I WONDER IF THERE IS AN OLD CLOTHES HEAVEN

 OUR SIDE YARD IRIS FLOWERS ARE IN BLOOM

With skies clearing and more sunlight filtering through our tall pines I finished up Wednesday night's post and published it.  I then switched out my summer duds for my warmer mild winter duds.  With a T-shirt, long sleeve shirt, and a light jacket as opposed to just a short-sleeve shirt, Pheebs and I headed out the door and rolled on down the road to our country-side walking area.  Another beautiful evening of course made even nicer by the addition of warmer clothes on a briskly cool evening.  With a borderline cold wind coming down from the north I could detect ever so slightly even the slightest cool fingers of the Arctic tundra trying to push its way in again.

 WEDNESDAY NIGHT EVENING WALK

 DANDELIONS ARE TOTALLY DONE FOR ANOTHER YEAR

 CORN'S UP ABOUT TEN INCHES ON AVERAGE

 TWILIGHT IS UPON THE RURAL FARM FIELDS

 LATE DAY GRAZING

 FOUR TURKEY VULTURES AND TWO PIGEONS

Sometime in the night, I know not when, I switched our thermostat from A/C to heat.  Outside temps had dropped to the mid-40s and I had woken up to cold pajamas.

SO NICE TO SEE SO MANY WILD PHLOX FLOWERS SCATTERED ALONG THE ROADSIDES

The jangling telephone tore me out of a nice sleep shortly after 7 this morning.  I didn't even bother getting out of my recliner because I knew it was likely the first telemarket of the day.  And, of course, it was.  Not long after that, I was up and so was Pheebs.  It was time to crank up another day.

 WORKERS ARE BUSY WORKING ON THE NEW BAYFIELD BRIDGE'S PEDESTRIAN WALK-WAY

 CONSTRUCTION CONTINUES ALONG BAYFIELD'S MAIN STREET

Even with the morning sun shining I dressed warmly for our morning walk knowing that the colder north wind was still blowing.  Changed things up a bit and slipped into Bayfield first thing for a look around and then out of town we went heading southeast on an old familiar Jeep ride route of ours.  

NOTICED THIS MORNING THAT BAYFIELD'S SOUTH PIER NOW HAS A COUPLE BENCHES

 I WONDER IF THE OWNER OF THIS SAILBOAT MIGHT BE BRITISH

 I EVEN SPOTTED A GAGGLE OF BAYFIELD POLE WALKERS

Stopped for a walk at the Linwood Conservation area and then ski-daddled right back home.

 PHEEBS KEEPS A CLOSE EYE ON THIS RURAL PUSSY CAT FROM THE SAFETY OF THE JEEP

 I NEVER GET TIRED OF TAKING PICTURES OF THIS FARMER'S BUSH LANE

 BEING VERY CAREFUL NOT TO STEP ON ANY CORNSTALKS PHEEBS CHECKS OUT AN OLD DANDELION CLUMP

I have noticed and written about this before over these last three or four years and I was thinking about it again today.  Yes, the high gas prices are a definite deterrent for cutting the mileage down on our morning Jeep rides but I think there is something else at play here as well.  Our rides, although still constant each morning, have become shorter and we do not travel the distances we once did.  So far this year I don't think we have been farther from home than the Hullet Marsh and I think we've only been there a couple times so far.  Just a few years ago Pheebs and I would travel as far south as Grand Bend, east to sometimes Seaforth or Mitchell, and as far north as Wingham or Kincardine.  I can tell Pheebs prefers the shorter Jeep rides now and I can tell that I do too.  Wished I didn't but I do.  To me, it is yet another tell-tale sign of aging.  I have read that as one ages, their world shrinks, meaning interests and desires become less and related changes occur.  Everyone is different of course but I think we all experience this to some degree.  Some of the changes are okay and some of them are not.  People well confident all their lives begin to doubt themselves and long-time doubters like myself get even more doubtful.  It is obvious to me my interests in travel are slowly waning which is evident in something as small as our morning Jeep rides.  When I think of possible RV travels again someday I find myself discouraged, doubtful, and unsure of myself.  It's not something I dwell on but the reality of aging keeps tapping me on the shoulder asking, are you sure you can still do that??  And, if you can, do you really want to??  Yes, this aging thing is confusing and disheartening as we slowly and inevitably slip from those confident wild and crazy days of youth into this new reality of doubts and fears.  It's not easy becoming and being a Senior, but here it is now, not only face to face with me in the mirror but it has sway over a lot of my thinking now.  How can it not!!

 I SEE A FEMININE ALIEN FACE IN THIS IRIS FLOWER

 NOT SURE WHAT THIS FLOWERING SHRUB IN OUR FRONT YARD IS BUT IT MIGHT BE A WISTERIA

I don't know if there is an old clothes heaven but for the simple sake of old discarded clothes, I sure hope there is.  Every time I have to give something up like a pair of old dusty worn-out socks, a scrumply T-shirt laden with spaghetti stains, or a torn shirt missing all but one of its buttons, shoes that look more like a pair of blown-out Volkswagon tires, or a ten-year-old bathrobe held together by its flimsy waist belt or underwear that probably came across the Atlantic on the Mayflower, or a hat that looks like it's been run over by a road grader, it becomes for me an all-encompassing emotional event.  All these pieces of clothing have been with me for more years than I care to remember and I think of them as old trusted friends.  They have made it possible for me to go places I wanted to go and have maybe been instrumental in getting me thrown out of places I shouldn't have gone in the first place.  They have kept me warm when it was cold and kept me cool when it was hot.  They have brought me pride and they have brought me embarrassment.  They have brought me comfort and they have brought me irritation.  I guess it's kinda easy to see why I think of them as close friends.  So today I take a pair of favorite winter mitts for their last journey to the burning barrel.  Although three of eight fingertips were missing and both thumbs had holes in them the size of bomb craters their final day was upon them and it was I who had the sad deed of dispatching them to that big old clothes store in the sky.  It was these very mitts that had kept my hands from freezing to the Jeep's steering wheel on many cold winter morns.  It was these mitts that had helped me shovel snow and kept my hands toasty warm on winter walks with Pheebs.  And it was these mitts today that I said a few quiet words of thanks over and then watched them lazily wend their way heavenward in a great long wisp of sinewy smoke.  Yes, some days are just emotionally harder than other days for some of we older sentimental Senior folks.

 FRONT YARD BLACK SQUIRRELS HAVE SURE BEEN GIVING ME A HARD TIME LATELY

 I LOVE THE FRIENDLINESS OF NATURES  CHIPMUNKS

I had tried my hand at making a few birdfeeder videos last winter but I wasn't too impressed with my effort.  Trying to do some videos has been on my mind for quite a while so today I thought I would give it another whirl.  One of the biggest problems of course is trying to keep the camera steady while either walking or driving.  I would like to do some dash cam videos except the Jeep does not have a dash top big enough where I can set a camera.  I wish Richard was here because he could probably figure out a work-around in about 3.5 seconds.  Anyway, I did take a walk in our front yard with my Nikon CoolPix 900 camera as a test and..........  Well, guess what.....Blogger said my 11-minute video had exceeded its maximum video file size so it wouldn't download it.  Just as well maybe because it wasn't the best video anyway and of course, it was way too long.  But, I learned from it and my next attempt will be different.  However, my concern now is........what is the maximum length of time and video file size I am allowed.  One minute, four minutes, or maybe 6 minutes and 13.076 seconds.  I guess I have some work ahead of me if I want to try my luck at videos...............   

GROANER'S CORNER:(( The new associate pastor, nervous about hearing confessions asks an older priest to listen in. Several penitents later, his mentor offers a few suggestions.“Cross your arms over your chest and rub your chin with one hand,” he says. “Try saying things like, ‘I see, yes, go on. I understand. How did you feel about that?”The new priest tries out the words and gestures. The old priest says, “Good, now, don’t you think that's a little better than slapping your knew and saying, ‘No way! You did what?'"

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I read somewhere that it takes a village to raise a child...  Where is this village and is there a number I can call?

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An attorney telephoned the governor just after midnight, insisting that he talk to him regarding a matter of utmost urgency.
An aide eventually agreed to wake up the governor.

"So, what is it?" grumbled the governor.

"Judge Garber has just died" said the attorney, "and I want to take his place."

The governor replied: "Well, it's OK with me if it's OK with the undertaker."

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