IN TONIGHT'S 'MEMORY LANE' KELLY AND I DESCEND INTO A VERY DARK AND BLACK CAVE

WE HAD ABOUT 5 MINUTES OF SUN AROUND 8 THIS MORNING AND I JUST HAPPENED TO BE DOWN AROUND BAYFIELD'S HARBOR AT THE TIME

Had we not known what the 'thumps' were Tuesday afternoon and evening we would have been worried what those thumps were going on in the night.  The thumps of course were chunks of snow snow sliding off our pitched steel roof.  Temperatures remained above freezing so snow kept melting.  And the dripping and thumps continued all day today.

At 75 now I guess I could be referred to as a 'Sidewalk Superintendent' or 'Straw Boss'.  Those are two phrases I remember from years ago as a younger fella when referring to old retired guys who could be found standing around watching work going on at building sites or whatever.  I too now have my 'work sites' I have a habit of checking on regularly and this morning was no exception.  Rolling into Bayfield I first checked out Bayfield's new bridge construction.  All looked well and workers were on the job.  Next I slipped down to Bayfield's harbor to make sure all the water was still in the lake, fishermen were on the pier, and the Bayfield River was continuing to run correctly in a westerly direction.  Well somebody has to check on this stuff eh.  A drive along  Bayfield's main street assured me all was well there too.  No fires, riots, traffic chaos or building construction going on.  Swinging around a few back streets revealed to me nobody was in the process of moving, digging up their front yards or beating on each other over the backyard fence.  In the south end of Bayfield I saw workers and building materials on the new Tim Hortons/Convenience Store roof so all was copacetic there too.  Knowing country roads were a muddy mess Pheebs and I slipped over to Bayfield's cemetery for a walk and to make sure everything was as it should be.  It was.  We were back home by 9 and all was quiet in the neighborhood.  Sheeeesh, some morning's can be so exhausting for we Sidewalk Superintendent types.

At high noon we met fellow RV Bloggers and friends Gord and Cathie at Renegades Restaurant in Bayfield's south end for lunch.  First met these fellow Canadians west of Yuma on Ogilbe Road a couple winters ago.  They recently sold their house near Flesherton Ontario and are in the process of moving into some new digs right here in Bayfield.  Nice easy laid back folks and it's always nice talking to them.  Travels with Gord and Cathie

OVERLOOKING LAKE HURON AND BAYFIELD'S HARBOR IS A CUL-DE-SAC OF EXPENSIVE HOMES I LIKE TO CALL 'MLLIONAIRES ROW

Oh, and our Verilux Happy Light arrived today and as I sit here typing this tonight I am bathed in the light's happy rays.  We have heard of the benefits light therapy offers and after considering it for a few years and facing a long bleak winter (yes that what the weather people are forecasting) we decided to get one.  The light is mainly for me to see if it can help ward off my periodic weather related doldrums I have a habit of slipping into.  Okay so it doesn't have to be weather related for me to doldrum myself.  I'm sure Kelly is hoping it might help me smarten up quite a bit too.

YESIREEEEE I'M BASKING IN SOME HAPPY RAYS ALRIGHT:))))

Once overhead clouds broke up late in the morning we had a big bright sunny day going on here in Bayfield.  How nice to see a lengthy slice of sunshine for a change.  Ice and snow are melting fast and I think we might have made it to nearly 40F today.

BAYFIELDS VERSION OF FISHERMAN'S WHARF

HARBOR CABIN RENTALS FOR SUMMER BOATERS

FISHERFOLKS

Received an email from Victoria BC resident  Robert who said the following...…."We just arrived in Borrego Springs yesterday, went over to Rockhouse Road where we usually had camped, and found absolutely no one there.  Turns out new private owners of the property have kicked out all the campers for liability reasons, what a disappointment.  You may already know all about this, but just in case"....  I wonder if anyone else has heard anything.  I seem to recall it was about a year ago around this time there was a flap about the same thing but I don't think anything came of it and boondockers were there all winter.  Maybe this is something new...……......

::Memory Lane::  December 12th 2009 found Kelly and I in southeast Arizona a few miles north of the Mexican border exploring a cave in the Huachuca Mountains near Sierra Vista.  My post for that day is entitled Today We Found The Coronado Cave.  My photo album for that day is here at Coronado Cave. 

DESCENDING INTO A VERY DARK CAVE

GROANER'S CORNER:((  At the Sunday morning church service, the minister asked if anyone in the congregation would like to express praise for answered prayers.  A lady stood and walked to the podium. She said, "I have a Praise.  Two months ago, my husband, Tom, had a terrible bicycle crash and his scrotum was completely crushed. The pain was terrible and the doctors didn't know if they could help him."You could hear a muffled gasp from all the men in the congregation as they imagined the pain that poor Tom must have experienced.  "Tom was unable to hold me or the children," she went on, "and every movement caused him terrible pain. We prayed as the doctors performed a very delicate operation, which lasted for over five hours, and it turned out they were able to piece together the crushed remnants of Tom's scrotum, and wrap wire around it to hold it in place.  "Again, the men in the congregation were unnerved and squirmed uncomfortably as they imagined the horrible surgery that was performed on Tom.  "Now," she announced in a quavering voice, "thank the Lord, after six weeks, Tom is now out of the hospital and the doctors say that with time, his scrotum should recover completely."  All the men sighed with relief.The minister rose and tentatively asked if anyone else had something to say.  A man stood up and walked slowly to the podium.  He said, "I'm Tom."  The entire congregation held its breath. "I just want to tell my wife that the word is sternum."
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ENERGIZED BY BALMY MID 30'S TEMPERATURES TODAY

With the arrival of slightly warmer air overnight meeting our ice and snow, the stage was set for a bit of fog along Lake Huron's shoreline and that is indeed what we had in this mornings earlier hours.

I MOVED SOME BIRD FEEDERS AROUND TODAY

With paved roads now bare and dry Pheebs and I stayed on them up to Goderich and back.  Country roads were a mud bath with all the melting going on now so we stayed off them.  

THE ROBERT S PIERSON WAS AT GODERICH'S SIFTO SALT DOCK THIS MORNING

Home again balmy mid thirties temps mentally energized me so I wasted no time in getting at a few outside things.  Re-arranged some snow, hauled out my tall ladder and moved three bird feeders around, cleaned all the slush and mud out of the carport left there by our two vehicles over the past couple weeks.  Also straightened up the carport, cleaned a few sunroom windows and fired up the leaf blower to blow our front deck free of leaves.  This temporary lull in the bitterly cold weather has come at a welcome time and it is so nice to see ground re-emerging from under the melting snow.  A very Spring like day laced with a few short bursts of sunshine around mid morning.

THIS IS PART OF A SAGAURO CACTUS SKELETON WE BROUGHT BACK FROM ARIZONA

In my Monday post RVing friend and current Blogger Peter (Canadian Traveler) asked this question...."Find it odd looking to see farmers harvesting in the snow. What have they been doing while there was no snow????

I might be wrong about this but I think it all has to do with the moisture content in the corn kernels.  The longer the corn stands in the fields the dryer the kernels become.  If the corn is harvested too early the kernels have to be put into a corn dryer which I see on some farms around here.  This November's unusually early snow and the amount and duration of it I think caught the majority of corn growers off guard.

THESE HOPPERS EAST OF GODERICH ARE PROBABLY FULL OF CORN

::Memory Lane:: Twelve years ago today Kelly and I could be found wandering around Utah's Zion Canyon.  My post for that day is here at Unbelievable Beauty and my photo album for the day is here at Majestic.

A few folks have inquired about a Nikon CoolpixP900 camera I have been taking photos with lately.  I have accumulated too much camera gear over the years and some of my Nikon Cameras are becoming a bit dated.  It's time for a purge so I've decided to trade some equipment in again and try to get myself down to just a couple cameras and a lens or two.  And I'd also like to get myself up to speed with a newer technology camera.  The Nikon Coolpix P900 is looking pretty good to me at the moment and the more I am understanding it the more I am liking it.  Of course I will still be keeping my Nikon D7200 and Nikkor 18-300mm lens.  This camera and lens has been my dependable workhorse for the past couple years.  I average about 40 photos a day most every day of the year.  I used a Nikon Coolpix P900 (which I will refer to as a CP9) for the outside shots in our front yard this afternoon.

GROANER'S CORNER:(( A young lad's father picked him up from school to take him to a dental appointment.  Knowing the parts for the school play were supposed to be posted today, he asked his son if he got a part.  The boy enthusiastically announced that he'd gotten a part. "I play a man who's been married for twenty years.""That's great, son. Keep up the good work and before you know it they'll be giving you a speaking part."
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 - Don't worry about the world coming to an end today. It is already tomorrow in Australia.
- “Helium balloon business reaches new heights after customers speak highly of it.
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Alex, a widower, went to a senior citizen's dance. There he met Ruth, a woman also advanced in years. Alex and Ruth danced every dance together.  Afterward, they went out for coffee. As they walked home, Ruth said, "You remind me of my fourth husband."Alex said, "Really? How many times have you been married?"Ruth said, "Three."
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SO MUCH HEALTHIER TO SPEND WINTERS IN A WARM CLIMATE WHERE ONE CAN BE OUTSIDE AND ACTIVE

OUR MOST TRAVELED TO SPOT IN THE HULLETT MARSH

We were back to dull and drab skies today but at least we were above the freezing mark and of course that is always a plus.  Our travels this morning took us over around the Hullett Marsh.  Still a few hunters wandering around and I noticed most of the marsh ponds were frozen over.  I was surprised to see a Great Blue Heron still hanging around.  Even spotted a couple Deer.  Saw a few farmers out with their combines working away in the snow covered fields harvesting corn.

SOME OF THE MARSH PONDS WERE TOTALLY ICE COVERED

I WAS SURPRISED TO FIND THIS ROAD INTO THE MARSH STILL OPEN

WHILE TAKING THIS PHOTO OF THE ICY ROAD I HADN'T YET NOTICED THE TWO DEER WAY FAR UP AHEAD

THE DEER WERE A LONG WAY OFF AND THE ONE ON THE RIGHT WAS MOVING

Sorry about these different font colors.  This Blogger format just drives me nuts some days.  

I DIDN'T SEE THE BLUE HERON UNTIL IT WAS AIRBORNE

QUICKLY SHOOTING THROUGH THE PASSENGER WINDOW THE SHOTS ARE A BIT SHAKY

I think I might have fixed the photo album links in Sunday's post.  I keep forgetting to click on the 'share' button.  Keep in mind that any old posts I link to which have links in them referring to photo albums will not work.  All those links were broken when Google dropped Picasa a few years back.  The links in 'Memory Lane' are the links that should work.

THE COMBINE GATHERS THE CORN KERNALS IN IT'S LARGE HOPPER THEN CAN TRANSFER THAT CORN THROUGH THAT LONG TUBE INTO A LARGE TRUCK TRAILER OR INTO A SMALLER GRAIN HOPPER BEING TOWED BY A TRACTOR....IN THE FIRST COMBINE PHOTO BOTH THE COMBINE AND TRACTOR ARE DRIVING ALONG IN TANDEM AS THE COMBINE DIRECTLY FILLS THE TRACTOR'S HOPPER

COMBINE AND TRACTOR DRIVING IN TANDEM

THIS FARMER TOOK HIS CORN OFF EARLIER AND IS NOW IN THE PROCESS OF PLOWING HIS FIELD UNDER

Each year traveling south for the winter I have always been well aware how much healthier it is to be in an ice and snow free warmer climate. Big advantage is that one has the option of walking and hiking or working on any outside project at just about any time one desires.  The first two years we had our Congress Arizona house I was most always outside working away at planting things, built a small rail fence, wheelbarrowed a whole gravel truck load of red chip stone all around out front of the house, etc. etc.  Had a lot of brush to clean up that first winter around our one acre property and when I ran out of that I went over to the neighbor's property and cleaned up his 3 acres.  He was a fellow Canadian living in Alberta I think and only visited his property for two days in the 4 years we lived next door.  Of course too were our four years of ranch sitting east of Tombstone Arizona when we had two horses (first year only) 3 donkeys, two farm dogs, one cat and a herd of 10 chickens to look after.  Always had some kind of exercise going on every dat.  I like to think of it as natural exercise which I much prefer to structured exercise like exercising for the sake of exercising.  So many more opportunities to stay healthy with natural exercise in warmer winter climates.  And I am really missing that right now.  

STAYING WARM

Memory Lane:: A few photos looking back to our Ghost Town Road house in Congress Arizona taken on October 19th 2014.  Photo Album.  And here's my post for the day I took the photos, A Few Thoughts About Our Recent Trip To Congress Arizona

OUR ARIZONA HOUSE BATHED IN EARLY MORNING SUNLIGHT  (OCTOBER 2014)

GROANER'S CORNER:((  A local priest and a pastor were fishing on the side of the road. They thoughtfully made a sign saying, "The End is Near! Turn yourself around now before it's too late!" and showed it to each passing car. One driver who drove by didn't appreciate the sign and shouted at them, "Leave us alone, you religious nuts!" All of a sudden they heard a big splash, looked at each other, and the priest said to the pastor, "You think maybe we should have just said 'Bridge Out' instead?"
--------------------------------A Few Truths About Life::
- There is always a lot to be thankful for if you take time to look for it. For example, I am sitting here thinking how nice it is that wrinkles don't hurt.  
- One reason to smile is that every seven minutes of every day, someone in an aerobics class pulls a hamstring.
- The best way to keep kids at home is to make the home a pleasant atmosphere and let the air out of their tires.
- Car sickness is the feeling you get when the monthly car payment is due.
- Families are like fudge .. mostly sweet with a few nuts. 
- Laughing helps. It's like jogging on the inside.
- My mind not only wanders, sometimes it leaves completely.
- If you can remain calm, you just don't have all the facts.
- You know you're getting old when you stoop to tie your shoes and wonder what else you can do while you're down there.