I WOULD HAVE TOLD THEM 'THEY WERE ABSOLUTELY TOTALLY NUTS'!!

 MY FIRST PHOTO OF A ROBIN THIS YEAR

It was another great Spring-like day with temps over 50F as Richard picked me up on this sunny almost mid-March morning.  Not a cloud in the sky.  Our travels took us through  Clinton's Tim Hortons drive-thru for two coffees and two carrot muffins to go.  And go we did went, out and around the Hullett Marsh.  Saw a lot of Tundra Swans in the distance on one of the big Marsh ponds  Surprisingly and no doubt because of the early Spring weather, most of the roads leading into the Marsh were already open for the season so we took advantage of a couple roads and cruised into the Marsh noticing the already budding pussy willows.  How great it was to be out in the countryside and the Hullett Marsh surrounded by nature.

 A LONG 600MM SHOT THROUGH THE WINDSHILED OF DUCKS AND GEESE ON A SMALL POND IN THE MARSH

ALSO THROUGH THE WINDSHIELD THIS 600MM SHOT OF TUNDRA SWANS PROBABLY HALF A MILE AWAY.....WE SAW THE HARD TO SEE SWANS CIRCLING AND ALTHOUGH I DIDN'T HAVE EYES ON THE SWANS WHEN I TOOK THIS PHOTO I AIMED AT A SECTION OF SKY WHERE I THOUGHT THEY WOULD BE IN THEIR FLIGHT PATTERN

Home again, I decided to try taking my wheelbarrow for a walk so with my leaf rake and pitchfork in hand I was able to pick up some piles of yard waste and deposit them into our utility trailer.  I was careful not to overdo it so I stopped after two wheelbarrow loads.  Several times throughout the day I thought back to exactly one month ago today when I had my hip surgery.  Had at any time during that painful long day, had someone said to me, 'a month from today you will be out in your yard with your leaf rake, pitchfork, and wheelbarrow' I would have told them they were absolutely totally nuts!!

 LOADING UP THE WHEELBARROW

 AND THE UTILITY TRAILER

 WITH ITS DEEPER COLORS I AM GUESSING THIS ROBIN IS A MALE

Wanting to keep my hip moving, Pheebs and I headed off for another afternoon walk over to our Park's pond.  I left my cane at home and we made out alright but we didn't go all the way around this time.  Snapped a few pics and headed back home.  I have to be careful I don't overdo things.

 SPOTTED THIS ONE-EYED POND MONSTER

 ALSO A SECOND POND MONSTER

 A SLIGHT MOVEMENT AT THE FAR END OF THE POND CAUGHT MY ATTENTION AND THIS LONG TELEPHOTO SHOT FOUND A PAIR OF CANADA GEESE

It was 3:52 late this afternoon when we heard the familiar sound of the big old brown UPS truck rolling up to the end of our driveway.  Kelly and Pheebs were quickly out the door with Pheebs on the run to meet the driver.  Not only did he have a package for Kelly but as always, he had a treat for Pheebs as well.  Pheebs loves the UPS guy.  Minutes later at the kitchen table, Kelly carefully opened up the package.  It was her brand spanking new iPhone 15:)))))  

 KELLY OPENING THE BOX THAT CONTAINS HER NEW PHONE

 AND, THERE IT IS:))

Al's Music Box)) Good Vibrations is a song by the American rock band the Beach Boys that was composed by Brian Wilson with lyrics by Mike Love. It was released as a single on October 10, 1966, and was an immediate critical and commercial hit, topping record charts in several countries including the United States and the United Kingdom. Characterized by its complex soundscapes, episodic structure, and subversions of pop music formula, it was the most expensive single ever recorded. "Good Vibrations" later became widely acclaimed as one of the finest and most important works of the rock era.  Also produced by Wilson, the title derived from his fascination with cosmic vibrations, as his mother would tell him as a child that dogs sometimes bark at people in response to their "bad vibrations". He used the concept to suggest extrasensory perception, while Love's lyrics were inspired by the nascent Flower Power movement. The song was written as it was recorded and in a similar fashion to other compositions from Wilson's Smile period. It was issued as a standalone single, backed with "Let's Go Away for Awhile", and was to be included on the never-finished album Smile. Instead, the track appeared on the September 1967 release Smiley Smile.  The making of "Good Vibrations" was unprecedented for any kind of recording. Building on his approach for Pet Sounds, Wilson recorded a surplus of short, interchangeable musical fragments with his bandmates and a host of session musicians at four different Hollywood studios from February to September 1966, a process reflected in the song's several dramatic shifts in key, texture, instrumentation, and mood. Over 90 hours of tape was consumed in the sessions, with the total cost of production estimated to be in the tens of thousands of dollars. Band publicist Derek Taylor dubbed the unusual work a "pocket symphony". It helped develop the use of the studio as an instrument and heralded a wave of pop experimentation and the onset of psychedelic and progressive rock. The track featured a novel mix of instruments, including jaw harp and Electro-Theremin, and although the latter is not a true theremin, the song's success led to a renewed interest and sales of theremins and synthesizers.  "Good Vibrations" received a Grammy nomination for Best Vocal Group Performance in 1967 and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1994.

GROANER'S CORNER:(( Reaching the end of a job interview, the Human Resources Person asked a young Engineer fresh out of MIT, "And what starting salary were you looking for?"  The Engineer said, "In the neighborhood of $125,000 a year, depending on the benefits package." The interviewer said, "Well, what would you say to a package of 5 weeks vacation, 14 paid holidays, full medical and dental, a company matching retirement fund for 50% of your salary, and a company car leased every 2 years -- say, a red Corvette?"  The Engineer sat up straight and said, "Wow! Are you kidding?"  And the interviewer replied, "Yeah, but you started it."

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Passenger to Airline Ticket Agent: I want my brown suitcase sent to Los Angeles, my green suitcase sent to Kansas City, and my tan suitcase sent to New Orleans.
Ticket Agent: I'm sorry, sir; this flight is to Nashville. We can't do that.  Passenger: Why not ? You did it last time.

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The young couple invited their aged pastor for Sunday dinner. While they were in the kitchen preparing the meal, the minister asked their son what they were having. "Goat," the little boy replied.  "Goat?" replied the startled man of the cloth, "Are you sure about that?"  "Yep," said the youngster. "I heard Pa say to Ma, 'Might as well have the old goat for dinner today as any other day.'" 

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