LIKE A MERE SPECK OF NOTHING IN THE VAST EXPANSE OF THE UNIVERSE

It was coffee morning with my good friend Richard today & we again spent a couple enjoyable hours slowly cruising around area roads with Tim Horton's coffee cups in hand.  Conversation flowed non stop as always & in two weeks we'll do it all over again.  I do look forward to our talks & always have.

Heat backed off a smidgen today & we had ourselves a welcome breeze.  Long range forecast calls for temps in the mid 70's next week so am very much looking forward to that.  Over the years reader's may have noticed whenever I mention temperatures it is always in Fahrenheit & not Celsius.  Yes we are on the Celsius system here in Canada but I've never really made the switch from the old Fahrenheit way of thinking.  In the long run I don't dispute the fact a metric system is probably a better way of doing things but I have several of my own reasons for sticking with miles vs kilometers, Celsius vs Fahrenheit etc.  First, Google Analytics tells me for every 13,000 page views 10,000 will come from America & 3,000 will come from Canada.  My StatCounter site tells me 76% of people clicking on my site are from the United States while 21% are from Canada.  Simply said, far more Americans click on this site than do Canadians & with 5 to 6 months of our year spent in the United States anyway it just makes sense for me to use the non metric system which I am most comfortable with in my writings anyway.  And there you have it right or wrong:))

In Wednesday night's post I forgot to include a second memorable moment of which I had mentioned in Tuesday night's post.  For me that memory occurred in the early 70's when I was driving from Kitchener Ontario Canada heading for Vernon British Columbia.  Just me & my VW Beetle that time.  It was night & I was heading west on the Trans Canada highway somewhere on the sunset side of Winnipeg as I recall.  I became aware of a large distant light form on the northern horizon & recognized it right away as something I had seen years before a few times.  AURORA BOREALIS commonly referred to as Northern Lights.  Pulled the bug over to the side of the road & got out for a look.  Not another vehicle on the highway, just me.  Hard to describe in words the beauty of what I saw as those towering shafts of light moved erratically up from the horizon’s entire length high into the clear sky oscillating back & forth in large bands of color.  As I recall there was not a sound while I stood there quietly alone like a mere speck of nothing in the vast expanse of the Universe.   It was the feeling inside that made that experience so special & if I could explain that feeling to you I would.  Just another one of those unforgettable moments which has stayed with me through the years………………………

Majority of my day was spent inside again staying out of the heat but for sure Pheebs & I will be out early Friday morning for some refreshing cooler air looking for a few new photos in our increasingly scenic countryside:))

Darrell's son is doing well in battling his way back from a debilitating stroke 3 weeks ago & he is a good example of how a stroke does not necessarily have to be the end of the road for the victim.  Darrell's latest update is here......... Family Emergency (update 3)

No sign of Windows 10 on our computer this morning so we will just wait in line with millions of others until it makes it's way to our computer here in little old Bayfield Ontario Canada.  In the meantime we'll keep our eyes open to see how fellow computerites are making out with their downloads & how they are liking the new Microsoft Windows 10.

GROANER'S CORNER:(( I was in my car one day listening to a guy on the radio help callers with their home problems. One woman called up hysterical after finding a skunk in her basement. "Leave a trail of bread crumbs or cat food from your basement to your backyard," suggested the show's host. "That'll get rid of it."  An hour later the woman called back, even more upset. "Now I have TWO skunks in my basement!"

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A steak fanatic, my father always picks out cuts that include a bone because he loves to nibble on it.  One night Father and I were finishing our dinners at a steakhouse, and I could tell he wanted to start gnawing on the bone. But he couldn't bear to do so in public.
"Excuse me," he said, calling the waitress over, "would you please wrap this bone up for my dog?" He has never owned a dog in his life, but the white lie seemed a tactful solution to his dilemma.  A few minutes later the waitress returned to our table. "Here's your bone sir," she said, handing over a large package. "And while I was in the kitchen, I grabbed a few more out of the scrap bucket."

I DID WHAT ANY SMART SELF RESPECTING HUSBAND SHOULD DO IN TIME OF MINOR CRISES………….I CALLED MY WIFE

TAKEN AFTER A WINTER’S STORM ON THE ROAD JUST OUTSIDE OUR PARK BACK IN OUR PRE-RV SNOW BIRD DAYS
Didn’t have any photos for tonight’s post so seeings how it was soooooo hot today I dug into my files for a few winter photos to cool myself off.  I have posted these pics a few times before through the years.  They are basically the only winter photos I have of our area & most were taken before we began traveling to the South-west back in 06.



YES, WINTER SOMETIMES DOES BRING A HEAVY SNOW LOAD TO OUR AREA
Unhooked our Lenova desk top computer this morning about 8:30.  Half an hour later we walked it into ContinuIT computers in Goderich.  This is where we bought the computer about 4 years ago & this is where we were leaving it for the day to have a larger hard drive installed.  After a quick stop at a Bell Telephone store we popped into our bank on the Square to get 2 of my credit cards straightened out after a gas station embarrassment in Clinton Monday.
<<< ALONG GODERICH’S BEACH ROAD
Pheebs & I had pulled in for a routine gas fill-up in Clinton Tuesday morning.  For some unknown reason my usually reliable debit card wouldn't work.  Didn't have enough cash on me to pay for the gas but no problem, I'll just use one of my hardly ever used credit cards taking up space in my wallet.  Nope, first card was rejected saying invalid pin number.  Ok no problem as I dusted card number 2 off & inserted it into the machine only for that card to be rejected as well saying my pin number was once again invalid.  Ok panic time.  Gas station was busy & it was not only the heat of the day I was feeling.  Cars having to go around me as I stressfully fumbled through my wallet trying to see if I had stashed any cash in a secret compartment somewhere 10 years ago.  Nope, no luck.  And yes it’s time I had a new wallet.  Didn't want to move the Jeep away from the pump in case the gas station owner thought I was trying to abscond with a full tank of gas.  Didn’t want the Jeep’s rear end peppered with a load of buckshot.  But hey it’s Canada so I knew there was little chance of that happening.  Probably the only gun in town was an old early 1800’s Flintlock covered in dust & hanging on somebody’s living room wall as an antique.  But then I had myself a brainwave & of course I did what any self respecting smart husband should do in time of crisis.......I called my wife.  Of course that required a cell phone but fortunately I had one complete with an instruction manual on how to use the darn fangled thing.  Bonus.  Did a little speed reading & finally got the call through & with her customary problem solving ways Kelly quickly sprinkled some magic wiffle dust on our computers keyboard at home, transferred some money between accounts & minutes later my debit card worked just fine again.  In a big cloud of gas station dust & with a hardy ‘Hi-Ho Silver’ Pheebs & I quickly rode out of town & hit the trail for parts unknown.  In all the years using my debit card that was the first time I had a problem & as it turns out it wasn’t a fault of the card anyway.  We had just slipped up & forgot to ensure our debit card account had sufficient funds in it.  Not likely that problem will ever occur again.  Well it better not anyway!!!!


BAYFIELD’S FROZEN PIER TAKEN FROM PIONEER PARK


NOT TOO MANY SUNSET WATCHERS AT BAYFIELD’S PIONEER PARK IN THE WINTER TIME
While at the bank we also got a bank draft to deposit some money to our account at the Bank Of America in Wickenburg Arizona.  Kelly had a few questions regarding our account in Wickenburg so upon returning home she decided to call the bank but couldn't find their number so called the always helpful Gals at the Congress water department.  Pat at the front desk told Kelly it was no point in her looking up Bank Of America's number in Wickenburg because the bank closed last May.  What!!!!   ATM still there but anytime we cashed any Canadian cheques we always had to physically go inside the bank to deposit them.  So what a surprise that was this morning.  Definitely inconveniences us & we will have to re-think some of our routine American banking practices for the winter.  So just to repeat, Bank Of America in Wickenburg Arizona closed last May but the ATM machine is still there.




STOPPING WITH MY ‘TOWN & COUNTRY’ MOBILITY VAN YEARS AGO TO QUICKLY TAKE A FEW WINTER PHOTOS BETWEEN WHEEL CHAIR PICK-UPS

Too hot to do anything constructive outside today so it was mainly a stay in the house day with the A/C on.  I think we hit 90F with high humidity.  We did fire up the Big EEE's generator & crank up both A/C roof vents for an hour or so.  We were told to do that occasionally & that it was good for the generator to run under a heavy load periodically.  Good for the house batteries as I recall too.  Not living full time in our Motorhome the generator is not used as much as it should be & never being in the southwest in hot weather the least used appliances on any of our rigs have always been the A/C units.  Happy to say both roof units fired right up & pumped out lots of cold air.  Good to know in case we decide to spend future Snow Bird winters living in the rig again.


Sure was a shock this morning coming face to face with the exchange rate on the American dollar.  Cost us a bundle just to deposit $500 U.S. dollars into our American bank account.  Wonder how this is going to affect fellow Snow Birds traveling south this winter.  Definitely going to cost all we Canadians a lot more money for sure.  But what's the alternative, sit here in the ice & cold all winter??  Certainly not yet if we can help it.


OUR BAYFIELD HOUSE IN WINTER TIME & YOU CAN SEE WHY WE DO NOT WANT TO SPEND WINTERS HERE

THEY CALL THIS CABIN ‘THE HUTCH’ AT BAYFIELD'S DEER PARK LODGE
A quick trip to Goderich late this afternoon brought our Lenova computer home & I had it hooked back up running before 6 o’clock.  Everything checked out perfect with it purring along smoothly as usual.  Now instead of having 26 Gigabytes of free space left we have 646 Gigglebytes of free space left.  Should be good for another hundred thousand photos.  Could have had a SSD drive put in but they were way too much money for us.  What we had installed today will serve us just fine.  And we do have an external back-up Toshiba hard drive with all my photos which does travel with us to the States.

SURE DON’T MISS THESE ICY ROAD DRIVES IN THE WINTER
GROANER'S CORNER:(( Dad's a safety-first kind of guy. But while vacationing with some buddies, he was talked into going parasailing.  He was on the back of the boat getting hooked into the parachute when he nervously asked the pilot, "How often do you replace the rope?"  The pilot replied. "Every time it breaks."

REMEMBERING A MEMORABLE MOMENT IN MY 70+ YEARS ON THE PLANET

Knowing the day was going to be excessively hot & humid Pheebs & I figured we had better get in a little road time before the heat became too oppressive.  Headed over to the Hullett-Marsh for a short walk & even before 9 a.m. the heavier air was loaded with biting insects.  With no breeze not even the areas big wind turbine blades were moving.  We were soon back in the Jeep & with all windows down enjoyed again the fresh smells of new mown hay wafting through the country air here & there as a few area farmers busied themselves cutting hay.

LIKED ALL THE HOLLYHOCKS ON THIS FARM
Wednesday July 29th marks the day Microsoft's long awaited Windows 10 will begin appearing on countless thousands of computers around the world & I as well as millions of other people are anxious to see if Win 10 lives up to it's advanced hype.  All indications seem to point favourably in a positive direction so we will all see how it goes over the next few days.  We are currently running Win 7 but I think it is all the people who have been stuck with Windows 8 for so long who are probably going to be the happiest folks to see the arrival of Windows 10.  I like change when change is sensibly thought out in a logical & practical way & that is what I will be looking for in Win 10.

We have had our trouble free Lenova M75e desk top computer now for about 4 years & have not had a single problem with it.  Runs perfect every day we turn it on but we are finally running out of Gigabytes so Wednesday morning our desk top goes in to have a larger hard drive installed so fingers crossed all goes off without a hitch.  Hopefully have it back late afternoon.  Sometime in October before heading south I plan on having a larger hard drive installed in my trouble free 5 year old Toshiba Satellite lap top as well.  When home in Bayfield for the summer I use our Lenova desk top to download all my photos but during the winter months in the South-west it is my Toshiba I use for all my photos.

Wasn’t until tonight I read RV Sue’s post from a couple days ago entitled, Tragedy strikes a friend of this blog.  Kelly told me about it at the time but I just couldn’t bring myself to read it right away.  When it comes to animals dying I am very sensitive to that.  I am also one of those people who has to change the TV channel if a sad animal story is coming up next on the news & also have to change channels when those commercials concerning animal abuse appear.  I don’t know why I’m like that but I just am & when Kelly told me a friend of Sue’s dog had been killed by a mountain lion I just didn’t want to go there a couple days ago & read about it.  I know that isn’t the best way to handle things but it is one of those areas of my personality that is extremely sensitive.  A tragic end for Timber & a tragic loss for Rusty.  I never met them but I sit here tonight saddened just the same.

Thinking hard on how to add one more paragraph to my post I thought of a couple pleasant memories over the years that lasted only moments but are still with me.  One occurred in 1966 when in the Canadian Navy I was aboard the destroyer H.M.C.S. Saguenay.  We were somewhere in the North Atlantic off the coast of Nova Scotia.  Just days before the ship had still been tied up in Halifax & it had been tied up for a long time undergoing a minor re-fit.  I had been part of the skeleton crew on board for many boring months.  The Saguenay was now out to sea performing work-ups.  Engine trials, gunnery trials & just an early few days general testing of equipment & crew after a lengthy lay-up.  I remember I was off duty lying in my bunk reading.   My bunk along with a number of other cooks & stewards was located in the aft end of the ship meaning the rear.  We were basically right over top the ships propellers & any change in speed was immediately felt from those churning props.  I became aware we were quickly picking up speed so decided to take a walk up on the aft deck to see what was up.  It was night time as I stepped out & was greeted with a most memorable sight that has always stayed with me.  It was a crystal clear & cool night with stars like I had never seen them before.  They just seemed to stretch in a never ending orb all around the ship with no horizon separating them.  And there right behind the ship rose what we commonly called a rooster tail of water only this time it was different from the times I had seen it in the daylight.  Destroyer’s propellers under full power throw up a plume of water into the air.  The plume & ships long curving wake stretching into the black star filled water had a fluorescent blue glow akin to today’s luminous neon lighting.  This is caused by a bioluminescence, which occurs when a micro-organism in the water is disturbed by oxygen.  I remember just standing there alone that night transfixed by the ethereal beauty unfolding all around me.  It was something I had never seen before & something I have never seen since except in the memory of my own mind’s eye.  Just one of those unforgettable moments in my 70+ years on the Planet.  Tomorrow night I will tell you about a few memorable moments somewhere west of Winnipeg Manitoba on the Trans-Canada highway……………………………………….

GROANER’S CORNER:(( As an assistant professor, I taught during the day and did research at night. I would usually take a break around eight, however, to play the strategy game Warcraft online with a teammate.  One night I was paired with a veteran of the game who was a master strategist. With him at the helm, our troops crushed one opponent after another, and after six games we were undefeated. Suddenly, my fearless leader informed me his mom wanted him to go to bed.  "How old are you?" I typed.  "Twelve," he replied. "How old are you?"  Feeling my face redden, I answered, "Ten."

A TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE WITH A COUPLE GOOD OLD HOMETOWN TAVISTOCK ONTARIO BUDDIES:))

Two of my old Tavistock buddies rolled into our driveway at 9 a.m. this morning.  Brothers Jim & John Eifert were here to pick me up for an old memory lane tour down through Grand Bend, Port Franks, & Kettle Point.  It was the early & mid 60's when the three of us along with half a dozen other guys hung out together & it was this section of Lake Huron shoreline that held some of our best memories.  These were our 'Happy Days' times growing up.

LAKE HURON SHORELINE AT KETTLE POINT
Readers may remember Jim & John from the time they & another good buddy, Helmut Hell from our teen age days tracked me down in Bayfield about 3 summers ago.  With another good home town Buddy, Gary who was living in Bayfield at the time we all had ourselves a great reunion reminiscing about good times one afternoon.  Late last summer I received an email from Jim saying our friend Helmut was very ill with cancer & not likely to last another few months.  With that Jim drove to Bayfield, picked me up & we picked up his brother John in Stratford & all headed to New Hamburg to see Helmet for one last time.  Readers may remember that post.  Jim emailed me several months later while we were in Congress Arizona saying Helmut had passed away.  Readers may remember my post from that day as well.

IT WAS HARD TO SEE WHERE THE PLACID COOL WATERS OF LAKE HURON MET ONTARIO’S HOT & HAZY SKY THIS MORNING
Fast forward to now.  Jim emailed me again a couple weeks ago saying him & brother John would like to pick me up this morning & take a drive through some of our old lakeside haunts & that is what we did.  Just like old times as we drove along kibitzing & remembering this & that.  A drive down Grand Bend's main drag & around the beach brought back old stories & 50 year old recollections.  Further down the highway passing PINERY PROVINCIAL PARK we shared more memories of zany times in there as well.

CRUISING GRAND BEND’S MAIN DRAG JUST LIKE WE DID WAY BACK IN THE EARLY TO MID 60’S
A beautiful mid summer morning as we continued our memory lane drive south down highway 21 through a another sleepy lakeside resort place called Port Franks.  It was at a cottage & surrounding area in Port Franks we recalled some of our best memories.  It was at this cottage we all watched the Beatles first performance on Ed Sullivan half a century ago.  Cottage at the time was owned by our good friend Gary's parents & we would often go there during high school’s winter break between Christmas & New Years.  We always referred to it as 'Burton's Cottage.  The area is all built up now & about the only thing recognizable from the old days is Burton's cottage itself.  Although remodelled it was still very recognizable to us as we turned around in the driveway & continued on our journey.   Some readers may remember a similar trip another good Tavistock buddy, Craig Wilker & I made late last September along the same route Jim, John, & I were taking this morning.

A QUICK LOOK AT BURTON’S COTTAGE WHERE SO MANY GREAT MEMORIES OCCURRED

COTTAGE HAS BEEN RE-SIDED & A CEMENT SURFACE REPLACES THE SANDY DRIVEWAY
Driving south through an old army camp base we searched in vain for familiar landmarks from the days we hiked so many times in that area back in the early 60's.  Nothing was familiar due to the many homes & new cottages that have sprung up over the last 5 decades.  We continued heading south continually reminiscing about those good old late teen-age days from years gone by.  We were headed for a place on the Lake Huron shoreline called Kettle Point & stopped there for a leg stretch before heading back to Bayfield.  We all had memories of Kettle Point as well.  More laughs, more kidding around, more kibitzing, & more reminiscing.

KETTLE POINT LOOKING NORTH ALONG THE LAKE HURON SHORELINE

 

 JIM & JOHN LIVED JUST DOWN THE STREET & AROUND THE CORNER FROM ME IN TAVISTOCK ONTARIO BACK IN THE EARLY 60’S

<<< KETTLE POINT TAKES IT’S NAME FROM THE MANY ROUND ROCKS FOUND HERE

From Kettle Point we headed on back to Bayfield as the heat & humidity of the day ramped up.  Jim in his email a week or so ago had said he & John wanted to take Kelly & I out for lunch so we picked up Kelly & all headed back into Bayfield to a popular eatery called, 'The Docks'.   More laughter as we joked around just like we used to do back in our high school days.  Food was good & soon it was time for the brothers to be heading back home again.  Jim to London & John from Jim's place back to Stratford Ontario.  I quick tour through our Motorhome, a few last photos, & the Eifert brothers were on their way.  Thanks for a great morning guys & thanks for buying us lunch.  C-ya next summer:))

HALF A LARGE ROUND ROCK KETTLE PROTRUDES FROM IT’S SHALE BACKGROUND ALONG THE SHORE’S EMBANKMENT…ONLY 3 PLACES IN THE WORLD WITH ROCKS LIKE THIS

How nice to spend a few hours with old friends.  I sometimes forget about things like that in my solitary ways………………………….

GROANER’S CORNER:(( The elevator in our building malfunctioned one day, leaving several of us stranded. Seeing a sign that listed two emergency phone numbers, I dialled the first and explained our situation.  After what seemed to be a very long silence, the voice on the other end said, "I don't know what you expect me to do for you. I'm a psychologist."
"A psychologist?" I replied. "Your phone is listed here as an emergency number. Can't you help us?"  "Well," he finally responded in a measured tone. "How do you feel about being stuck in an elevator?"

BEST PART OF OUR DAY WAS BREAKFAST:))

PHEEBS IN A BEAN FIELD THIS MORNING

Best part of our day happened early & turned out to be breakfast.  Kelly slipped over to the BAYFIELD BERRY FARM a few minutes away & picked up some freshly picked raspberries & blueberries.  Also grabbed a small jug of locally made real maple syrup.  Home again she whipped up some pancake batter from scratch along with a pan full of breakfast sausages & we had ourselves a mess of raspberry & blueberry pancakes.  Like I said, breakfast was the best part of our day:))

LOOKS LIKE OUR AREA’S WHEAT HARVEST HAS BEGUN

Pheebs & I slipped out for a little cruise around the neighborhood this morning & tonight's photos are from that short drive.  Other than that it was a pretty quiet Sunday leaving me with little inspiration to write anything.  Monday morning at 9 a couple friends are picking me up & we are heading off on a memory lane tour.  More about that tomorrow…………..

Oh & I did update my ‘Old Barns’ album by adding another 60+ barns.  That’s a combination of barn photos taken this past week or so on our country road tours.  I do have that album posted on my right hand side bar but here’s the link anyway.  ‘OLD BARNS’ Most recent photos are at the beginning………………………… 

GROANER'S CORNER:(( A van carrying a dozen movie stuntmen on the way to a film location in the mountains spun out of control on the icy road, crashed through a guard-rail, rolled down a 90-foot embankment, turned over, and burst into flames. There were no injuries.