GLANCING BEHIND ME I SAW RIGHT AWAY THAT I WAS BEING FOLLOWED

 A FEW TREES AND SHRUBS ARE TAKING ON THEIR AUTUMN COLOR, BUT ONLY A FEW

With days becoming shorter now it certainly is not everyone's favorite thing, including me.  However, there are a few pluses to darkness arriving sooner and I took advantage of three of those pluses Saturday night.  This is a great time of the year for stargazing.  With darkness arriving much earlier in the evening combined with Autumn's cooler night air free of mosquitos, it's a winning triple combination.  In the summer months, the sky is not dark enough until nearly 11 p.m. and the heavier, dense mosquito-infested warm summer air is unstable and not the best for viewing.  It was 8:40 when I donned my winter jacket and headed out the door with my Nikon CP900 camera and tripod.  With Subie's Moonroof open I cruised out into the dark countryside glancing up to the right through the open hole in the roof and seeing a big bright half-Moon in the southern sky.  Less than ten minutes after leaving the house I was at the same spot where Pheebs and I walk in the morning.  I stepped out of the car onto the country road into a beautifully lit Moonscape.  How nice to be out under the shimmering stars of the night sky again.  I proceeded to set up my tripod and camera and took maybe a dozen Moon shots.  I noticed my legs stiffening up from standing in one spot so I took them for a short walk down the country road facing the Moon.  Glancing behind me I saw right away that I was being followed.........by a shadow, and that shadow was........me:))  Thus, my song tonight in Al's Music Box.  Following the photos, I took the camera off the tripod, locked my 7x50  binoculars on, and stood observing the Moon and its ridges and craters for a while.  I also focused on a twinkling red, green, and white star.  And I think I might have seen the International Space Station traveling Northwest to Southeast through the bottom of the Big Dipper.  It seemed just a little too bright to be a satellite.  Also saw two jet aircraft with their blinking lights heading west to east with their destinations probably being Pearson International Airport in Toronto, Ontario.  Following that, I had my usual customary chat with the stars and then it was off for home I went.  It was 9:30.

Another nice late September morning found Pheebs and on a slow meandering drive around Bayfield.  Blustery winds had cranked our cool morning temps up into the cold zone so we skipped our morning country walk.  I was dressed on the wintery side but yet I saw folks out walking in the summer shorts and sandals.  I heard tell that when old folks get really old they feel the cold more and some even wear their long underwear in the summertime.  I ain't nowhere near there yet I keep telling myself.

 A FEW SAILBOATS OUT THIS MORNING TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE LAST FEW WEEKS OF NICE SAILING WEATHER

THIS BOAT IS  HEADING OUT AS A FELLOW BEGINS TO UNFASTEN THE SAIL

 ANOTHER SAILBOAT COMING DOWN THE BAYFIELD RIVER HEADING FOR THE OPEN WATERS OF LAKE HURON

 TO ME, SAILBOATS LOOK LIKE A COMPLICATED BIT OF BUSINESS WITH ALL THEIR ROPES AND LANYARDS AND STUFF

 THESE TWO CHAPS ARE PROBABLY HEADING OUT FOR THE LAST CRUISE OF THE SEASON AND THE FELLA ON THE RIGHT IS FEELING A LITTLE WEEPY ABOUT IT

BLOGGER IS THROWING ME A PROBLEM TONIGHT AND WON'T LET ME DELETE ONE OF THESE TWO IDENTICAL SAILBOAT PICTURES

 AT THE NORTH END OF BAYFIELD'S MAIN STREET IS THIS WALKWAY DOWN TO THE SOUTH SIDE OF THE BAYFIELD RIVER WHERE MANY OF THE SAILBOATS ARE DOCKED

I had forgotten it was Volksfest in Bayfield today but I did manage a few photos driving by Clan Gregor Square where all the Volkswagon folks were gathered.  I saw a few orange campers that looked just like the VW Camper van I had back in the mid-eighties.  I took that camper van all the way to Canada's east coast and back one time.

 THAT ORANGE VW CAMPER VAN ON THE RIGHT IS LIKE THE ONE I HAD.....WHO KNOWS, MAYBE THAT'S MY OLD ONE

 OR MAYBE THIS ONE OF THE LEFT WAS MINE

 OR MAYBE THIS ONE

 THAT VW BEETLE ON THE LEFT  IS IDENTICAL TO MY FIRST BEETLE ONLY MINE WAS BLUE.....I THINK I HAD BEETLES ALTOGETHER BACK IN THE LATE 60'S AND EARLY 70'S

 LOOKS LIKE SOMEBODY'S GETTING SOME DIRECTIONS AS TO WHERE TO PARK

 THIS OLD DUNE BUGGY PROBABLY HAS A VW ENGINE IN IT

 AND I THINK THIS IS THE NEW VOLKSWAGON MUSTANG:))

 IT WAS THE COLORS ON THIS VAN THAT CAUGHT MY EYE

Rounded up four more frogs today and transported them to the Park's pond.  The reason I do this is because our front yard pond freezes over and is not deep enough for the frogs to hibernate through the winter.  Those little amphibious critters need at least three feet of water over them to keep from freezing up before they burrow into the soft muddy pond bottom.

 A FEW PICS FROM AROUND BAYFIELD

 I KNOW WHERE I'VE BEEN AND I KNOW WHERE I'M GOING, BUT I DON'T KNOW WHERE I AM RIGHT NOW

Had myself a backyard campfire this afternoon and burnt up a bunch of twigs and small branches.  Always nice to smell a campfire, especially during these cooler early Autumn days.  Despite my rather lethargic state this past week I seem to be on track for getting outside things done before the coming winter.  In another few weeks, I will gather up all of my freezable car care stuff, put it in a couple plastic crates, and bring them inside until Spring.  I have already got my snow shovel out and ready to go.  Guess I'm kinda rushing things huh.  Well, I sorta kinda like to be prepared for things.

 SEEN IN OUR PARK THIS MORNING

Kelly is still having difficulties with fatigue and woke up in the night feeling nauseous.  The itching also kept her awake for a while.  We're hoping to hear some word from the liver transplant committee this coming week but we're not holding our breath.  It seems the more important something is, the longer it takes to get done.         

 MY BACKYARD EARLY AFTERNOON CAMPFIRE

Al's Music Box:)) Moonshadow by Cat Stevens from his 1971 album, 'Greatest Hits'.  Cat Stevens is an English singer-songwriter who later changed his name to Yusuf Islam and converted to Islam in 1977.  He auctioned off all his guitars for charity but in 2006 he resumed his musical career.  Dropping the second name 'Islam' he now goes by the name of Yusuf/Cat Stevens.  He has released several new albums, continues to record, and tours North America with his music.

GROANER'S CORNER:(( On the Listening Tour, a prominent politician was pleased and proud that the local sandwich shop in a town he was visiting had named a sandwich after him.  He was somewhat less pleased after he found out what was in it.  "Mostly baloney," said the proprietor.

- A man rushed into the doctor's office and shouted, "Doctor! I think I'm shrinking!"  The doctor calmly responded, "Now, settle down. You'll just have to be a little patient."

- Frank was madly in love with Susan, but couldn’t get up enough courage to pop the question face to face. Finally, he decided to ask her on the telephone. “Darling! He blurted out, “Will you marry me?”  “Of course, I will, you silly boy,” she replied, “Who’s speaking?”

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