IT WAS BEST TO KEEP TWO HANDS ON THE SUBARU'S STEERING WHEEL

In heavy gusting winds and rain this morning, I headed to Exeter for my 11 a.m. Physio appointment.  It was the first time since February 27th  that I was able to drive myself there.  All went well and I only have one more appointment left.  Following my appointment, I slipped over to A&W for a Double Buddy burger and a coffee to go for the drive home.  The rain had stopped but not the wind.  It was best to keep two hands on the Subaru's steering wheel today.  

Al's Music Box:)) My Girl is a soul music song recorded by the Temptations for the Gordy (Motown) record label. Written and produced by the Miracles members Smokey Robinson and Ronald White, it became the Temptations' first U.S. number 1 single and is currently their signature song.  Robinson's inspiration for writing "My Girl" was his wife Miracles member Claudette Rogers Robinson. The song was included on the Temptations 1965 album The Temptations Sing Smokey. In 2017, the song was selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, and artistically significant".

GROANER'S CORNER:(( I may not have any Olympic medals but I do have a favorite stovetop burner, crippling anxiety, and a plastic bag filled with 103 other plastic bags.

When I was young, I was poor, but after years of hard, honest, and painstaking work, I am no longer young.

Have you ever wanted to dip someone in honey and then feed them to fire ants!!

Once you understand why the pizza is made round, packed in a square box, and eaten as a triangle, then you will understand women. 

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PHEEBS AND I STAYED IN THE JEEP

GREEN SHOOTS IN OUR FRONT YARD FROG POND

A big bright sunny day but with a cold northeast wind blowing from the southwest this morning Pheebs and I stayed in the Jeep.  The afternoon warmed up, and sheltered from the wind as we are here in the Park it was a good day to be outside working away at the Spring clean-up.  Also a good day for a walk around the Park's pond.

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Al's Music Box:)) Theme From Gunsmoke by Warren Barker and his Orchestra. The Gunsmoke radio theme song and later TV theme was titled Old Trails, also known as Boothill. The Gunsmoke theme was composed by Rex Koury. The original radio version was conducted by Koury. The TV version was thought to have been first conducted by CBS west coast music director Lud Gluskin.  Gunsmoke was a western drama television series. John Meston created the series. It ran for twenty years from 1955 to 1975. Each episode ran for 1 hour. In 1955, the CBS television network tried to hire John Wayne. They finally decided on James Arness to play the role of Matt Dillon in the Gunsmoke series. The main cast was Arness, Dennis Weaver playing Chester Goode, Millburn Stone as Doc Adams, and Amanda Blake as saloon keeper Miss Kitty Russell. Ken Curtis played Festus Haggen and Burt Reynolds played a blacksmith.  Between 1955-1961, the episodes were 30 minutes long. After that, they were one hour long. 635 episodes were made between 1955 to 1975. Many well known actors have been on the series. These include John Wayne (presenter of the pilot), Bette Davis, Harrison Ford, Jon Voight, Kurt Russell and Jodie Foster.  In 1987, Gunsmoke: Return to Dodge was made. Arness returned in the role of Dillon.

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GROANER'S CORNER:(( Five year old Becky answered the door when the Census taker came by.  She told the Census taker that her daddy was a doctor and wasn't home, because he was performing an appendectomy.  "My," said the census taker, "that sure is a big word for such a little girl. Do you know what it means?"  "Sure! Fifteen hundred bucks, and that doesn't even include the anaesthesiologist!"

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"Doctors at a hospital in Brooklyn, New York have gone on strike. Hospital officials say they will find out what the Doctors' demands are as soon as they can get a pharmacist over there to read the picket signs."

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Patient: Doctor, what I need is something to stir me up; something to put me in a fighting mood. Did you put something like that in this prescription?
Doctor: No need for that. You will find that in your bill.

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A little girl became restless as the preacher's sermon dragged on and on. Finally, she leaned over to her mother and whispered, "Mommy, if we give him the money now, will he let us go?"
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I HAVE NEVER MADE THIS MISTAKE....'YET'

With not even a hint of wind in the air it made this morning's 35F at least doable as long as I had myself dressed warm enough.  And I was.  And so too was Pheebs with her partially shed furry winter coat.  Not a shred of sunlight anywhere but at least it wasn't raining or snowing.  So nice to be out on the quiet country roads again.

 A VERY LONG TELEPHOTO LENS SHOT

 PHEEBS TAKES A BREAK FROM HER NAVIGATIONAL DUTIES

Home again I checked the 14-day weather forecast and saw that future nighttime temperatures were all safely above freezing.  That told me it would be okay to turn our outside water on for the season.  This task becomes more difficult for me with each passing year and I'd been mulling around in my mind just how I was going to do this for the past month or so because of my hip.  To do this job I have to lift a heavy trapdoor in our front deck and then rather unceremoniously lower myself down into a very cramped space onto my knees.  From here I have to twist and stretch my body around until I am flat on my stomach on the ground.  From there I inch myself forward through a narrow opening under our house.  And, it seems that opening somehow becomes a tad smaller every year.  Or, is it because I seem to become a tad larger every year??  Now, while in this stomach position, I have to reach over to my right and turn a red valve to the right which closes a drain line.  Then, I have to scrunch and roll to the right and onto my back.  From here I reach to my upper right and locate another red valve on a different drain pipe.  I also turn this to the right to close it.  If I forget to close either one or both of these valves, when I turn on the main valve for the outside water I will be instantly drenched.  Surprisingly, in over 20 years of doing this I have never made this mistake.....'yet'.  Now, kinda half rolling onto my left side I reach back with my right arm and locate another red valve on an aluminum-wrapped main water pipe and turn this valve to the left....'Walla', the outside water is on.  Now comes the hardest part.  I have to very carefully extract myself from this totally prone position underneath our unit, bend and twist myself into a sitting position, then kneeling, begin my attempt to stand up through the trap door hole in the deck.  All this while being very conscious of where my right leg and hip are and where I am going to have to place my leg next.  I had pre-positioned a couple of footstools close to the hole so that I could lean on them and then leverage myself back up onto my feet.  I had my cane close by for back up just in case.  Happy to say everything went off without a hitch just as I thought it should as long as I thought things out, moved slowly, and didn't try to do anything stupid.  Doing stupid things can sometimes be quite normal for me.  I didn't tell Kelly I was going to do this because she might have scuttled the mission.  I won't have to reverse this annual procedure until late October or early November when I will have to go down there again to turn the outside water off for the winter.  And, no doubt that small rectangle opening under our unit will once again have shrunk even more!!

 DOWN I GO INTO THE HOLE AND NO I DO NOT HAVE MY SWEAT PANTS ON BACKWARD

IT'S A TIGHT FIT UNDER HERE

 MY MAIN OBJECTIVE IS TO TURN THE WATER ON WITH THAT RED VALVE ATOP THE ALUMINUM-WRAPPED MAIN WATER PIPE AND YOU CAN SEE THE RIGHT SIDE DRAIN TAP TOO

 GOTTA TURN THAT RIGHT SIDE DRAIN TAP TO THE RIGHT TO PREVENT WATER FROM FLYING OUT OF THERE WHEN I TURN THE MAIN WATER ON

 THE OTHER DRAIN TAP ON MY LEFT-HAND SIDE HAD TO BE TURNED OFF TOO

 OKAY, I JUST HAVE TO REACH OVER AND TURN THAT MAIN WATER TAP TO THE LEFT

 I COULDN'T CONFIGURE MYSELF TO TURN THE VALVE AND TAKE A PICTURE AT THE SAME TIME

NONE THE WORSE FOR WEAR I BEGIN TO PULL MYSELF UP OUT OF THE HOLE AND ONTO THE DECK AND YES I'M GETTING A HAIRCUT THIS COMING WEDNESDAY

 I BET THAT SMALL RETANGLE OPENING WILL BE EVEN SMALLER WHEN I'LL BE BACK HERE TO TURN THE WATER OFF IN THE FALL

I finished Lucy Maude Montgomery's autobiography entitled, The Alpine Path.  A very enlightening book and it would be an inspirational read for burgeoning writers.  It was certainly not an easy road for her trying to get any of her literary works published and it was only by sheer determination and not allowing all the consistent rejects of her works to beat her down that after years of struggle she finally persevered and eventually found success.  Now, I don't think of myself as a writer as much as I consider myself a simple blogger.  But, I do like this line that Lucy Maude Montgomery wrote of herself when she said, "If the love of writing is bred in your bones, you will be practically non-squelchable."  In my blogging ways, non-squelch-able equates to 'you will be a Mr. Blabberfingers'.  So yes, I do see a comparison there.  And here's another chuckle I had when I found out I had something else in common with Lucy Maude Montgomery.  In her later married years, she and her husband journeyed to Scotland.  They traveled about visiting various places and here is what she writes about a place they visited called Iona.  She writes......"I would have liked to have spent several days in Iona, prowling by myself around its haunted ruins and getting acquainted with its quaint inhabitants.  There is really little pleasure in a hurried scramble around such places in the midst of a chattering, exclaiming mob of tourists.  For me, at least, solitude is necessary to real enjoyment of such places.  I must be alone, or with a few kindred souls before I can dream and muse, and bring back to life the men and women who once dwelt there and made the places famous"...... Now, as long-time blog readers may remember, I have complained, whined, and ranted about different places we have been in our travels where there were just toooooo many noisy people milling about all over the place for my liking.  Yes, yes, I know...who did I think I was wanting to have the place all to my quiet self!!  When I read Lucy Maude Montgomery's words I was instantly reminded of one of those many times I had myself in quite a fluster because of all the noisy tourists.  It was February 19th, 2014 and we were at Arizona's Montezuma Well.  Here is my post for that day.  My Patience Runs Out At Montezuma's Well.

 MONTEZUMA WELL

Below is a photo I forgot to include in my Saturday post.  Kelly's daughter had bought Kelly several things for her birthday, one of them being a purse.

Al's Music Box:)) Mr. Bo Jangles by Sammy Davis Junior.  This is a song written and originally recorded by American country music artist Jerry Jeff Walker who said he was inspired to write the song after an encounter with a street performer in a New Orleans jail.  While in jail for public intoxication in 1965, he met a homeless man who called himself "Mr. Bojangles" to conceal his true identity from the police. Mr. Bojangles had been arrested as part of a police sweep of indigent people that was carried out following a high-profile murder. The two men and others in the cell chatted about all manner of things, but when Mr. Bojangles told a story about his performing dog who was killed by a car, the mood in the room turned heavy. Someone else in the cell asked for something to lighten the mood, and Mr. Bojangles obliged with a tap dance.  The homeless "Mr. Bojangles", who was white, had taken his pseudonym from Bill 'Bojangles' Robinson (1878–1949), a black entertainer.  The song became one of Samy Davis Jr.s signature performances, which he recorded for his 1972 album Portrait of Sammy Davis Jr. and sang at President Richard Nixon's invitation at a concert at the White House the following year.  The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band did a version of Mr. Bo Jangles as well.

GROANER'S CORNER:((  A boy is writing a paper on childbirth and asks his parents, How was I born?  His mother awkwardly answers the stork brought you.  Oh, says the boy. Well, how were you and Daddy born?  Oh, the stork brought us, too, and Grandpa and Grandma.  The boy begins his paper, This report has been very difficult to write due to the fact that there hasn't been a natural childbirth in my family for three generations.

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- Being an adult is a little out of my price range right now.

- I do this cute thing where I stay up all night and feel like death in the morning.

- Two hours of cooking just to eat in 10 minutes and now I have to wash everything.

- Apparently staying to yourself and not bothering people....bothers people.

- My ducks are absolutely not in a row.  I don't even know where some of them are and I'm pretty sure one of them is a pigeon.

- About 4 minutes into my run I've decided I want to work on my personality instead.

- I'm so glad I learned about hexagons in school instead of how to do my taxes.  It's really handy in hexagon season.

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KELLY'S BIRTHDAY TODAY:))

 WITH EACH PASSING DAY THERE ARE MORE HAPPY SIGNS OF SPRING

It was Kelly's birthday today:)))) Plans were that Kelly's daughter Sabra and son Ben and his two boys were coming to Bayfield today.  That was the plan when Pheebs and I headed out for our Jeep ride this morning.  By the time we got back, plans had changed and it was decided on a meet-up at Swiss Chalet in Stratford Ontario.  After a good night's sleep for a change, Kelly said she felt fine to drive to Stratford if I wanted to stay home with Pheebs.  She had some stuff to return to 'Winner's in a mall there. So that is what we did and I stayed with the Pheebs.  Busied myself with piles of raked-up leaves and pine needles I had left out by the road a few days ago. Grabbed the wheelbarrow and moved those piles to the utility trailer.  There is still lots of yard work to do but keeping my hip in mind I intend to do it in shorter bursts of energy this time.  By the way, the scar on my right hip is already almost invisible.

While in Bayfield this morning I stopped into the Village Clippers and made an appointment for a haircut next week.  Next stop was the cemetery for a brisk walk around the perimeter for Pheebs and I.  From there it was down the road a bit to the Porter's Hill Wild Birdseed Company for a couple 20-pound bags of 'Deluxe Mix' birdseed.  Steve also threw in a smaller free bag of Safflower seeds for one of the feeders to deter the Grackles from eating us out of house and home.  And by golly, it's working.  While the other birds like Safflower seeds, the Grackles do not.  I was getting some mighty dirty looks from the Gracklegators this afternoon.

 SHADOW IN THE CEMETERY

Kelly made it home from Stratford shortly after 5 p.m. following her windshield wipers all the way.  She said the food was good at Swiss Chalet and they all had a great time. 

KELLY SEATED BESIDE HER SON BEN WITH HER DAUGHTER SABRA ACROSS THE TABLE WITH BEN'S TWO BOYS

Al's Music Box:)) The Gambler is a song written by Don Schlitz and recorded by several artists, most famously by American country singer Kenny Rogers.  It was Rogers who made the song a mainstream success.  Rogers is accompanied on the recording by the vocal group The Jordanaires.   In 2006, Schlitz was featured in Rogers' career retrospective documentary The Journey, in which he praised both Rogers' and producer Larry Butler's contributions to the song, stating "they added several ideas that were not mine, including the new guitar intro".  

GROANER'S CORNER:((  My friend Jim told me that when he asked his wife where she wanted to go on vacation, she said that being married to him was a vacation.  He was the last resort.

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- Why is it called lipstick if you can still move your lips?

- Why is it that night falls but day breaks?

- Why is the third hand on the watch called a second hand?

- Why is it that when you're driving and looking for an address, you turn down the radio?

- Why is lemon juice made with artificial flavor, and dishwashing liquid made with real lemons?

- Can you buy an entire chess set in a pawn-shop?

- Do you think that when they asked George Washington for ID that he just whipped out a quarter?

- Have you ever imagined a world with no hypothetical situations?

- How can there be self-help 'groups'?

- Look, you can either agree with me or you can be wrong.

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When I commented that was a nice thing to say to him, Jim replied, "Well, actually, what she said was I was the 'last resort.'"

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TURKEY DINNER AND SOME SAD NEWS FROM AN OLD FRIEND ABOUT AN OLD FRIEND

OUR FIRST COUNTRY ROAD WALK IN QUITE A WHILE

Sunshine:)) Despite the temperature only being a few degrees above freezing, Pheebs and I didn't waste any time getting out to our favorite country road walking spot.  Due to my compromised walking state over these past few months, my legs have become weak and it's important now to get some muscle tone back into them.  And, that means walking, even if I don't feel like it.

 IT WAS A BIG BEAUTIFUL SKY MORNING

Our good friends Richard and Gayle invited us over earlier this afternoon for a turkey dinner with all the fixins.  Good food and conversation were had by all:))

 SPRING'S FOREST

Sad news from an old Tavistock friend today.  Another one of the old gang has passed away.  John Eifert, my best buddy from the mid 60's died early this morning in Stratford's hospice care.  John's brother Jim drove over from London earlier today to tell me of his passing.  Many memories from Tavistock and high school years with John as well as his brother Jim.  In our high school days the thought was by some that if you saw John, you knew that Al was not far away and vice versa.  John and I did a lot of 'hanging out' in those early to mid-60s days.  A lot of zany stuff went on.  I had just been thinking of Jim and John about four days ago and especially of John wondering how he was and if he was doing alright.  I feel now it was a premonition and I don't think I have ever had that happen before.

 L-R -- GARY BURTON, AL, JOHN, JIM, AND HELMUT HELL WITH THE HAT....HELMUT PASSED AWAY ABOUT 5 YEARS AGO

 L-R-- JIM, AL, JOHN, AND CRAIG WILKER...THE SUMMER OF 1962 IN GRAND BEND ONTARIO AND I HAVE NO IDEA WHO THE GIRLS WERE

 SUMMER MILITIA -1963...AL ON THE LEFT AND JOHN ON THE RIGHT

JIM, AL, JOHN AND OF COURSE THE PHEEBS

Al's Music Box:)) Samba Pa Ti is an instrumental by Latin rock band Santana, from their 1970 album, Abraxas. In English, the title means "Samba for You."  The song was written by Carlos Santana.  In 2008,  "Samba Pa Ti" was conceived in New York City on a Sunday afternoon,"..."I opened my apartment window and I saw this man in the street, he was drunk and he had a saxophone and a bottle of booze in his back pocket. And I kept looking at him because he kept struggling with himself. He couldn’t make up his mind which one to put in his mouth first, the saxophone or the bottle and I immediately heard a song"..."I wrote the whole thing right there"—Carlos Santana.

GROANER'S CORNER:((  Many years ago, in the South Pacific, there was a small island kingdom that was ruled by a kind and benevolent King. Each year, on the King's birthday, the residents of the island gave the King a new throne as a token of their love and respect for him.  And each year, the King would put last year's gift up in the attic of his small grass house. After many years of ruling the island, the weight of the large number of birthday presents stored up in the attic became too heavy and caused the house to collapse down on the King.  Moral to the story is: He who lives in grass house, shouldn't stow thrones.

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Q. Doctor, did you say he was shot in the woods?
A. No, I said he was shot in the lumbar region.

- At the Olympics a man went up to a competitor who was carrying a very long pole."Are you a pole vaulter?"  "No, I'm German, but how did you know my name is Walter?"
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Howard County Police officers still write their reports by hand, and the data is entered later by a computer tech into their database. One theft report stated that a farmer had lost 2,025 pigs. Thinking that to be an error, the tech called the farmer directly.  "Is it true Mr. Smith that you lost 2,025 pigs?" she asked.  "Yeth." lisped the farmer.  Being a Howard County girl herself, the tech entered: "Subject lost 2 sows and 25 pigs."

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