I'M STILL WAY MORE FORTUNATE THAN MANY OTHERS

 A DRAGONFLY CONFRONTS A SNAIL

Not wanting to simply hop into the Jeep and take a short drive with Pheebs around the same old couple country roads we usually do and then head for home right away, we went a little further this morning.  Hadn't been out around the Hullett Marsh for a month or more so we slipped through Clinton, picked up a Hortons coffee to go, and headed for our destination.

 ON OUR WAY TO THE HULLETT MARSH

 THIS APTLY DEPICTS THE RURAL COUNTRYSIDE IN OUR NEIGHBORHOOD

 MOODY SKIES THIS MORNING

 'ARE WE THERE YET DAD'

Hoping to find a Dragonfly or two we headed for our favorite spot at the northern edge of the Marsh.  Skies were threatening rain so we didn't stray too far from the Jeep.  We did see a few Dragonflies but not the bigger blue-banded ones I was looking for.  Pheebs did her usual exploring and I didn't have any problems with my right leg.  Had we ambled further along, I might have.

 OUR FAVORITE 'GO-TO' SPOT IN THE MARSH

 WILD PHLOX

 ONE OF THREE DRAGONFLIES WE SAW

 RAIN DROPS ON A BLADE OF GRASS

 WITH A FEW DROPS OF RAIN IN THE AIR WE HEAD BACK TO THE JEEP

Leaving the Marsh, we did have enough rain falling upon on us to swoosh the windshield wipers maybe a dozen times and then the shower was over.

 HEADING HOME TO GET SOME WEENIE SNACKS GOING

 WHEN I TOOK THIS LONG TELEPHOTO SHOT I DIDN'T SEE THE SECOND HORSE

 BUT, WHEN I EDITED THE PHOTO....THERE IT WAS

Home again, it wasn't long before Kelly and I piled into the Subaru and headed for Goderich's Maitland Valley Medical Center whereupon she got the results of a T.B. Test she had undergone on Monday.  She tested A-OK and was good to go.  The T.B. test is a requirement for her liver transplant committee.  Tuesday, Kelly had a Dentist appointment in Exeter at which time she had one tooth extracted, two fillings done, and a root canal.  Kelly has two additional dental appointments in the next couple of weeks.  She just can't seem to catch a break:((

NO, DESPITE A FEW SIMILARITIES, THIS IS NOT KELLY AND I ON OUR WAY TO GODERICH

 'HOW'S ABOUT A LITTLE SMOOCH BIG GUY'

A word of thanks to all the nice comments on my 'flowers' post a few days ago.  If I could just get myself slowed down a bit and take my time and think about what I'm doing, I'm sure I could come with some better quality photos more often.  I am going to make a conscious effort to do that.  I had recently sent an ill-thought-out email to a friend in which I lamented about 'if only had this' (a better photo editing program) and 'if only I could do that'. (take the time to use my camera and tripod together to improve my photos)  I think of it now as my regrettable 'if only' email.  Never mind the 'if only's Al, just get on with what you should do!!  Easy Peazy.

I finished the first book in the Emily Of New Moon trilogy by author, Lucy Maude Montgomery.  Anyone liking Anne Of Green Gables would for sure like Emily Of New Moon.  It is LMM's rapturously descriptive writing that keeps drawing me back to her wonderful writing style.  

 A FEW PHOTOS FROM AROUND OUR PARK THIS MORNING

Sorry about these blogging slumps I get myself into.  Sometimes things just build up and the weight of everything gets me down.  When that happens, I don't feel like writing or taking photos, or to be honest, doing much of anything.  My only defense against these times is to simply wait it out, try to latch onto something positive and pull myself out of the rut.  It generally always works but sometimes it just takes longer than other times.

 IF READER'S SOMETIMES WONDER WHAT WE ALL KINDA LOOK LIKE HERE IN THE PARK, THIS IS A GOOD EXAMPLE:))

My Blogger program is still unstable and if the problem is Blogger then it's obvious they have no intentions or interest in fixing it.  Kelly has tried her best to find the problem.  The bottom line is this....the blog is not as easy for me to put together anymore and I don't like the fact that I can't change the font colors in Al's Music Box or Groaner's Corner.  I know it might not mean as much to readers but it means a lot to me to have my blog look the way I want it to look!!      

It's about three and a half months out from my right hip replacement surgery.  Although I have no pain in the hip area, I am having problems with my right knee and leg.  I recently read that it is not unusual to experience knee pain after hip surgery.  It has to do with the muscles that are cut during the surgery itself.  Those leg muscles and nerves run through that hip area and down the leg.  Sometimes the pain is in my knee area and other times down through the large front muscle above the knee.  And occasionally below the knee.  Sometimes all three of those areas can be sore and painful.  So, as a result of this, I still can't walk very far.  I don't know if this is a temporary or permanent thing.  And, I am still bothered by a lot of stiffness immediately after I stand up from sitting.  Sometimes, like this afternoon's walk with Pheebs, I can walk with no stiffness or pain at all, but it generally doesn't last long.  Frustrating? Yes!  Discouraging, Yes!  But it is what it is and I'm still way more fortunate than many others who can't walk at all, and are in wheelchairs.

Al's Music Box:)) By The Time I Get To Phoenix is a song written by Jimmy Webb. Originally recorded by Johnny Rivers in 1965, it was reinterpreted by American country music singer Glen Campbell on his album of the same name.    Released on Capitol Records in 1967, Campbell's version topped RPM's Canada Country Tracks, reached number two on Billboards's Hot Country Singles chart, and won two awards at the 10th Annual Grammys Broadcast Music Inc. (BMI) named it the third most performed song from 1940 to 1990.  Frank Sinatra called it "the greatest torch ever written."  It was No. 450 on Rolling Stone magazine's Top 500 Songs of All Time.  The inspiration for "By the Time I Get to Phoenix" originated in Jimmy Webb's breakup with Susan Horton.  They remained friends after her marriage to Bobby Ronstadt, a cousin of singer Linda Ronstadt.  Webb did not intend the song to be geographically literal. "A guy approached me one night after a concert and he showed me how it was impossible for me to drive from L.A. to Phoenix, and then how far it was to Albuquerque. In short, he told me, 'This song is impossible.' And so it is. It's a kind of fantasy about something I wish I would have done, and it sort of takes place in a twilight zone of reality."

 THE RESIDENT PUSSY CAT LOOKING THROUGH A DOOR ACROSS FROM OUR MAIL ROOM

GROANER'S CORNER:((  I saw a contractor's truck that offered free quotes.  So I asked for one.  He said, "To be or not to be, that is the question."

- I wanted to marry my English teacher when she got out of jail but apparently, you can't end a sentence with a proposition.

- A young boy asked his father if he could try coffee.  The dad said “sure son! Have a sip.  ”The boy took a sip and immediately spit it out. “Yuck!” he said, “this tastes like dirt!”  “We’ll of course it does, son. It was ground this morning!”

Q: What do porcupines say after they kiss?
A: "Ouch."

- Told my wife I was going to start smoking pot.
She said if I did she was going to leave me.
That's proof that smoking pot gets rid of aches and pains!
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