Monday, October 18, 2010

HOW MANY OF YOU OLD FELLERS OUT THERE STILL HAVE YOUR TEDDY BEAR...........I DO:))

DSC_8836

HAVE ALWAYS LIKED THE ARCHITECTURE OF OLD CHURCH'S

Sunday turned out to be a very long day both mentally & physically.  By the time I got home Sunday night I had put in 15 hours with the mobility van.  All day my mind kept returning to the tragic news about fellow RVing
bloggers, MARGIE & BRUCE.  It was a day of quiet reflection & it was a day I will remember for a very long time.
DSC_0016
My Sunday travels took me through 3 small Ontario towns I had never seen before.  Teeswater, Formosa & Belmore.  I had a 2 hour wait in Formosa while a lady I had transported there attended a large Community Center turkey dinner.  I was invited to stay but by the looks of all the cars in the parking lot I could never have entered that building with so many people in it.  I had spotted what appeared to be a large stone Church perched high atop a hill while approaching Formosa earlier & knew there would be a parking lot there, so that is where I headed to spend my wait time.  I had
brought my cameras with me so ended up taking a few pics of the architecturally beautiful old stone Church.  I like old buildings like that & always marvel at the pride of craftsmanship that went into those large works of art many years ago.  This Church dated back to 1876.

DSC_8830

A QUIET PLACE TO SPEND A COUPLE HOURS

I had taken our newer laptop computer with me Sunday & it was the first time I used the new version of Live Writer to do a blog post.  I still prefer the older LW format but I managed to figure it out OK & I guess the sooner I get using it in a few weeks the more I will get used to it.

DSC_8823 

October 19th for the past 31 years has always marked a very special day for me.  It marked an abrupt turning point in my life & I blogged about that sudden change of direction a year ago.  You can read my post here...A TURNING POINT IN MY LIFE

DSC_0029

Looks like our nice Autumn weather will continue to hold for a few more days which is a bonus.  Noticed Sunday that a lot of the
Autumn leaves are beginning to come off the trees along the forest lines in the country.  We will soon be into the cold, wet, & drab gray days of early winter.  I have always considered November to be the most depressing month of the year.  Big winds come in across the Great Lakes making for exceptionally foul weather.  Some of you may remember Gordon Lightfoot's song, 'The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald' & remember the line, 'With the Gales of November remembered.'  For the rest of the lyrics to that song go here....WRECK OF THE EDMUND FITZGERALD

  DSC_8831  DSC_8842  DSC_8838 DSC_8840

I will be off early Tuesday morning for Sarnia Ontario to have brake recall work done on the Motor Home.  This is the Workhorse site telling about that recall in case you have a Workhorse Chassis...WORKHORSE RECALL NOTICE & the CARRIER TRUCK CENTER in Sarnia is doing the work.  Said they have 8 coaches lined up to eventually do & ours will be the first.  I'm a little apprehensive about that because the service manager said they have never done this kind of recall before.

And we welcome our latest blog supporter, Ellen.  Nice to have you aboard:))

DSC_8844

How many of you fellas still have your Teddy Bears out there?  I do:))  As a little boy I hung out with my 3 favorite Pals  Nancy, Panda Bear, & Punkin Head.  Nancy was a small doll with a blue dress & Panda was a big pink & white bear.  Punkin was the head honcho.  Nancy & Panda are long gone now but I still have my Punkin Head.  Punkin stayed in my bedroom at my Mother's house long after I was gone out into the world.  At some point he was moved from the house out to an old green barn we had behind our place where he stayed for a countless number of years in quiet seclusion.  In 2004 the task of emptying my Mother's huge house became a big job set aside for Kelly & I.  The barn had to be cleaned out as well & that is where I found my old Pal, Punkin Head.  He was a little worse for wear than I remembered him as a kid, but then again age hasn't really treated any of us too kindly has it:((  I brought him home that day & he has resided on the top shelf of my bedroom closet ever since, warm & safe.  Today, while rooting through some things to take south I spotted my little Pal just sitting back relaxing.  I brought him down from the shelf & as we sat on the edge of my bed we shared some old memories.  We sure were the best of Pals those oh so many, many, years ago & we are still the best of Pals to this very day:))

DSC_0010

GROANER'S CORNER:((  A guy says to his friend, "Guess how many coins I have in my pocket."  The friends says, "If I guess right, will you give me one of them?"  The first guys says, "If you guess right, I'll give you both of them!"

----------------------------------------------------------------

Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.

Until one has loved an Animal, part of their soul remains un-awakened.

OUR BLOGGER WEBSITE http://thebayfieldbunch.com/

OUR PHOTO ALBUMS

http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/

AL'S SMUG MUG PHOTO GALLERY http://stargeezer.smugmug.com/

The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...... AL.

17 comments:

  1. I think punkin head could use a little refurbishing, but it really doesn't matter to best pals what each other looks like...it's what's inside. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Happy Birthday for tomorrow, Al.

    Lovely pictures, as always.

    We have to keep on going, as Margie would have wanted that.
    But it is hard to keep our minds off the awful tragedy.

    Happy Trails, Penny, TX

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Al
    I do have my three "teddy bears" 0 one is a bear called Teddy, another is Missy (a horse) and Dogy (pronouced dough-ghee) a yellow dog. They are all worse for wear but have been my buddies for so long it would break my heart to throw them out.

    I liked the pictures of the church!

    I loved Mexico's little towns for that. The poorest looking town with the more fabulously wealthy looking church!
    I have tons of photos of churches from my travels in Mexico.

    Cheers!

    ReplyDelete
  4. On of our favorite things is visiting old churches and getting a tour from a docent. I hope we saved my old Teddy when we sold the house and most of the stuff went out the door. We did place a few items in storage for the day went we move back into a house.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Lot's to think about in your blog tonight, Al. First though, Happy Birthday for tomorrow and congrats! Well done!

    As you say, it has been a tough weekend and one that has caused many of us to reflect on how fleeting life really is.

    The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald is my all-time favourite Gordon Lightfoot song - and, it's in my top ten all-time fav's too.

    As for Teddy Bears, I can't even remember if I had one!! Honestly, I have no recall at all.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I think it has been a few days of reflection for us all....I have to remember that "good things come from bad things"...and am hoping for some good to come from such tragedy....Keep the faith and there is good karma coming your way from the Cave people....

    ReplyDelete
  7. another day of reflection..thanks for sharing a piece of your past..Punkin head and all!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I had 5 younger brothers who thought it was funny to tear up my dolls, teddy bears, and anything else I might cherish. Then came along two little sisters who got into my make-up and clothes. So I never kept a toy very long and always marveled at grown women who had every doll they were ever given.

    Happy birthday!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Great pictures of the old church. When my Mom passed away we found a big yellow soft teddy bear and both my brother and I claimed him as our childhood teddy. My brother won the argument so I do not have my Mr Teddy.

    Bruce & Margie are watching over all of us - they will be missed

    ReplyDelete
  10. I sure wish I had my childhood bear, Ted. I remember getting upset when my Grandmother would call him Theodore and I would stubbornly correct with "his name is Ted" Ted unfortunately met an untimely demise at the hands or should I say teeth of a boxer Tina that came to live with us,Tina ended up being to much dog for my Mom and had to go to another home later. So much for childhood memories, I do think of him when I watch Rigg's tear a duckey apart. must run in the family. Be safe out there. Sam & Donna.

    ReplyDelete
  11. 31 years! Taking that first step led to a whole new life. Thank you for sharing your journey with us.

    Bruce and Margie have been ever present on our minds too. They made such an impact on all our lives.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I admire you Al--Happy October 19--good job!

    No teddy bears but Michael has a sock monkey from his childhood and I have my Barbie dolls.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Many of us are still reeling over what happened to Bruce and Margie. That event will stick with us for a long time.

    As to pictures of churches, we are fans of that too. In fact, you've given me an idea for a blog post some day - we have absolutely scads of church pictures we could put into an album and link to!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Happy Birthday Al

    congrats

    I just read your story again and brought back a few memories of my own.

    Brenda Brown

    ReplyDelete
  15. 31 years, congratulations! Like Gypsy, I have brothers so my poor doll is headless.

    Jean and Skip

    ReplyDelete
  16. Happy October 19th Al. Good going friend!

    I like old churches too, actually I like a lot of the older architecture of many different kinds of buildings.

    May teddy bear is still around somewhere...I hope. Packed in a box a couple of moves ago, I think. If I come across it, I'll certainly post a pic.
    And thanks for your kind words about Margie and Bruce. We do seem to have a community of good, caring folks here, don't we?
    - Mary Ann

    ReplyDelete
  17. I had a black and white panda bear. For some unknown reason he fell into the toilet. He turned purple. I think he disappeared soon thereafter.

    ReplyDelete