NOT A GOOD FIRST DAY HOME FROM THE HOSPITAL FOR KELLY

It was not a good first day home for Kelly.  She has a lot of pain in her stomach now and her abdomen is very distended.  She had that pain before and during the hospital episode but she said the doctors were not too concerned about it.  It was hurting her this morning and she couldn't bend down to pick up Pheeb's food dish to get her breakfast ready.  I quickly jumped into the breach and took care of that.  The only way she can find relief from the pain is to lay flat on her back and so that is what she did and fell asleep on her bed for the rest of the morning into early afternoon.  She then came out to the living room for a while until she again returned to her bed to lay down in an effort to reduce the pain and soreness in her abdomen.  These are difficult and uncertain days.

We woke up to a lot of noise early today.  The Precision Directional Drilling trucks were right in front of our house and work was underway digging and pulling heavy orange cables through the ground.  There were 3 noisy machines working and of course, every time they backed up they made loud beeping sounds.  When I checked on Kelly several times she was asleep with her head tightly tucked between two large pillows to block out all the noise.  The orange cable sticking out of our driveway for the past month is now finally buried.

WE WERE HAPPY TO GET THAT ORANGE CABLE BURIED TODAY

 THIS IS THE MACHINE THAT 'MIGHT HAVE' NICKED THE POWER CABLE A FEW DAYS AGO

 USING AN INDUSTRIAL HIGH WATER PRESSURE WAND TO DIG HOLES

 MORE DIGGING ACROSS THE ROAD

 IN FRONT OF OUR PLACE THIS EVENING

Pheebs and I slipped out the door and set a course for nearby Zurich Ontario this morning.  Our mission, at Kelly's request, was to pop into Jerry Raders Homestyle Catering Market to pick up some chicken pot pies.  

On the way there Pheebs and I stopped at the Klopp Woodland Trail for a leg stretch before reaching Jerry Raders in Zurich.  Note to self.....'do not never ever go to Jerry Rader's on a Saturday morning again.  I think there had to have been about 53,000 people in there!!!!  Any more than two people within a square mile of me generally causes me a major stress frazzled so you can imagine my dilemma while there.  With 3 frozen chicken pot pies, a small pecan pie, a turkey salad sandwich, and a free half piece of rhubarb pie precariously balanced in my arms, Pheebs and I soon got the heck out of there.

Our second walk of the morning after leaving Jerry Rader's was at the Linwood Wildlife area on the way home.  This was a surreal walk between a hedgerow and a cornfield with the air being so still not even a leaf was stirring.  A calmness hung over the land.  A feeling of peace that I only find at times when walking hand in hand with Mother Nature through one of her many wondrous gardens. 

A FEW SIGNS OF A POSSIBLE EARLY AUTUMN

 STARTING OUT ON OUR WALK AT THE LINWOOD WILDLIFE AREA

 ACRES AND ACRES OF CORN

 NOT EVEN THE WIND TURBINES ARE MOVING

 YES, WE STILL HAVE A FEW DANDELIONS AROUND

Home again, the work crews were still working on their cable burying project and Kelly was still asleep.  Our driveway was blocked but luckily we have a second parking spot accessible from the road.  It's where we once parked our RV's over the years.   

 AT THE END OF OUR DRIVEWAY THIS AFTERNOON

 GLAD TO SEE THAT ORANGE CABLE GONE AND THIS IS THE BEST OUR DRIVEWAY HAS EVER LOOKED

Spring's lush greens and vibrant growth are of course long gone for another year as Summer's season marches steadily toward Autumn.  Leaves have taken on a deeper hardened look, grasses have browned in the summer's heat, and once youthful foliage is showing signs of stress and aging just as we humans are.  For many of us, the bloom has gone off the Rose as they say.  We are all in the final stages of a Metamorphosis that began oh so long ago.  We must all keep our mind's eye on the Butterfly stage and be patient.  We're closing in and it will happen.  Soon, wings will be ours.  

 SIGNS OF THE SUMMER SEASON MOVING ON

I want to thank everyone again for all their kind comments and concerns, the Facebook Likes and messages,  blog comments, Shouts, and emails.  And a special thank you to all the folks for their prayers.  Aunt Jean brought it to my attention a week ago that I had not given thanks to all the people who have been praying for both her and Kelly as well as the Bayfield Bunch in general and of course Pheebs.  On behalf of all of us here, thank you all for your prayers.  

 STRAW BALES

Update:: Kelly has packed an overnight bag and if the swelling and discomfort in her abdomen (fluid) isn't better tomorrow (or later tonight) we are going to head for Emergency at the Stratford General Hospital.  That fluid needs to be drained because it is pressing on her lungs making it harder for her to breath.  I suggested we go now but Kelly says she wants to wait................ 

Al's Music Box:)) Mr. Tambourine Man by the Byrds is a song written by Bob Dylan and released as the first track of the acoustic side of his March 1965 album 'Bringing It All Back Home'.  "Mr. Tambourine Man" was the debut single by the American band the Byrds and was released less than a month after Dylan's original on April 12, 1965, by Columbia Records. The song was also the title track of the band's debut album, which was released on June 21, 1965. The Byrds' version is abridged and in a different key from Dylan's original.  Most of the members of the Byrds had a background in folk music, since Jim McGuinn, Gene Clark, and David Crosby had all worked as folk singers during the early 1960s. They had all spent time, independently of each other, in various folk groups, including the New Christy Minstrels, the Chad Mitchell Trio, and Les Baxter's Balladeers.  In early 1964, McGuinn, Clark, and Crosby formed the Jet Set and started developing a fusion of folk-based lyrics and melodies, with arrangements in the style of the Beatles.  In August 1964, the band's manager Jim Dickson acquired an acetate disc of "Mr. Tambourine Man" from Dylan's publisher, featuring a performance by Dylan and Ramblin' Jack Elliott.  Although the band members were initially unimpressed with the song, after McGuinn changed the time signature they began rehearsing it. In an attempt to make it sound more like the Beatles, the band and Dickson elected to give the song a full, electric rock band treatment, effectively creating the musical subgenre of folk rock. To further bolster the group's confidence in the song, Dickson invited Dylan to a band rehearsal at World Pacific Studios Studios to hear their rendition. Dylan was impressed, enthusiastically commenting, "Wow, you can dance to that!" His endorsement erased any lingering doubts the band had about the song.  The master take of "Mr. Tambourine Man" was recorded on January 20, 1965, at Columbia Studios in Hollywood, before the release of Dylan's own version.  The song's jangling, melodic guitar playing (performed by McGuinn on a 12-string Rickenbacker guitar) was immediately influential and has remained so to the present day. The group's complex vocal harmony work, as featured on "Mr. Tambourine Man", became another major characteristic of their sound.  Due to producer Terry Melcher's initial lack of confidence in the Byrds' musicianship, as a result of them not having gelled musically yet, McGuinn was the only Byrd to play on both "Mr. Tambourine Man" and its B-side, "I Knew I'd Want You" Rather than using band members, Melcher hired the Wrecking Crew, a collection of top L.A. session musicians, who (with McGuinn on guitar) provided the backing track over which McGuinn, Crosby, and Clark sang.  By the time that session for their debut album began in March 1965, Melcher was satisfied that the band was competent enough to record its own musical backing.  Much of the track's arrangement and final mixdown was modeled after Brian Wilson's production work for the Beach Boys' "Don't Worry Baby".  The Byrds' recording of the song opens with a distinctive, Bach-inspired guitar introduction played by McGuinn and then, like Dylan's version, goes into the song's chorus Although Dylan's version contains four verses, the Byrds perform only the song's second verse and two repeats of the chorus, followed by a variation on the song's introduction, which then fades out.  The Byrds' arrangement of the song had been shortened during the band's rehearsals, at the suggestion of Jim Dickson, in order to accommodate commercial radio stations, which were reluctant to play songs that were over two-and-a-half minutes long.  As a result, while Dylan's version is five-and-a-half minutes long, the Byrds' version runs just short of two-and-a-half minutes.  The lead vocal on the Byrds' recording of "Mr. Tambourine Man" was sung by McGuinn, who attempted to modify his singing style to fill what he perceived as a gap in the popular music scene of the day, somewhere between the vocal sound of John Lennon and Bob Dylan.  The song also took on a spiritual aspect for McGuinn during the recording sessions, as he told Rogan in 1997: "I was singing to God and I was saying that God was the Tambourine Man and I was saying to him, 'Hey, God, take me for a trip and I'll follow you.' It was a prayer of submission."

GROANER'S CORNER:(( A traveler was stumbling through the desert, desperate for water, when he saw something far off in the distance.  Hoping to find water, he walked towards the image, only to find a little old peddler sitting at a card table with a bunch of neckties laid out.  The parched wanderer asked, "Please, I'm dying of thirst, can I have some water?"  The man replied, "I don't have any water, but why don't you buy a tie? Here's one that goes nicely with your clothes."  The desperate man shouted, "I don't want a tie, you idiot, I need water!"  "OK, don't buy a tie. But to show you what a nice guy I am, I'll tell you that over that hill there, about 5 miles, is a nice restaurant. Walk that way, and they'll give you all the water you want."  The man thanked the peddler and walked away towards the hill and eventually disappeared out of sight. Three hours later he returned.  The man at the card table said, "I told you, about 5 miles over that hill. Couldn't you find it?"  "I found it all right. They wouldn't let me in without a tie."

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- Why was the baby ant so confused?

Because all his uncles were ants.

- A genie came to me and asked, "What's your first wish?"  I answered, "I wish I was rich!"  Then the genie said, "What's your second wish, Rich?"
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KELLY'S HOME AND AUNT JEAN IS RALLYING BACK

 A PESKY SQUIRREL KEEPS AN EYE ON ME FROM ITS PERCH OUTSIDE OUR SUNROOM

When I hadn't heard from Kelly by 1:45 this afternoon I picked up the phone and dialed her iPhone.  She answered right away by saying "I was just picking up my phone to call and tell you to come pick me, I'm coming home."  Deciding to leave Pheebs snoozing comfortably on our couch, I rolled out of our driveway at 2:05 heading for London.  Would you believe I forgot my main camera but luckily I always carry a smaller point and shoot camera in the car.  An hour later I was at University Hospital's front door.  Forty-five minutes after that Kelly came walking out.  I had expected a porter to bring her out in a wheelchair but for anyone knowing Kelly as well as I do, she wasn't waiting around for someone to wheel her down in a wheelchair.  On the 8th floor she headed down the hall for the elevator by herself but one of her IV spots began bleeding and she had to go back for more bandages.  Undeterred and carrying two bags plus her purse, she set off down the hall again, climbed aboard the elevator and made her way down to the lobby and out the door to where I was waiting.  She said people were looking at her strangely on the elevator.  Imagine my surprise to see her coming out the door in hospital scrubs, bandages, and walking.  I got her in the Subaru okay and we set off for home with a quick jaunt through the Lucan Tim Hortons drive-thru for a couple of coffees.  We were home at about 4:20 and Kelly went straight into her bedroom to lie down.  She was totally drained, but happy to be home.  And, Pheebs an I were happy to have her home too.  She was up later but feeling weak with pains in her stomach.  I was able to heat up a beef pot pie for her.......The Push Enteroscopy procedure she underwent this morning didn't show anything.  We're both disappointed nothing was found because Kelly will likely have to go through all this again the next time she starts bleeding.  For now, the bleeding has stopped, her hemoglobin number has gone back up and they said she might as well go home.  In the last few days, she had 3 blood transfusions and three iron infusions with the last one being this afternoon just before I got to the hospital.  And who knows how many other things were in all those IV bags........I called Aunt Jean tonight and as soon as she said 'Hello' I could tell her voice was stronger.  She's not out of the woods yet but her lost spark is returning and she is slowly rallying back to her former self.  We didn't talk as long as we usually do because I could tell she was very tired.  Aunt Jean wanted me to convey her special appreciation to the all the caring and concerned people who have been praying for her and wishing her well during these difficult times that she is enduring right now.  Like she said, "and I don't even know all these wonderful people who are thinking of me".   

 WHEN I TURNED AROUND HERE CAME KELLY WALKING OUT OF THE HOSPITAL UNDER HER OWN STEAM

 KELLY'S DAD WAS A U.S. MARINE WOUNDED ON THE ISLAND OF IWO JIMA DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR AND KELLY HAS HER DAD'S TOUGHNESS, COURAGE, RESILIENCE, RESOLVE AND DETERMINATION

WHEN I WAS LOADING THE STUFF IN THE CAR KELLY UNBEKNOWNST TO ME WENT BACK INTO THE LOBBY TO GET A COUPLE TIM HORTONS COFFEES BUT THEY WERE CLOSED

 OKAY LET'S GET THE HECK OUT OF HERE!!!!

Previously In The Day::  Needing a few things at Walmart this morning, the furry Little Miss Most Best and I headed off to Goderich under sunny blue skies and warm temperatures.  McD's, the harbor, Walmart, and home with a stop at Richard and Gayles.    

 A HERD OF CATTLE ON THE WAY TO GODERICH

 A FLOTILLA OF CANADA GEESE UPON THE CALM WATERS OF LAKE HURON

BEACH GOERS SETTING UP FOR A FAMILY DAY AT THE BEACH

 THIS FELLOW IS CHECKING HIS GPS TO SEE WHERE THE HECK LAKE HURON IS

 TWO OLDER FOLKS ON THE TRAIL OF A COUPLE YOUNGER FOLKS

Al's Music Box:)) In My Life  is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, released on their 1965 studio album, 'Rubber Soul'. Credited to the Lennon-McCartney songwriting partnership, the song is one of only a few in which there is dispute over the primary author; John Lennon wrote the lyrics, but he and Paul McCartney later disagreed over who wrote the melody. Lennon said that McCartney's "contribution melodically was the harmony and the middle-eight." In 1977, when shown a list of songs Lennon claimed writing on for the magazine Hit Parader, "In My Life" was the only entry McCartney disputed. McCartney said he set Lennon's lyrics to music from beginning to end, taking inspiration from songs by Smokey Robinson & the Miracles. In 1976, he commented: "I liked 'In My Life'. Those were words that John wrote, and I wrote the tune to it. That was a great one." According to Lennon, "In My Life" was his "first real major piece of work" because it was the first time he wrote about his own life. According to Lennon, the song's origins can be traced to English journalist Kenneth Allsop's remark that Lennon should write songs about his childhood. Afterwards, Lennon wrote a song in the form of a long poem reminiscing on those years. The original lyrics were based on a bus route he used to take in Liverpool, naming various sites seen along the way, including Penny Lane and Strawberry Field. Lennon later thought the original lyrics were "ridiculous", calling it "the most boring sort of 'What I Did on My Holidays Bus Trip' song". He reworked the words and replaced the specific memories with a generalized meditation on his past. Few lines of the original version remained in the finished song. According to Lennon's friend and biographer Peter Peter Shotton, the lines "Some [friends] are dead and some are living/In my life I've loved them all" referred to himself and Stuart Sutcliffe (who died in 1962). The song was recorded on the 18th October 1965, and was complete except for the instrumental bridge. At that time, Lennon had not decided what instrument to use, but he subsequently asked George Martin to play a pian solo, suggesting "something Baroque-sounding". Martin wrote a Bach-influenced piece that he found he could not play at the song's tempo. On 22 October, the solo was recorded with the tape running at half speed, so when played back at normal pace the piano was twice as fast and an octave higher, solving the performance challenge and also giving the solo a unique timbre, reminiscent of a harpsichord. "In My Life" inspired pop music producers to use harpsichords in their arrangements. In 2000, Mojo named "In My Life" the best song of all time. Rolling Stone ranked it number 23 on its 2004 list of " The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time", and number 98 on the 2021 revised list, as well as fifth on its list of the Beatles' "100 Greatest Songs".

GROANER'S CORNER:(( A pregnant woman gets into a car accident and falls into a deep coma.  Asleep for nearly six months, she wakes up and sees that she is no longer pregnant. Frantically, she asks the doctor about her baby.   The doctor replies, "Ma'am, you had twins! A boy and a girl. The babies are fine. Your brother came in and named them."  The woman thinks to herself, "Oh no, not my brother -- he's an idiot!" Expecting the worst, she asks the doctor, "Well, what's the girl's name?"  "Denise," the doctor says.  The new mother thinks, "Wow, that's not a bad name! Guess I was wrong about my brother. I like Denise!" Then she asks the doctor, "What's the boy's name?"  The doctor replies, DeNephew. 

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- My girlfriend got a really bad haircut and she’s crying.  I don’t know what she’s crying about, I’m the one that has to get a new girlfriend.

- Some people remind me of old TV sets. You have to hit them a few times until they get the picture.

- A photon walks into a hotel. The desk clerk says, "Welcome to our hotel. Can we help you with your luggage?" The photon says, "No thanks, I'm traveling light."

- Instructor: You would be a good dancer except for two things.
Student: What are the two things?
Instructor: Your feet.

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