AL'S MUSIC BOX....A TRIBUTE TO GORDON LIGHTFOOT

 DESPITE THE COLD WET WEATHER ONE OF OUR FUSCIA PLANTS IS IN BLOOM

A cold rainy morning but hey at least it wasn't the dreaded snow weather forecasters had alluded to.  Our weather is due to begin 'smartening up' in a few days and I am very much looking forward to that.  

 LITTLE RED IN OUR FRONT YARD LATE THIS AFTERNOON

 AND HERE'S THAT BALTIMORE ORIOLE I MENTIONED YESTERDAY

Pheebs and I took a drive into Bayfield and back this morning.  Work is moving along well on the village's main street.  Sidewalks are now done on the west side.  

 BAYFIELD'S NEW SIDEWALKS ON THE WEST SIDE OF THE STREET

I WONDER WHAT WISEGUY AT THE CONSTRUCTION COMPANY'S HEAD OFFICE WAS THINKING WHEN HE HAD THIS PINK OUTHOUSE  DELIVERED TO THE JOBSITE FOR THE BURLY CONSTRUCTION CREW.....YA DON'T SUPPOSE THE BOYS WOULD BE TOO EMBARRASSED TO USE IT DO YA:))

 AND HERE'S THE FAVORITE CONSTRUCTION WORKER GUY OF THE DAY BRINGING BACK TIM HORTON COFFEES FOR THE REST OF THE CREW

 HEY GARY B. OUT THERE IN THAT SALTFORD PLACE, HERE'S WHAT'S HAPPENING ON YOUR FORMER BAYFIELD PROPERTY

I had an appointment with my Urologist at the Clinton Hospital early this afternoon.  My PSA number (prostate cancer) came in at 0.06  Both Dr. Bukala and I were pleased with that number which is the best one to date.  My three previous numbers had been 0.08.  My next PSA check-up will be in one year.

 A WET DRIVE TO CLINTON AND BACK THIS AFTERNOON AND YES THERE WERE FLECKS OF SNOW IN THE AIR

 WAITING FOR MY PSA NUMBER NEWS

Al's Music Box:)) A tribute tonight to Canada's own Gordon Lightfoot who passed away yesterday.  The first time I saw Gordon was in downtown Halifax, Nova Scotia.  It was 1966 when a hometown Navy buddy of mine Len (Tex) Croft and I popped into a small bar/coffee house.  I recall the bar was noisy and the table making the most noise just a few tables away from us was Gordon Lightfoot and his band members.  Gordon wasn't that well known at that time, at least not to Len and I so I don't think we paid too much attention to him singing because I have no memory of him and the band on stage.  I just remember their noisy table.  I suppose it's possible Len and I left the bar before they played.  Of course, Len and I were also drinking and carrying on as well and that may have had something to do with my memory loss over the years.  Now, fast forward to some time in the early eighties when I next saw Gordon Lightfoot.  My good friend, Jim Hagarty, (Stratford) was a Gordon Lightfoot fan so when Gordon came to Kitchener Ontario to do a concert at the Centre In The Square, Jim and I were there.  It was a great concert and Gordon did all his most well-known songs.  He had come a long way from that noisy little coffee house bar in downtown Halifax all those years before.  I think I have three Gordon Lightfoot albums in my collection somewhere.  He was a true original who wrote and played all his own material.  His music has been covered by many artists such as Elvis Presley, Barbra Streisand, Johnny Cash, Harry Belafonte, Peter Paul and Mary, Ann Murry, Sarah Mclachlan, Bob Dylan, Marty Robbins, and Glen Campbell.  He was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall Of Fame in 1986 by his good friend Bob Dylan.  Dylan called Gordon Lightfoot 'a rare talent' and said that his fellow singer died without ever having made a bad song.  Dylan also said that when he heard a Gordon Lightfoot song he wished “it would last forever”.  Here are a few of my favorite Gordon Lightfoot songs........If You Could Read My Mind.....Early Morning Rain.....Ribbon Of Darkness.....Sundown.....I'm Not Sayin.....Canadian Railroad Trilogy.....Carefree Highway.....The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald.....Beautiful.....Did She Mention My Name.....For Lovin Me.....and of course my two personal favorites, Pussy Willows, Cattails, and Song For A Winter's Night.

There is also a fine documentary about Gordon Lightfoot and here is a trailer for that documentary....If You Could Read My Mind.  I have watched this documentary twice and despite Gordon's mild demeanor, he lived a troubled life at the height of his career with his broken marriages and struggles with alcohol addiction.

GROANER'S CORNER:((  A fire started on some grasslands near a farm. The county fire department was called to put out the fire. The fire was more than the county fire department could handle. Someone suggested that a nearby volunteer bunch be called. Despite some doubt that the volunteer outfit would be of any assistance, the call was made.  The volunteers arrived in a dilapidated old fire truck. They rumbled straight towards the fire, drove right into the middle of the flames and stopped! The firemen jumped off the truck and frantically started spraying water in all directions. Soon they had snuffed out the center of the fire, breaking the blaze into two easily-controlled parts.  Watching all this, the farmer was so impressed with the volunteer fire department's work and was so grateful that his farm had been spared, that right there on the spot he presented the volunteers with a check for $1,000. A local news reporter asked the volunteer fire captain what the department planned to do with the funds.  "That ought to be obvious," he responded, wiping ashes off his coat. "The first thing we're gonna do is get the brakes fixed on our fire truck!"

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Matt: "It's times like this that I wish I'd listened to what my Dad always said."  Jake: "What did he say?"  "I don't know, I wasn't listening."

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GROANER'S CORNER:((