A COLD GRAY DAY AND REMEMBERING SOME SPECIAL PEOPLE ON SUNDAY’S REMEMBRANCE DAY

‘OH-NO THERE’S SNOW GETTING ON ME DAD!!!!’

Had to pull out a couple extra stops this morning and convince myself not to turn around and simply go home again.  Pheebs and I had no more than pulled out of the Park when I began to wrestle with my decision to go for a Jeep ride.  It was a cold windy day with a solid cloud cover and snow flurries in the air.  Gravel roads were frozen and sections of paved back roads had a coating of ice on them.  It just made more sense to turn around and go home where everything was warm, comfy, and cozy.  So, we kept on going.

GRAVEL ROADS WERE FROZEN SO TRACTION WAS GOOD

THIS SNOWY ICE COVERED PAVED ROAD WAS SLIPPERY

A LIGHT DUSTING OF SNOW IN AREA FARM FIELDS

STILL LOTS OF UNHARVESTED CORN STANDING IN THE FIELDS

HEADING FOR A SHELTERED SPOT IN THE HULLETT MARSH OUT OF THE WIND

Coffee to go at Clinton’s Tim Hortons and over to the Hullett Marsh we slowly went.  Icy winds were upon us so we headed for a sheltered area in the marsh where we could at least get out for a leg stretch.  A lot of pick-up trucks around so I knew hunter’s were at it again so we didn’t hang around and soon vacated the area.

A FEW SNOWFLAKES IN THE AREA

A THIN COATING OF ICE ON THE WATER

FALLEN LEAVES TRAPPED IN THE ICE

Setting course for home we wandered along slowly taking a long way back and keeping an eye out for any photos of interest along the way which of course is always a challenge on cold gray November days.

NOT COLD ENOUGH LONG ENOUGH FOR THE CREEKS TO FREEZE OVER YET

WELL AT LEAST THIS FARMER HAS SOME OF HIS CORN HARVESTED

WONDER IF THESE FOLKS ARE PUTTING IN A BIG SWIMMING POOL FOR NEXT SUMMER

LOOKS LIKE THIS CHAP IS ABOUT READY TO DO SOME DIGGING

THIS PHOTO IS A BIT DECEIVING…..WHITE STUFF IN FOREGROUND IS ICE AND SNOW BUT THAT HILL BACK THERE IS COVERED IN WHITE PLASTIC WITH HUNDREDS OF TIRES HOLDING IT DOWN ON SOMETHING UNDERNEATH AND I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IT IS UNDERNEATH

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ONE OF MY VERY MUCH MOST FAVORITIST PEOPLE OF ALL TIME…. AUNTY JEAN:))))

I call my Aunt Jean in Sarasota Florida once a week and have been doing so for the past number of years.  When I called her Friday night she told me she had been out golfing last Sunday.  Aunt Jean is 91 and because of deteriorating health hadn’t picked up a club in a year and half.  Last week she simply made up her mind to get out there and get at it again.  With a couple good friends she headed up to a favorite golf course of hers in Bradenton and off they all went with her two friends in one golf cart and Jean in another.  She wanted her own cart because she knew she might be a little slower than the others.  Starting off easy she chipped and putted her way around the front nine then fired up her big clubs and hit a few good drives on the back nine.  She ended up parring two of those back nine holes.  She plans to be back on the golf course tomorrow again. (Sunday)  Say, did I mention that Aunt Jean is 91 years old:))

EVEN THESE HORSES HAD THEIR WARM COATS ON TODAY

Had to pull out a few more stops this afternoon to convince myself to head outside despite the windy cold and get a few more things done.  Key for me is to dress very warm.  I have the same dislike for too cold as I do too hot.  Did manage to do a little leaf blowing, burn some garbage, and do a little raking.

OUR LARGE BASSWOOD LEAVES ARE FINALLY FALLING

My inquisitive reading regarding pilots and aircraft history of the Second World continues as I have recently completed, Lifting The Silence, by Sidney and Percival  Smith, Fighter Boys....Saving Britain 1940 by Patrick Bishop, Dog Fights and Down Time by David Wilhelm, Mosquito to Berlin by Bertie Boulter, Malta Spitfire Pilot by Denis Barnham, Gun Button to Fire by Hurricane pilot Tom Neil, Ten Fighter Boys by Athol Forbes, A Salute to One of 'The Few' by Simon Beer, A Spitfire Girl by Mary Ellis (One of the World's Greatest Female ATA Ferry Pilots) Mosquito Squadron by Robert Jackson, Journeys Into Night by Don Charlwood, and A Thousand Shall Fall by Murray Peden.  I have enjoyed each and every one of the above books as the lives of these brave young boys to men unfold from their childhood through their teens to military training while earning their wings.  From there it was into active combat in the skies over Europe and Malta during the years 1939 to 1945.  These are the factual honestly told stories of their fears, dreams, families, loves, and friendships, as they are rapidly grown from young boys to young men flying by the seat of their pants at times in a life and death attempt to stay alive.  These true life stories are not what I read in comic books as a kid, no superhero stuff, no G.I. Joe stories, just young kids with a dream of learning to fly and how those dreams took them into harms way.

MY DAD ROY BOSSENCE (RCAF) ROYAL CANADIAN AIR FORCE

Sunday is remembrance day and tomorrow at 11 a.m. I will once again remember all these young men I have read about over the years.  On this day I also remember my Dad Roy Bossence as well as two Uncles, Harry Schaefer, and Fred Schaefer.  Researching this information tonight I found out two things about my Dad that I never knew before.  In the Royal Canadian Air Force he was a Leading Aircraftsman and worked with the Service Police.  If you click on the above colored links it tells a bit about their service.

 

BROTHERS UNCLE HARRY AND UNCLE FRED SCHAEFER

Also remembered on Remembrance Day is Kelly’s Dad Frank Knapp who was a U.S. Marine serving in the South Pacific.  Frank came ashore in the hell of Iwo Jima in 1945.

 

AND A NICE PICTURE OF KELLY’S MOTHER WHO TURNS 94 ON DECEMBER 23RD WHICH INCIDENTALLY WAS HER HUSBAND FRANK’S BIRTHDAY TOO

GROANER’S CORNER:((  There was a man walking alone along a beach. He comes across a bottle with a cork in it. The man picks up the bottle and pulls out the cork. A loud roar follows and a genie appears. The genie says to the man, "I'm a little tired today and I can only give you two wishes." The man says "That's OK, two is enough." "First, I would like one-billion dollars in a Swiss bank account." Poof - The genie hands the man a paper and says "Here's the number to your account." Next the man says, "Second, I would like to be irresistible to women." Poof - the genie turned him into a box of chocolates.

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“What is a shoe repairman's favorite dessert? Cobbler.”

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The lawyer was cross-examining a witness.“Isn’t it true, “he bellowed, “that you were given $500.00 to throw this case?”The witness did not answer. Instead, he just stared out the window as though he hadn’t heard the question. The attorney repeated himself, again getting the same reaction - no response.Finally, the judge spoke to the witness, “Please answer the question.”“Oh,” said the startled witness, “I thought he was talking to you.”

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