stop; then watch the pilot break out into a sweat.

-Speed is life, altitude is life insurance. No one has ever collided with the sky.

-It's best to keep the pointed end going forward as much as possible.

-The only time you have too much fuel is when you're on fire.

-Every one already knows the definition of a 'good' landing is one from which you can walk away. But very few know the definition of a 'great' landing. It's one after which you can use the airplane another time.

-The probability of survival is equal to the angle of arrival.

-Always remember you fly an airplane with your head, not your hands. Never let an airplane take you somewhere your brain didn't get to five minutes earlier.

-You know you've landed with the wheels up when it takes full power to taxi.

-Those who hoot with the owls by night should not fly with the eagles by day.

-A helicopter is a collection of rotating parts going round and round and reciprocating parts going up and down - all of them trying to become random in motion. Helicopters can't really fly - they're just so ugly that the earth immediately repels them.

-Learn from the mistakes of others. You won't live long enough to make all of them yourself.

-Trust your captain .... but keep your seat belt securely fastened.

-Good judgment comes from experience and experience comes from bad judgment.

-Aviation is not so much a profession as it is a disease.

-There are three simple rules for making a smooth landing. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.

-The only thing worse than a captain who never flew as co-pilot is a co-pilot who once was a captain.

-Be nice to your first officer, he may be your captain at your next airline.

-It's easy to make a small fortune in aviation. You start with a large fortune.

-A fool and his money are soon flying more airplane than he can handle.

-Remember, you're always a student in an airplane.

-Keep looking around; there's always something you've missed.

-Try to keep the number of your landings equal to the number of your take-offs.

-You cannot propel yourself forward by patting yourself on the back.

-There are old pilots, and there are bold pilots, but there are no old, bold, pilots!

-Gravity never loses -- the best you can hope for is a draw!

-You start out flying with a bag of luck and a bag of experience, the trick is to get your bag of experience full before your bag of luck is empty.

HAD A GO AT THE RIG’S SPLOTCHY WHITE EXTERIOR WITH SOME TRISODIUM PHOSPHATE POWDER THIS AFTERNOON

Pheebs & I slipped out for a little back road Jeep drive this morning.  Always nice to get out & enjoy the countryside on a fine sunny summer morning.  This cooler weather has re-energized my batteries & I spent some time this afternoon on the Big EEE's exterior finish.  What has been bothering me about the white finish all along is the splotchiness.  Some parts are shiny while other parts are dull.  I don't know if somebody tried to wax it one time or not but the white fiberglass finish is not uniform.  Reading various forums a month or so ago I noticed a lot of folks first used TSP (Trisodium Phosphate Powder) on their RV finishes to strip off road grime & all former waxes & polishes.  So with water bucket, hose & a mixture of of TSP & water I have begun to wash the rig down.  Even just using the TSP made it look better.  Once I have all the old waxes etc stripped off I will have to decide what kind of a finish to re-apply.  No easy decision with so many products on the market.  I did try some liquid Turtle wax on a small spot & that seemed to work not too bad but not sure that is the best route to go.   I have read that POLI GLOW is good & I know there is a dealer in Woodstock Ontario.  But my oh my what a big job this is.


Two of the roof vents on the rig had a weathered gray look to them so I slipped up on the roof & put a first coat of white RV paint on them.  The lighter color is better for reflecting the sun's rays & heat.  Left the paint can on the roof for the second coat.  What do you think my chances are of remembering that paint can is up there before I drive the coach again..................
 
I know one of the greatest inventions of man has been the wheel but really, how far behind that great invention can be......'the recliner'.  With the recent spate of hot weather I have been spending increasing time in my recliner & loving every minute of it.  I don't know when the modern day recliner was invented but I'm sure if this was a hundred years ago I would probably be spending my time in a rocking chair.  A rocking chair has nothing on a recliner.  So impressed with recliners I am that I remember my very first one.  It was the early 70's & I was driving a big green Ford cab-over delivery truck for Bennett's Hardware in Vernon British Columbia.  Up to that point my only time spent in a recliner was to briefly sit in one on the display floor at the store.  That was until the day my swamper (helper) Frank & I had a brand spanking new leather recliner delivery for a customer.  We had a truck load of other merchandise to deliver as well but it was that recliner delivery which was to change my dreams of comfort for me.  Can't remember just where it was we delivered that recliner but what I do remember is the customer's old faded orangey yellow recliner which the new one was replacing.  It was worn & the mechanism had lost it's smoothness.   Customer said we could take it to the dump.  Soon as I heard that I knew I had just landed myself a recliner.  Of course I didn't tell the customer that.  Can you guess where our next unscheduled stop was??  Yep, my place.  Oh how I loved that old worn out recliner.  Spent many a relaxing hour tilted back at an odd angle reading many a fine book in that chair.  Remember sitting in it watching EVEL KNIEVEL on TV back in 1974 as he attempted to jump over the Snake River Canyon in his jet powered rocket one afternoon.  And by the way that was my very first colored television too that I was watching that jump on.  And where did I get that used color television??  Well it was the early 70's  & I was driving a big green Ford cab-over delivery truck for Bennett's Hardware in Vernon British Columbia………………..:))

And a big thanks to my Aunt Jean in Sarasota Florida for a correction to my piece about Me & the Queen of England.  Seems I got my Prince's mixed up.  It was the Queen's husband Prince Philip she was traveling with back in the late 50's in Stratford Ontario & not the Prince of Whales.  The Prince Of Wales is actually the Queen's son Prince Charles.  Thanks Aunty:))

GROANER'S CORNER:((   The Senility prayer for those of us who are getting a little older: 
God grant me the senility
to forget the people
I never liked anyway,
the good fortune
to run into the ones I do,
and the eyesight
to tell the difference.

ANSWERING SOME QUESTIONS & MY TWO BRIEF ENCOUNTERS WITH THE QUEEN OF ENGLAND

TONIGHT’S REFLECTION IN THE PARK’S POND
Big weather surprise after I published Wednesday night's post & headed out the door with Pheebs for a walk.  A/C was going in the house & yet it was cooler outside than inside.  Unbeknownst to us the temperatures had made a wondrous nose dive & instead of stepping out into 80 plus humidity Pheebs & I happily walked along in some very welcome much cooler 63f temps.  Yaaay, now maybe I can get a few things done outside without turning into a big 210 pound ball of sticky paste!!  Woke up to 58 degrees this morning & the thermometer stayed there all day.  Nice but I did have to put on a T-Shirt under my long sleeve flannel shirt.  Nice:))
 
 
YEP, THESE ARE ME ALRIGHT…YOU CAN TELL I’M A BIT HARD UP FOR PHOTOS TONIGHT
A question from Flowergirl asks, 'Do you copy and paste all the groaners or type them out? Just curious'.............I copy & paste the jokes from joke sites I find on the internet.  I probably chose 1 from every 7 or 8 jokes I read.  Some nights if I'm in a frumpy mood I can read 20 jokes & not find any of them funny.  It's not that at least 3 of those jokes aren't funny to me it's just that I'm not in a funny mood with myself.  Ladybug from LAZY DAYS AND LADYBUGS asked about the 04 Pontiac Sunfire we looked at last week.  Fred, the owner of the car said he would call us this week after he had the A/C looked at.  No call yet.  AsTimeGoesBye asked about the fifth picture in last night's post.  Yes it was a slug.  Found him in rotting pine stump.

Spent my morning cleaning both the Santa Fe & the Jeep despite the rain.  How nice to have a carport with a cement floor.  Had some 40's tunes on my cassette stereo while working away with the pitter-patter of a gentle rain on the carports' steel roof.  Kinda cozy.  Kinda groovy even:))  Kelly attended a free 8:30 a.m. outdoor Yoga class at Bayfield's Pioneer Park overlooking Lake Huron.  They were able to complete the class before the rains came.  Our skies cleared by early evening.  I tried Yoga once….maybe I will include that little episode in my Archive Memories if I can find it.  I know it was in Elfrida Arizona a few years back.


 
THAT’S PHEEBS COMFY BED IN THE BACK OF THE JEEP
RETIRED ROD had a comment question on my Tuesday night post in which he says. ' As you know, I have been around for a long time.... And as such remember all of the older posts... But can you go back to blogs you posted before you were on google... They would be fun reading, since most of us never knew you then'......Well it's kind of a yes & no answer for me on this one.  Before blogging entered my world I was on an internet forum for awhile called 50+.  Aside from interacting with others on the forum I did write a few short pieces which I later re-wrote & posted to my blog when I first became a Blogger.  I have included one of those pieces from that era at the bottom of this post.  It's about me & the Queen of England.  Don't tell her I put it in that order though.  When 50+ began to self destruct from members flaming at each other I bailed out of there.  Next came Microsoft's 'My Space' & that was my first introduction to a blogging format.  Think it might have been around 2005/06.  I blogged about our 06/07 trip to the South-West in My Space but nearly lost all those post's when Microsoft's My Space eventually went belly up.  I was able to save all the posts in email form but I never did publish any of them using the Blogger format which I finally switched to in late 07.  I know I had written a few other things in that period of time but have not been able to find them so consider them lost.  However I might just have me a look through our 06//07 travel blogs to see if I can find anything interestingly relevant.  Thanks to Rod for shaking up the big twist of matted cobwebs in my head:))

I wrote the article awhile back for an internet forum site called 50+ when the topic was, "Famous People I Have Met." (first let me say that I have never met any really famous people but I've seen a few) I reached back through my foggy memory banks at that time to see who I could remember. These are the folks I managed to retrieve from my mind’s slowly swirling mists of time...........
ARCHIVE MEMORIES::  I think it was sometime in the mid fifties & I was probably ten years old or so when I first saw the Queen of England. It was a fleeting glimpse as she & the Prince Philip passed by in an open car on William Street, Stratford Ontario Canada. But, I was sure she saw me. After all, I was a young 10 year old boy with a big imagination so why wouldn't she have seen me. The roadside was jammed with throngs of cheering people as far as I could see & the Queen of England had just become my new friend. It would be another 45 years or so before the Queen & I would lay eyes on each other again.
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Canadians will recall some of these next names.  I remember seeing our then Prime Minister, John Diefenbaker when I was a small boy in public school. He stopped in the village of Tavistock Ontario where I grew up & gave a speech by the town's water fountain. I related this story to a friend of mine from Tavy & he said, well don't you remember Pierre Elliott Trudeau coming through town a few weeks later doing the same thing. Alas, I didn't. Must have been one of those days I was playing hooky…………..
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In 1967/68 I was a doorman/car jockey at a then posh Tower Hill apartment building at the corners of St. Clair & Spadina Ave in Toronto. The president of the Canadian Cancer Society lived there & one night held a big entertainment function. I remember her name as being Mrs. Frankel.  Myself & another fellow doorman were at the big front glass doors as the limousines rolled up. We smartly stood at attention & swung open the doors for Princess Margaret & Lord Snowden. I remember how she glowed as she walked by with all her jewels on & how handsome Lord Snowden looked. Later that evening 4 of us had to move a heavy piano from a hallway into the suite where the party was going on because pianist PETER DUCHIN was playing. There was a Toronto Maple Leafs hockey player there that night as well but not sure who it was. Might have been Carl Brewer.
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Sat at a table next to Canadian singer/songwriter GORDON LIGHTFOOT in a little Halifax coffee house back in 1966. He was with some friends.  I was in the Navy at the time. His career was just in the process of revving up & he was playing there. I remember their table was pretty "lively!!" Saw him once more after that in concert at The Center In the Square in Kitchener, Ontario. I think it was sometime in the eighties.  Gordon is probably best remembered for his song, WRECK OF THE EDMUND FITZGERALD.
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Saw Rompin RONNIE HAWKINS at the Stratford Coliseum in the early 60's when he was a really wild & crazy guy. Some members of his band went on to form, "The Band" who in later years backed Bob Dylan.  Ronnie Hawkins was originally from Arkansas & is a friend of Bill Clinton.
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While living in Stratford Ontario back in the 90's I drove for a company called, The Stratford Airporter taking people to & from Pearson International Airport in Toronto. I drove Celtic singer & harpist LOREENA McKENNITT  home from the airport several times as well as another lady from a Canadian group called, FARMER'S DAUGHTER. Actors from the Stratford Shakespearian Festival frequently traveled as well. WILLIAM (BILL) NEEDLES, MARTHA HENRY & ROD BEATTIE were a few of the travelers I remember chatting with to & from Toronto’s Pearson International Airport.  Rod Beattie is best known for his LETTER FROM WINGFIELD FARM SERIES
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Kelly & I saw Johnny Cash & June Carter at Toronto's Ontario Place as well as Tina Turner & Cindy Lauper. We’ve also been to concerts in Toronto to see The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, ZZ Top, The Eagles, & Neil Young. Saw Roberta Flack on stage at the Festival theater in Stratford. Listened to MOE KOFFMAN playing, The Swingin’ Sheppard Blues in Stratford’s Knox church as well.
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Back in the 70's & 80's there was a well known & acclaimed Shakespearean stage actress at the Festival Theater in Stratford by the name of PAT GALLOWAY. Before moving to Bayfield in 02 I did a lot of grounds work for Pat & her husband Barnhard at their estate near St. Marys Ontario. Really, really nice down to earth people & Kelly & I became good friends with Pat & Bernhard. Fellow stage actors WILLIAM HUTT, DOUGLAS CHAMBERLAIN & feisty DOUGLAS CHAMBERLAIN would sometimes be there. I remember the last time I saw ‘Dougy’ as Pat called him he was in their kitchen wearing a Moo-Moo.  I don’t know why he was wearing a Moo Moo but he just was. (a moo-moo is like a frumpy dress that doesn't compliment your figure kinda like a grandma dress) In Pat's heyday we heard there were some pretty lively parties on their estate with various in town Hollywood actors popping in.  PAT GALLOWAY'S FILMOGRAPHY.
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Oh yes before I forget…………….. about me & Queen Elizabeth & our second meeting. I think it might have been in the summer of 1998. The Queen was in Stratford again & I heard she would be heading off to Woodstock, Ontario in early afternoon. Only one highway heading from Stratford to Woodstock so I knew her route.  Figured I may never see her again so I hopped on my motorcycle & headed over to a spot out in the country along highway 59 just a few miles north of Hickson Ontario. Nice open spot & no throngs of people this time. Finally, the normal traffic going by ended. No cars at all for awhile. Waited & waited & then one car went by moving very fast.  A few minutes another one followed & a minute later another car. This went on for about 5 minutes. Had I missed her?? Then I saw the convoy of cars coming fast. First one, two or three & then there she was & she was sitting by the back window on my side of the road. Light blue outfit with a matching powder blue hat. I was standing beside my motorcycle as I waved. No mistaking it this time, she looked right at me, but alas, there was no recognition in her eyes from 45 years before. Whoooooooosh, the car was by in seconds & she was gone..................... And that was my little story of, Me & Queen Elizabeth:))

GROANER'S CORNER:(( Senators William B. Spong of Virginia and Hiram Fong of Hawaii sponsored a bill recommending the mass ringing of church bells to welcome the arrival in Hong Kong of the U.S. Table Tennis Team after its tour of China.  The bill failed to pass, cheating the Senate out of passing the Spong-Fong Hong Kong Ping Pong Ding Dong Bell Bill.

SOMETIMES WHEN ONE CASTS A SHADOW

ONE OF MY FAVORITE FILE PHOTOS TAKEN IN A SWAMP JUST SOUTH-EAST OF ZURICH ONTARIO A FEW SUMMERS AGO

Most people would just phone in to make an Optometry appointment but I guess Pheebs & I are just not most people.  We jumped in the Jeep this morning & hustled our buns up to Goderich in order to make an appointment in person for an eye check-up.  Me, not Pheebs.  Well I couldn't go through the McDonald drive-thru if I'm on the phone in Bayfield eh.

We didn't do any back road touring this morning.  Had to head on back home to vacuum all the Muffin crumbs out of the front seat.  Jeep was overdue for a cleaning anyway so until the heat finally got the best of me that is what I did this morning.  Cleaned the Jeep.  I will probably do the Santa Fe in the morning.

Would you believe I wounded myself cleaning a floor mat this morning.  Well I did & the wounding device happened to be a product of Arizona.  Had about a dozen small stones imbedded in the grooves of the floor mat so proceeded to dig in & flick them out with my finger.  Until one of those seemingly harmless little stones up & stabbed me.  Turns out it was a GOATHEAD sticker & did it ever make my finger bleed.  Into the house, finger under the cold water tap & wrapped it up in a Kleenex.  Problem solved but 'ouchy-ouchy-ouchy!!  Figure the sticker was from our property in Congress.  Stuck to my shoe & then came off on the rubber mat where it waited in ambush for me until I one day decided to deep clean my floor mat.  ‘Bingo’, after a lengthy wait it finally got me:((

I dug out another fan a couple days ago & strategically placed it on the kitchen counter to sweep our small living room casting it's cooling breezes on me from my right side.  In conjunction with my 3 bladed tower fan on my left I have set up quite a summer's air conditioned breeze blowing blowing freely in one ear & out the other.  Tipped back in my recliner the thought occurs to me, 'why would I get out of this big comfortable chair ever again'.  Why indeed.............................

In a comment/question Phil says, 'You never seem to mention printing pictures. Do you ever make prints'?  Short answer to the question is 'no, I never make prints from my photos'.  Other folks have made prints of my photos but it is something that has never interested me to do.  I enlarged some stuff in my 35mm days but to the best of my memory I have never printed any of my digital photos.  And I guess that's about all I can say about that.

Appreciate all the supportive comments from readers & I thank you.  I do know I do not have to explain things to anyone but it is just my nature in many cases to do so.  Sometimes when someone casts a shadow my way I feel it is up to me to lighten that shadow with an explanation.  It's just my personality that makes me do that.  Some of us were born with & carry our sensitivity genes a little closer to the surface than others.  Life's experience also has a habit of re-arranging those personal sensitivities as well & we all react to circumstances differently through our individual stages & ages of maturity....................

GROANER'S CORNER:((  The Secret Language Of Women

(Men should probably commit this to memory...)
-Fine:
This is the word women use at the end of any argument that they feel they are right about but need to shut you up. NEVER use "fine" to describe how a woman looks. This will cause you to have one of those arguments. 
-Five minutes:
This is half an hour. It is equivalent to the five minutes that your football game is going to last before we take out the trash, so they feel that it's an even trade.
-Nothing:
This means something and you should be on your toes. "Nothing" is usually used to describe the feeling a woman has of wanting to turn you inside out, upside down, and backwards. "Nothing" usually signifies an argument that will last "Five Minutes" and end with the word "Fine."
-Go Ahead (with raised eyebrows):
This is a dare. One that will result in a woman getting upset over "Nothing" and will end with the word "Fine." 
-Go Ahead (normal eyebrows):
This means "I give up" or "do what you want because I don't care." You will get a raised eyebrow "Go Ahead" in just a few minutes, followed by "Nothing" and "Fine" and she will talk to you in about "Five Minutes" when she cools off. -
-Loud Sigh:
This is not actually a word, but is still often a verbal statement very misunderstood by men. A "Loud Sigh" means she thinks you are an idiot at that moment and wonders why she is wasting her time standing here and arguing with you over "Nothing."
-Soft Sigh:
Again, not a word, but a verbal statement. "Soft Sighs" are one of the few things that some men actually understand. She is content. Your best bet is to not move or breathe and she will stay content.
-Oh:
This word followed by any statement is trouble. Example; "Oh, let me get that". Or, "Oh, I talked to him about what you were doing last night." If she says "Oh" before a statement, run, do not walk, to the nearest exit. She will tell you that she is "Fine" when she is done tossing your clothes out the window, but do not expect her to talk to you for at least 2 days. "Oh" as the lead to a sentence usually signifies that you are caught in a lie. Do not try to lie more to get out of it, or you will get a raised eyebrows "Go ahead" followed by acts so unspeakable that I can't bring myself to write about them.
-That's Okay:
This is one of the most dangerous statements that a woman can say to a man. "That's Okay" means that she wants to think long and hard before paying you retributions for what ever it is that you have done. "That's Okay" is often used with the word "Fine" and used in conjunction with a raised eyebrow "Go Ahead." At some point in the near future when she has plotted and planned, you are going to be in some mighty big trouble.
-Please Do:
This is not a statement, it is an offer. A woman is giving you the chance to come up with whatever excuse or reason you have for doing whatever it is that you have done. You have a fair chance to tell the truth, so be careful and you shouldn't get a "That's Okay."
-Thanks:
A woman is thanking you. Do not faint, just say you're welcome. 
-Thanks A Lot:
This is much different from "Thanks." A woman will say, "Thanks A Lot" when she is really ticked off at you. It signifies that you have hurt her in some callous way, and will be followed by the "Loud Sigh." Be careful not to ask what is wrong after the "Loud Sigh," as she will only tell you "Nothing."

A SHOUT BOX GUEST ASKS, WHY AM I MESSING WITH SOMETHING THAT WORKS WELL

Luckily I checked the weather map before going to bed Monday night.  I could see a storm front over Michigan headed our way & it looked like it was going to roll into our neighborhood earlier than expected.  Slipped outside in my jams & rolled up the Jeep windows, closed the Motorhome door plus 2 shed doors.  Quick look around to make sure we hadn't left anything out & that was it.  Thunder, lightning & rain woke all 3 of us up about 4:30 in the morning.  Not having to lay awake wondering if I had left anything open outside I was able to grab another hours sleep.

Humidity was heavy again this morning so we cut our walk short.  Mosquitoes drove us right back out of the Pine forest anyway.  Knew I only had until about 9 a.m. to get anything done outside I was going to do so I spent some time on one end of the weed whacker.  With this hot damp greenhouse weather of late weeds have been springing from the ground all over the place.  There are many nice things about living in a pine forest but one down side in this hotter weather is that we do not always get the cooling breezes coming in off the lake.  The breeze is out there but it just does not penetrate the forest leaving us with still air & mosquitoes.

A few comments of late in our Shout Box about my Archive Memories idea.   One comment asks why would I do that?  Well I guess my answer is 'why wouldn't I do that.  Thought I had explained my reasons a few days ago for including an Archive Memories segment in some of my posts.  Besides the fact many new readers have come aboard these last bunch of years many things I have written over the years are just as fresh today as they were years ago.  I am not using my entire daily blog to tell an old story, I am rather using an occasional old story to add variety to my usual blog.   Any by the way I am not re-posting old posts I am only occasionally using excerpts from previous posts. It is always a challenge for any daily Blogger to come up with new ideas everyday & I struggle not to get myself caught up in the daily blow by blow repetitions.  I try to intersperse that with a creative writing style.  Old stories, new stories, some humor, some sadness, occasionally some anger, lots of thoughts & ideas about things.  Sometimes it's my head writing & sometimes it is my heart.  Sometimes I accidentally, unintentionally, or semi-accitentionlly  step on people's nerve ends & sometimes I can hear people laughing at my Groaner's Corner.  I try hard to keep my blog varied & interesting.  I know some will say, 'well if you don't have anything interesting to write about then why sit down & write about it.  I understand that thought & answer it by saying, I enjoy the challenge of trying to come up with ways of making the uninteresting…..interesting.  It's the way a creative mind works.  It has to be challenged, it has to be creative.

 
That creativity manifests itself in my photography each day as well.  Again, another great challenge coming up with photos I feel would be of interest & enjoyment to readers.  I often use my photos to tell a story as well so the writing & photos are often connected.  The majority of my photos are daily but there are times at the end of the day when I just come up short.  On these days I like to use file photos.  Is a photo taken in 2009 any less of a photo than a paragraph or story written in 2008, 2010 or whenever.  I think not.  
I have said many, many, times before how much I enjoy writing & photography & through the wonderments of computers, the digital era & a blogging platform what a great opportunity for a creative inverted personality like mine to express itself.  Writing & photography ( & travel) are an enjoyment for me now at this later stage of life when enjoyment does not always seem to come as easily or frequently as it once did.  I think that has to do with losing interest in things that were once thought of as interesting.  I also know it to be a normal progression of aging.  And we do not all age at the same rate by the way.  But getting back to the comments in the Shout Box.  Are these a concerned & well meaning reader or two or as commenter Bev suggests, something to do with jealousy.  Perhaps yet another case of 'sour grapes.'  Whatever it is I will continue to write my blogs the way I enjoy writing them.  And by the way Archive Memories will continue, but not on a daily basis.  Hadn’t planned one for tonight but in lieu of the recent comments here is one entitled ‘Ode To My Coffee Cup’ written back in 2008.  Remember, you do not have to read this…….now how easy is that eh:))

ARCHIVE MEMORIES::  It happened so quickly, & my old friend was gone in the twinkling of an eye. In a hurry with coffee in hand I headed out the back door to-day to see what the doggy guys were barking at. Not wanting to put my coffee cup in harm's way I reached out to set him on the deck railing whilst I headed down the steps to do battle with what was probably a chipmunk making faces at little Cora. It was the "crash" behind me & the tell tale sounds of breaking pottery that reached my ears before my brain did. I knew instantly, my favorite coffee cup had just bit the dust. No point in even looking back as I continued out into the back yard to have words with the furry cast of noisy characters. It was good I had something to focus on for a few minutes before returning to....pick up the pieces:((

My old friend & I first met in the Apache Canyon Trading Post near New Mexico’s Carlsbad Caverns back on December 22, 2006. The Bayfield Bunch had stopped in to have a look around after exploring the Caverns earlier in the day. I'm not much for hanging around in gift shops too long so after a quick amble through the place I was headed back for the door when I spotted him sitting quietly with a bunch of his brightly painted pottery friends on a shelf by the window. He had a tanned adobe look with colorful markings & a name that read, New Mexico. And I liked his black glazed interior. A handsome devil indeed. I knew right away we were made for each other as I gently lifted him up off the shelf & headed for the counter.

 

NOT ONLY MET MY COFFEE CUP PAL HERE BUT IT’S THE SAME PLACE & DAY I BOUGHT MY BLACK COWBOY HAT WHICH I NEARLY LATER LOST AT HICKIWAN TRAILS

It was the beginning of a friendship that would last nearly 2 years with many memorable moments spent to-gether relaxing hand in hand. Sometimes beside me as we enjoyed many desert campfires, sometimes riding for endless miles up on the dash of the Motorhome scouting the way ahead. There were times he helped me outside in my various projects around home, & other times rode with me to work. Occasionally he went missing for a day or two until I was able to locate him again sitting on a stump in the garden or a rock out in the yard someplace, just where I had carelessly left him. But most often as not, he was right here on my desk beside the computer as I plunked away at my keyboard churning out yet another blog post at the end of many a day.  I am going to miss my old traveling buddy. I am going to miss him a lot:(((((

CLARK DRY LAKE BED NEAR BORREGO SPRINGS CALIFORNIA

 

JUST A FEW PICS OF ME RELAXING WITH MY OLD PALS INCLUDING MY COFFEE CUP…THEY ARE ALL GONE NOW…PANCHO VILLA STATE PARK COLUMBUS NEW MEXICO
GROANER'S CORNER:((  Paul was not the brightest guy around. Every day, when he walked home from work, he would get stopped by three nasty men and they would beat him up and steal his money.  Finally, Paul decided that it would serve his best interest to walk a different route, but also take some self-defense classes so this wouldn't happen again. He joined a karate class and soon was doing very well with it.   One day, on the way home from work, Paul confidently decided to take his old route home and, sure enough, there they were. He walked up to them and the battle ensued.   The next afternoon, Paul went to his karate class with a black eye, a broken nose and a busted lip. His instructor was shocked and asked for an explanation.   "Well," explained Paul, "I took my old way home last night so I could beat up those guys who used to steal my money."   His instructor said, "What happened?"   Paul replied, "They jumped me before I could get my shoes and socks off!"