ONE DOWN, ONE TO GO …..PAVILION BEACH WALK UNDER BIG BLUE SUNNY SKIES:))))

It was 8:10 a.m. and I was alone in the Jeep heading east squinting into a morning sunrise with my sun visor down.  Yes, the sun was out and you can just about imagine how great I was feeling about that.  On my mind was my bi-annual 8:30 Clinton Hospital appointment with Urologist, Dr. Bukala.  Would my PSA numbers be on the rise, will they have stabilized or gone down like last Spring.  No unrealistic positive thoughts that 'everything would be fine, no problem' and no unrealistic negative thoughts that I was about to be told the 'numbers had spiked and I was in for a biopsy at the next stop on the road to prostate cancer'.  No, my mind doesn't work like that so I had no idea what I would be told.  Not even a guess so I was somewhere between positive and negative where reality lives.  Last spring my PSA number actually went down after a continuous rise from six years previously.  Today I was told my number had stabilized so I was free to go, check back in 6 months.  Oh, and have a good winter Dr. Bukala said as I floated out the door.

HAD US A TOUCH OF SNOW OVERNIGHT

HOW NICE TO BE HEADING EAST INTO THE SUNRISE UNDER CLEAR BLUE SKIES

Didn’t waste any time getting home to pick up one very happy little dog.  Pheebs had been sooooo sad when I had walked out the door an hour earlier without her.  We right away headed for the countryside under clear blue sunny skies.  Figured we had better get out and soak us up as much sunshine as could while it lasted.  Rolling south out of Bayfield with reams of glorious sunshine beaming through the windshield I had to even turn the heater way down despite the outside 32F temperature.  Oh, and Pheebs had me wind down her window too.

‘HEY DAD DO WE NEED ANY GAS AND BOY OH BOY THIS WARM SUNSHINE SURE FEELS NICE ON MY FURRY LITTLE FACE’

Dressed warm I figured it would be a nice morning for a walk on the beach so we turned off highway 21 onto Pavilion Road and headed a short distance west towards Lake Huron.

THE THIRD LARGEST FRESH WATER LAKE IN THE WORLD IS OUT THERE JUST BEYOND THOSE TREES

 

OF COURSE PHEEBS ALWAYS BEATS ME DOWN THE STEPS TO THE BEACH….WELL SHE HAS MORE LEGS THAN I DO

AND SHE LEFT A PAW PRINT ALONG THE WAY

YOU CAN SEE HOW THE BEACH IS STILL IN SHADOW AS WE LOOK SOUTH

THIS WAS ONCE A SHARP EDGED RETANGULAR BRICK BUT OVER TIME SAND AND WATER HAS SMOOTHED OUT AND ROUNDED IT’S EDGES

What I hadn't figured on was the beach being in shadow due to the towering bluff on the beaches east side.  Bit of a breeze off the lake and I was wishing I had brought my gloves.  No matter, I had warm pockets.  With waves rolling up onto the narrow beach we had be on our toes not to get a soaker.  I was surprised at how loud those swishing waves were. 

SOME NICE DRIFTWOOD ON THE BEACH

 

IF YOU TURN YOUR IMAGINATION LOOSE YOU JUST MIGHT SEE A BIG CROCODILE HEAD WITH JAWS OPEN

Walked as far as we could which really wasn’t too far because steel breakwater structures blocked our path.  Thirty minutes later we were beginning our long climb up the wooden stairs to the bluff top above.

SKIFFS OF FROSTY SNOW ON THE BLUFFS SHADOW SIDE

PHEEBS BEGINS OUR LONG CLIMB UP THE SLIPPERY STEPS WITH JUST A DUSTING OF SNOW ON THEM

TOO COLD FOR A PICNIC LUNCH THIS MORNING

Under sunny skies there was no point in rushing home to sit in the house so we took us slowly along a rural scenic route back to Bayfield.  A few patches of snow left here and there in the ditches but for the most part it looked more like spring than the first week in December.  Farmers were out in their fields busy taking advantage of the weather.  I think a lot of corn was no doubt harvested today, maybe some beans too.  

OH HOW I MARVELED AT THIS BIG BLUE SKY ALL MORNING

LIKED THIS CHRISTMAS BOW TIED TO A PINE TREE

HAPPILY CRUISING THROUGH THE COUNTRYSIDE WITH PHEEBS WINDOW DOWN OF COURSE

FARMERS WERE BUSY IN THEIR FIELDS TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE GOOD WEATHER

Today's sunshine again reminded me how susceptible I am to long and cold continuous gray days.  I'm sure there are lots of 'inside type' people out there who aren't bothered by this but I am certainly not one of them.  After spending a dozen winter seasons in the southwest I always knew it was going to be tough to put up with our cold gray Ontario winters again some day.  And I was right!!

LOW OVERNIGHT TEMPS FROZE THESE BIG TRACTOR TIRE RUTS

A TILE DRAINAGE COMPANY IS BACK WORKING IN THE SNOW CLEARED FIELDS AGAIN

THAT BIG STEEL POLE ON THE FRONT IS FOR CARRYING LARGE COILS OF PLASTIC DRAINAGE PIPE

AWW YES THAT BIG BLUE SKY:))))

STILL SOME SNOW IN DITCHES ALONGSIDE THE ROADS

GEEEEZZZZ IF THIS KEEPS UP IT WON’T BE LONG AND PEOPLE WILL BE MOWING THEIR LAWNS EH

AND LOOK AT THIS……A WHOLE HERD OF FROZEN APPLES

With one medical appointment out of the way I just have one more to go in the morning and that one is at Goderich’s Maitland Valley Medical Clinic.  Guess Pheebs and I will have to take ourselves for a customary swing down around the harbor following that.  Maybe grab us a snack along with a coffee to go.  And if the sun’s out we just might sit ourselves upon the beach.  I do carry a couple beach towels for such occasions you know…………………..:))

GROANER’S CORNER:(( Punography::

I tried to catch some fog. I mist.

When chemists die, they barium.

Jokes about German sausage are the wurst.

I know a guy who's addicted to brake fluid. He says he can stop any time.

I stayed up all night to see where the sun went. Then it dawned on me.

The girl said she recognized me from the vegetarian club, but I never met herbivore.

I'm reading a book about anti-gravity. I can't put it down.

I did a theatrical performance about puns. It was a play on words.

They told me I had type A blood, but it was a Type O.

Class trip to the Coca-Cola factory. I hope there's no pop quiz.

Energizer Bunny arrested: Charged with battery.

I didn't like my beard at first. Then it grew on me.

What do you call a dinosaur with an extensive vocabulary? A thesaurus.

When you get a bladder infection, urine trouble.

What does a clock do when it's hungry? It goes back four seconds.

Broken pencils are pointless.

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“I have a seamstress friend whose job is hanging by a thread yet she is able to keep her sense of humor. She is sew funny she always has me in stitches.”

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Q. How is the Italian version of Christmas different? 

A. One Mary, one Jesus, and 32 Wise guys.

Q. What happened when the snowwoman got angry at the snowman? 

A. She gave him the cold shoulder.

Q: How come you never hear anything about the 10th reindeer "Olive" ?

A: Yeah, you know, "Olive the other reindeer, used to laugh and call him names"

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