THANKS ONCE AGAIN TO ALL YOU KIND AND CARING FOLKS

 DID YOU NOTICE THE FARMER ON HIS TRACTOR CUTTING HIS FIELD OF GRASS?

A thunderstorm rolled over us around 8 a.m. this morning but it was not as bad as it had looked on our live radar weather site and it wasn't a deterrent for Pheebs and I to stay home.  We were soon on our way to Goderich.  

 THIS MORNING'S RAIN BROUGHT AN ABRUPT HALT TO THE WHEAT HARVEST

 IF YOU CAN PUT ONE BUMPER STICKER ON YOUR CAR, WHY NOT PUT A WHOLE BUNCH ON EH

 I DIDN'T ENVY THESE TWO BICYCLISTS IN THIS MORNING'S RAIN

 A QUIETLY SUBDUED MORNING AT THE BEACH

 BEACH MAINTENANCE AT ROTARY COVE

 A RAINY MORNINGS STROLL ON THE BOARDWALK

 BEACHCOMBEERS

I was on a mission to buy something I've been thinking about buying for the past decade or so.  Being the big weather blabberator that I am it's a wonder I didn't have one of these things decades before this.  A few days ago while at Richard and Gayles I noticed they had this really neat 'weather station' sitting on a table by a window.  It was the vibrant color display that bowled me over and looking at it I knew, with all its functions, the time had finally come after all these years to get one.  And, especially one that would operate during the frequent power outages we constantly experience.  We even had the power company here a couple weeks ago to check out our power box for loose wires and stuff.  The power guy told me the only loose wire around here was me.  Ya ya, I know:((  This is the weather station I picked up at Canadian Tire in Goderich this morning......La Crosse Wireless Weather Forecasting Station.  It boldly displays the current time, day, month, and year, humidity trends, phases of the Moon, air pressure trends, inside and outside temperatures, and temperature alerts.  It can also be used as an alarm clock.  It can make your morning coffee, start your car on cold mornings, and scrub your back in the shower.  Well okay, maybe not so much the last three.  It's the next model up that does all that:))       

Talked to Aunt Jean in Sarasota, Florida and she is on the mend from her bout of Covid.  Still quarantined to her room but she is hoping to be out and about shortly.  Unfortunately, Jean's best long-time friend Pat has now come down with Covid as well.  It's her second bout with Covid but she is expected to recover.

 I'VE ALWAYS ADMIRED THIS FARMER'S STONE WALL AND DID YOU NOTICE SOMETHING ODD ABOUT IT

 'AHA' THERE IT IS

 

A small correction to something I said a couple of days ago.  When I wrote that Kelly said that a lot of the hospital's medical staff were Oriental, that was incorrect.  She said a lot of them were of East Indian or Pakistani origin.   I noticed that as well the last couple times I accompanied Kelly to London's University Hospital.  Of course, University Hospital is a 'teaching' hospital and many come here from near and far for their medical training.

 A RURAL MAIL BOX

 WILDFLOWERS ALONGSIDE A WHEAT FIELD

I finished reading both Lucy Maude Montgomery's books in the Pat of Silverbush series.  Once again, I enjoyed both books immensely.  I am currently reading a book by Logan Steiner entitled After Anne. This novel is based on the story of Lucy Maude Montgomery's life and how she came about to write the 'Anne of Green Gables series of books plus the many other Prince Edward Island related books in her lifetime.  

Our day remained cloudy for a while but when the Sun came out this afternoon it really ramped up the miserable humidity so there was no afternoon walk for Pheebs and I.   

HER NAME IS STEPHANIE

Thanks once again to all of you kind and caring folks for your concern regarding Kelly's recent hospitalization.  These are difficult times not knowing what growing medical challenges await her around every corner.

MALE AND FEMALE CARDINALS AT OUR BIRD STATION TODAY

 MOURNING DOVE

 A YOUNG GRACKLE WHO HASN'T GROWN IN IT'S ADULT COLORS YET

Al's Music Box:)) Lovesick Blues by Hank Williams is a Tin Pan Alley song, composed by Cliff Friend, with lyrics by Irving Mills.  Emmett Miller recorded it in 1925 and 1928, followed by country music singer Rex Griffin in 1939. The recordings by Griffin and Miller inspired Hank Williams to perform the song during his first appearances on the Louisiana Hayride radio show in 1948. Receiving an enthusiastic reception from the audience, Williams decided to record his own version despite initial push back from his producer Fred Rose (a former 1920s Tin Pan Alley songwriter) and his band.  Cashbox named the song "Best Hillbilly Record of the Year". It was the biggest hit of Hank Williams' career.  Hank Williams, who heard both the Miller and Griffin versions, started performing the song on the Louisiana Hayride shortly after joining the Hayride in August 1948.  Horace Logan, the show's producer and programming director for KWKH, reported that the audience "went crazy" the first time Williams performed the song on the show.  In light of the live audience's strong positive reaction, Williams decided to record the song. His decision was questioned by his musicians, who felt that the song did not merit a recording.  Williams, mindful of the reaction he received live, persisted, and the recording took place during the final half-hour of a session recorded at Herzog Studio in Cincinnati, Ohio on December 22, 1948.  For this recording, Williams replaced the jazz musicians with a modern country music band, using a rhythm guitar, mandolin, string bass, drums and a steel guitar.  Williams' session band was composed of Clyde Baum (mandolin), Zeke Turner (electric guitar), Jerry Byred (steel guitar), Louis Innis (rhythm guitar), Tommy Jackson (fiddle) and Willie Thawl (bass).   In the episode of American Masters about Williams, Drifting Cowboy Don Helms recalls, "When they recorded 'Lovesick Blues,' Fred told Hank, 'That song's out of meter!  Got too many bars in it. And you hold that note too long.' And Hank said, 'Well, when I find a note I like, I wanna hold on to it as long as I can,' you know, just tryin' to be funny. And Fred said, 'Well, I'll tell you what I'm gonna do. That thing is so much out of meter, I'm gonna get me a cup of coffee and when I get back maybe ya'll have that thing cut.' And they did, but it was still out of meter. So Fred lived with that the rest of his life." Williams combined Griffin's lyrical arrangement with a two-beat honky-tonk track, borrowing the yodeling and beat drops from Miller's recording.  "Lovesick Blues" was recorded in two takes.  Following the success of the song, Williams was invited to appear as a guest on the Grand Ole Opry, on June 11, 1949.  After the performance, Williams received a standing ovation.  "Lovesick Blues" became his signature song, which he used to close his shows.  It was also his first number-one hit, and garnered Williams the stage nicknames of "The Lovesick Blues Boy" and "Mr. Lovesick Blues".  In 1949, the singer received second billing behind Eddy Arnold on the list of the "Year's Top Selling Folk Artists".  Williams' version of the song was featured in the films The Last Picture Show (1971), Forrest Gump (1994) and The Shawshank Redemption (1994). In 2004, "Lovesick Blues" was added to the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress.

GROANER'S CORNER:(( Information for Northerners Visiting the Southern States::

1. If you run your car into a ditch, don't panic. Four men in a four-wheel-drive pickup truck with a 12-pack of beer and a towchain will be along shortly. Don't try to help them, just stay out of their way. This is what they live for.

2. Don't be surprised to find movie rentals and bait in the same store. Do not buy food at this store.

3. Remember: "Y'all" is singular, "All y'all" is plural, and "All y'alls'" is plural possessive.

4. Get used to hearing "You ain't from around here, are ya?"

5. You may hear a Southerner say "Oughta!" to a dog or child. This is short for "Y'all oughta not do that!" and is the equivalent of saying "No!"

6. Don't be worried about not understanding what people are saying; they can't understand you, either.

7. The first Southern expression to creep into a transplanted Northerner's vocabulary is the adjective "big ol'," as in "big ol' truck " or "big ol' boy." Most Northerners begin their new Southern-influenced dialect this way. All of them are in denial about it.

8. The proper pronunciation you learned in school is no longer proper.

9. Be advised that "He needed killin'" is a valid defense here.

10. If you hear a Southerner exclaim "Hey, y'all, watch this," stay out of the way. These are likely to be the last words he'll ever say.

11. If there is the prediction of the slightest chance of even the smallest accumulation of snow, your presence is required at the local grocery store. It doesn't matter whether you need anything or not. You just have to go there.

12. When you come upon a person driving 15 mph down the middle of the road, remember that most folks here learn to drive on a John Deere, and that this is the proper speed and position for that vehicle.

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- I just had a call from a Charity asking me to donate some of my clothes to the starving people throughout the world.  I told them to buzz off!!!!!  Anybody who fits into my  clothes isn't starving!!

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