SO, DOWN I SAT

 A SUNNY MORNING IN THE COUNTRYSIDE

By golly, we are on a roll here with these sunny days and milder temperatures.  Maybe it's true that the North and South poles are reversing.  Ya, and maybe it's also true that if I flapped my arms fast enough I could fly to the Moon and back too.  By 8 a.m. we were already at 47F and later in the day a 99-year temperature record was broken when temps rose to 56F.  Say, you don't suppose the weather Gods looking down saw my dilemma with all the cold gray days and decided to give me (and a whole lotta other people) a break do ya.......Nawwww, I didn't think so either.  But.........

 NICE TO SEE PEOPLE OUT FOR A WALK ENJOYING THE SUNSHINE AT GODERICH'S ROTARY COVE

Pheebs and I didn't waste any time this morning in getting out of the house and into the sunshine.  With front windows down we almost didn't even need to have the Jeep's heater going.  Of course, the keyword there was 'almost'.  Goderich was our destination but instead of heading there directly, we decided to amble along a few dusty country roads savoring the morning.  And, why not take the gravel roads because after all, I had just washed the Jeep a few days ago, and what's a Jeep if it doesn't always have some dust and dirt on it.

 I'M QUITE HAPPY TO SEE ALL THE SNOW GONE

 GODERICH'S INNER HARBOR IS FREE OF ICE

Home again I made sure I had some good reasons and excuses to keep myself outside.  I busied myself with my lawn rake cleaning up my pathways around the house.  I always find raking things up to be relaxing except when raking leaves.  I do not like raking leaves because leaves have a mind of their own.  They cling to the tines of the rake and generally do not cooperate with where I am trying to move them.  Even raking up dog poop is easier than raking up leaves!!

 STILL A BIT OF ICE AND SNOW ALONG THE SHORELINE

I don't know where all our front yard birds went this past week but they certainly have got up and went somewhere.  Very few birds at the feeders.  It would have been a nice afternoon for a walk around our Park's pond but after my earlier raking the only thing my hip would painlessly allow me to do was sit down.  So, down I sat:(( 

A Blast From The Past...February 8th, 2009 takes us back to our early ranch sitting days near McNeal Arizona.  We were just learning the ropes from ranch owners Jeannie and Ray before they left on an RV holiday of their own.  Storm Clouds And Snow In The Mountains     

Al's Music Box:)) Sugar Shack is a song written in 1962 by Keith McCormack. McCormack gave songwriting credit to his aunt, Beulah Faye Voss, after asking what are "those tight pants that girls wear" to which she replied "leotards". The song was recorded in 1963 by Jimmy Gilmer and the Fireballs at Norman Petty Studios in Clovis, New Mexico. The unusual and distinctive instrument part was played by Norman Petty on a Hammond Solovox keyboard; to be precise it is a Model L, Series A.  On November 29, 1963, "Sugar Shack" received an RIAA certification for selling over a million copies, earning gold record status.  The song is featured in the films Mermaids, Dogfight, Forrest Gump, Congo, and Stealing Sinatra, and in the television show Supernatural.

 A FEW TOUCHES OF THE CHRISTMAS SEASON STILL HANGING AROUND

GROANER'S CORNER:(( A man in Topeka, Kansas decided to write a book about churches around the country. He started by flying to San Francisco and worked east from there. Going to a very large church, he began taking photographs and notes. He spotted a golden telephone on the vestibule wall and was intrigued by a sign that read: "$10,000 a minute." Seeking out the Pastor he asked about the phone and the sign. The Pastor explained that the golden phone was, in fact, a direct line to Heaven and if he paid the price he could talk directly to God. The man thanked the Pastor and continued on his way. As he continued to visit churches in Seattle, San Diego, Chicago, Greensboro, Tampa, and all around the United States, he found more phones with the same sign and got the same answer from each Pastor.  Finally, he decided to go to Canada and see if the churches were different there. Upon entering a church in Bayfield Ontario, behold, he saw the usual golden telephone. But this time, the sign read: "Calls: 35 cents." Fascinated, he asked to talk to the Pastor.  "Reverend, I have been in cities all across the United States, and in each church I have found this golden telephone. I have been told it is a direct line to Heaven and that I could talk to God, but, in the other churches the cost was $10,000 a minute. Your sign reads 35 cents. Why?"  The Pastor, smiling benignly, replied, "Son, you're in Canada now... It's a local call."

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- Why is 6 afraid of 7?  Because 7,8,9.

- Did you hear about the painter who was hospitalized?  His doctor says it was due to too many strokes.

This young man was elated when he turned eighteen in a state where the curfew is 11:00 p.m. for anyone under seventeen years of age. He told his Dad how happy he was that now he could stay out until 3:00 a.m. if he wanted.  “Yes you can stay out as late as you want, but the car is under seventeen and it has to be in the garage by eleven,” his father said.

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