IT'S TIME FOR THE ANNUAL TRADITION

AM WONDERING IF THIS MIGHT BE A PAIR OF MERGANSER DUCKS ON THIS MORNING'S POND

It's a mechanical thing so I know I will likely be beat before I get started today & I also know if I was smart I would get Kelly to do it.  But, I will once again try to do for myself something that Kelly could probably better do for me.  It's supposed to be a guy's thing anyway you know!!

MORNING SHADOWS

I'm talking about the annual spring ritual of getting the motorcycle started.  Things made of metal that sit for very long periods of time in very cold weather have a tendency not to do the things they are designed to do. One of those things is......'start!!'  Pretty much happens to me every year.  It is just my fate in life.  If it's mechanical, I'm toast!!  First thing I struggle with is getting the charged up battery back into the bike the same way it came out.  Never wants to fit & I usually have to put it in backwards at least once.  I am one of those bumblefingers who has to repeatedly fumble with tiny things like screws so it takes me awhile to get the battery terminal wires tightened down.  Have to keep stopping to look for things I have dropped on the ground.  I generally sit on the floor & make myself as comfortable as possible because with all the fiddling it usually takes me awhile.  Assuming all goes well with getting the battery installed & I don't lose my patience & bounce the screwdriver off my neighbor's garage floor, I move on to the next step.

 

IT'S TIME TO GET THE BIKE FIRED UP FOR ANOTHER SEASON

With the key in the ignition & the choke on full I begin the seemingly endless cranks of the starter.  I swear that sometimes days actually pass as I sit upon that motorcycle cranking that starter.  I can see the sunrises & sunsets go by out the window.  Occasionally I'm forced to remove the battery, walk home, & charge it up all over again.  I generally take advantage of this downtime to use the washroom & grab a bite to eat before returning & mounting the noble steed once again.  And so it goes until one day the engine actually gives a cough & then maybe another.  If I'm lucky, those few coughs might turn into a few chugs.  If I can get more than 5 or 6 chugs going in a row I consider it my lucky day as once again the annual routine of starting up the motorcycle slips into the past for another year.  If only I was smart enough to get Kelly to do all that in the first place the bike would be purring as smooth as a kitten on the very first crank.  And she would probably put the battery in right side up the first time too.  But, couldn't ask her to do that today because.......it's Kelly's Birthday:)))))))

<<< EARLY MORNING FROST

JERRY from, 'Our Life On Wheels' had a very logical question about something I posted in my blog last night. (I like logical questions) Jerry asked....Lake Huron has no salt water, so where does the salt mine get salt?  There is a large vein of salt running underground that stretches hundreds of miles beneath the bottom of Lake Huron & extends all the way over to & under the State of Michigan.  The Sifto salt mine in Goderich is the largest underground rock salt mine in the world & it's large tunnels stretch for nearly 3 miles out under the lake. 

                              

LAST AUTUMN'S FINERY.....A LONE MAPLE LEAF & A COUPLE GOLDEN ROD PLANTS

Kelly & I were fortunate enough about 14 years ago to get on one of the last public tours of that mine.  Unfortunately I was in my photography 'down period' in those years so didn't come away with any photos that day.  I do remember how cavernous it was down there with many roads running off into the darkness here & there.   Mammoth dump trucks carried large loads of chunky salt rock to a very big & noisy underground crusher.  The salt was crushed & processed before being sent to the surface.   From there it is loaded into large lake freighters, railroad cars, & 18 wheeler trucks.

We had expected the mine's tunnel walls & ceiling to be white but they were mainly black.  It was explained that years & years of diesel fumes from large trucks & other machinery had deposited a black soot on the otherwise white salt walls.  I also remember the huge exhaust fans & the consistent 68F (I  think that's what it was) temperature regardless of winter or summer temperatures on the surface.  It is the salt from this mine that ends up on our roads & highways during the winter months.  GODERICH SIFTO SALT MINE

CHECKERS CARRIES HOME A LOG FOR THE FIRE PIT THIS MORNING

I had written the first part of this blog earlier in the day anticipating problems with starting the motorcycle.  I am happy to report that aside from having some problems getting the battery in (of course) I was able to finally get the bike started OK.  Took 7 long cranks & then a cough or two on the 8th.  A few solid chug, chug, chugs on the 9th crank & with number 10 I had the bike up & running for another season.  And I didn't even have to have Kelly come out & start it for me either...........Awwwwwww:))  

 

SHE'S JUST A LITTLE SWEETY PIE AND ALWAYS WANTING TO HELP WITH THE BLOG:))

GROANER'S CORNER:((  And a helpful tip to avoid injuring yourself in the kitchen...... Avoid cutting yourself while slicing vegetables by getting someone else to hold them while you chop away.

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