FEELING BETTER, NICE MORNING FOR A WALK DESPITE BELOW FREEZING TEMPS AND AN OLD WESTERN TOWN WITH ONE OF ABE LINCOLN'S BODYGUARDS IN THE CEMETERY

WINTER'S FROZEN POND

It was shortly after high noon when I saw the first signs of graupel in the air and thought it was the early beginnings of a predicted snow squall watch.  An hour later we had Sun shining through blue patches in the clouds.  At the time of posting tonight it is the calm before Wednesday's possible storm and the snow squalls have missed us.

GRAUPEL ON A FOREST FLOOR

Kelly caught Squirrely yesterday using a chain saw to get into a bin of corn I have on our front porch.  Not content with the corn kernels I dole out twice a day Squirrely was trying to break into the bank itself and make off with the whole wad.  On a mission this morning Pheebs and I headed to Goderich's Canadian Tire Store to get a double armor plated military bomb proof container for the corn.  It's commonly known as a galvanized garbage can with a tight fitting lid.

SOME FIELDS STILL HAVE A SKIFF OF SNOW ON THEM

Not a hint of wind in the air for the most part today and that made our 30F temps totally doable outside.  With our new metal corn container onboard we headed off down to the harbor.  No ships in and no chance of getting to the beach area because of all the work going on repairing the shoreline.  Here's an article on the Great Lakes High Water Levels.  We did see a lot of big boulders being trucked in to a staging area where the old CPR train station once stood in the harbor area.

A TRUCK WITH A TRAILER LOAD OF BIG BOULDERS ARRIVES

UNCHAINING THE BOULDERS

A BIG ARM BEGINS THE UNLOADING

THESE ROCKS WILL BE USED ALONG THE SHORELINE

A DUMP TRUCK ARRIVES AND DUMPS A LOAD OF SMALLER ROCKS

With no freezing wind chill factor or snow to contend with Pheebs and I had us nice walk east of Goderich.  Didn't have to have on 6 layers of clothes, 10 ton snow boots, or a big buffalo robe head cover over my head to stay alive.  Open jacket, no gloves, and summer shoes.  Despite there being no sunshine again at least it was nice to be out for a walk in a natural setting.  And we did get out for a second afternoon walk again as well.

WE SET OFF FOR A NICE MORNING WALK

TEMPERATURE IS BELOW FREEZING BUT THIS WATER IS FLOWING SO I SUSPECT AN UNDERGROUND SPRING SOMEWHERE NEARBY

SKIRTING A LARGE FROZEN PUDDLE AND I DON'T CARE IF IT'S ONLY 2 INCHES DEEP I'D STILL HAVE A HECK OF A TIME SWIMMING MY WAY OUT OF IT IF THE ICE BROKE

HEADING BACK TO THE JEEP

In a Goderich grocery store this morning I noticed something interesting while paying for my purchases.  I always use direct debit and while entering my info into the card reader I could plainly see the numbers 1 and 2 on the device were worn more than any of the other numbers which told me the majority of people paying with either a credit or debit card were using the numbers 1 and 2 for their pin numbers.  Maybe some of you 1 and 2 pin number people might want to think on this a bit.

OUR PARK'S POND IS PARTIALLY FROZEN OVER

AND OUR PARK HAS ANOTHER BULLDOZER

COMING BACK FROM OUR WALK IT WAS NICE TO SEE A SUN SPLASH ON OUR NEIGHBOR'S HOUSE

AND THIS IS WHAT SUNSET LOOKS LIKE FROM OUR HOUSE

::Memory Lane::  In the year 2009 on November 27th Kelly and I were fortunate to be in a tiny little old western mining/ghost town of a place called Pearce Arizona and for a change we weren't the only ones there.  Pearce was filled with people there to spend a fun day.  There is an old original General Store there which is only open 1 day a year so we got to see inside.  How lucky was that.  Here's my post for that day, Old Pearce Heritage Day Part 1 and Old Pearce Heritage Days  Part 2.  My photo album for that day is here at Heritage Day Day Photos.  There are a lot of characters in this album and for readers living nearby (Janna and Mike) look closely at all these faces......ya jist might know some of em:))  And as an add-on for those interested in old cemetery's check out the Pearce cemetery here at Out and About Around Pearce Arizona.  You will see the tombstone of Sergeant George H. Platt one of Abraham Lincoln's bodyguards.

::Al's Musical Favs:: Shanghai Superflight by Café Americaine.  Gotta love the horn in this one.

GROANER'S CORNER:((  Jose and Carlos are panhandlers that panhandle in different areas of town.  Carlos panhandles just as long as Jose but only collects $2-3 every day.  Jose brings home a suitcase FULL of $10 bills every day, drives a Mercedes, lives in a mortgage-free house and has a lot of money to spend.  One day, Carlos asked Jose: “I work just as long and hard as you do, but how do you bring home a suitcase full of $10 bills every day?”  “Look at your sign, what does it say?” replies Jose.  Carlos’ sign reads: “I have no work, a wife and six kids to support.”  Jose says: “no wonder you only get $2-3.”‘Carlos says: “So what does your sign say then?”  Jose shows Carlos his sign – it reads: “I only need another $10 to move back to Mexico”
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Little Johnny: "Why does it rain, dad?  
"Father: "To make the flowers grow and the grass and the trees." 
Little Johnny: "So why does it rain on the sidewalk?"
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A man was walking down a street in Washington. A man walking behind him suddenly pulled out a gun and said, "Gimme all your money, now!"  The victim said, "You can't do this to me! I'm a Congressman!"  The robber thought for a moment, then said, "In that case, gimme all of MY money!" 
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