IT WOULD HAVE PUT AN END TO A LOT OF SPECULATION

Buffalo Springfield's words from their song, For What It's Worth floated through my awakening mind earlier this morning.  Stephen Stills words, 'There's something happening here'.  'But what is ain't exactly clear'...... 'Hey, what's that sound?.  Well, my sleepy mind finally figured out that sound was our furnace running.  Geezzzz, it must be cold if Kelly snapped the furnace on.  It was 52F.

A FUNGUS GROWING ON A STUMP BESIDE OUR FRONT YARD FROG POND

 ONE OF OUR FROGS KEEPING A CLOSE EYE ON ME THIS AFTERNOON

Under bright sunny skies and warming air I drove Kelly to her 10 o'clock medical appointment at the Maitland Valley Medical Center.  Dropped her off at the main door then headed to Tim Hortons for a coffee to go and a spin down around the harbor to put in a little time.  

LAKE HURON WAVES COME ASHORE AT GODERICH'S ROTARY COVE

 A TIRED COUPLE AND THEIR DOG STOP FOR A REST ON A HILLSIDE BENCH IN THE DOG WALKING AREA....IT LOOKS LIKE ONE OF THOSE WALKERS IS A LITTLE SLEEPIER THAN THE OTHER TWO

 NICE AUGUST MORNING FOR A BIKE RIDE ALONG THE LAKESHORE

 CARRYING A BAG AND A PICK-UP STICK THIS DOG WALKER MIGHT BE PICKING UP LITTER ALONG THE WAY

 A YOUNG GULL BASKS ON THE SOUTH PIER

AN ADULT GULL NEARBY

 A COUPLE FISHERMEN IN GODERICH'S INNER HARBOR

I was back at the medical center by 10:20, parked and reading my Kindle when Kelly came out 15 minutes later.  We were hoping her Nurse Practitioner (Patricia Robinson) might have some answers for her and she did.  Having worked in a transplant unit herself she explained to Kelly that her extended abdomen is normal after having Ascites.  Ascites (ay-SITE-eez) is when too much fluid builds up in your abdomen (belly). This condition often happens in people who have cirrhosis (scarring) of the liver.  A sheet of tissue called the peritoneum covers the abdominal organs, including the stomach, bowels, liver, and kidneys. The peritoneum has two layers. Ascites happens when fluid builds up between the two layers.  Kelly's extended abdomen will remain like this.  Now, why couldn't somebody at London's University Hospital have simply explained that to her a month ago.  It would have put an end to a lot of speculation that we have had about 'her swollend abdomen.  Kelly's blood pressure was good this morning but her weight continues to drop and she weighed in this morning at 102 pounds.  She needs to get her weight back up to 110 and above for a liver transplant.  

 A FIELD OF CONE FLOWERS

Following Kelly's appointment we headed off to A&W for a bacon and eggs breakfast.  I think a good old mess of bacon and eggs, toast, coffee, and hashbrowns is probably one of my favorite simple meals.  Followed closely by peanut butter, ice cream, donuts, tarts, pie, cake, and half a dozen various flavored milkshakes.

 MORE CANADA GEESE IN THE AIR FORMING UP THEIR FLIGHT PATTERNS

With still a touch of coolness in the afternoon's breeze, Pheebs and I made it out for a walk over to and around the Park's pond.  It was a one-turtle walk.  I did see the Green-Backed Heron again but it was too quick for me to get a camera shot of him.

 POND REFLECTIONS

YES, IT WAS A ONE TURTLE WALK

Al's Music Box:)) Ring Of Fire was made popular by Johnny Cash after it appeared on his 1963 compilation album 'Ring of Fire: The Best of Johnny Cash. Written by Cash's eventual second wife, June Carter Cash, and songwriter Merle Kilgore.  Cash's version became one of the biggest hits of his career, staying at No. 1 on the country chart for seven weeks. It was certified gold by the RIAA on January 21, 2010, and has sold over 1.2 million digital downloads.  It was named the fourth greatest country song of all time by Country Music Television, while Rolling Stone called it the number one greatest country song of all time and listed it as the 87th greatest song of all time.  In 1999, the 1963 recording of the song by Johnny Cash on the Columbia Records label was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.  Most of the song is dedicated to a chorus that extends the metaphor comparing the passions of love with a "ring of firer". It describes being burned, and the flames rising, as the person continues falling for quite a distance ("down, down, down"), using the vocabulary of "falling in love". The song concludes without any resolution to the situation.

Duration: 31 second

The song was originally recorded by June's sister, Anita Carter, on her Mercury Records album Folk Songs Old and New (1963) as "(Love's) Ring of Fire". Mercury released Anita's version as a single and it was a featured "pick hit" in Billboard magazine. After hearing Anita's version, Cash claimed he had a dream where he heard the song accompanied by "Mexican horns". The mariachi horn sound had recently been popularized on American radio with 1962 hit song "The Lonely Bull" by Herb Alpert.  Cash said, "I'll give you about five or six more months, and if you don't hit with it, I'm gonna record it the way I feel it." Cash noted that adding trumpets was a change to his basic sound.  When the song failed to become a major hit for Anita, Cash recorded it his own way, adding the mariachi-style horns from his dream. This sound was later used in the song "It Ain't Me Babe", which was recorded around the same time. Mother Maybelle and the Carter sisters are prominently featured in the Cash recording singing harmony. Cash tinkered with a few of the original phrases in Anita Carter's version of the song. Cash's daughter Rosanne said, "The song is about the transformative power of love and that's what it has always meant to me and that's what it will always mean to the Cash children."

 SUNBURST LOCUST LEAVES SOFTLY ALIGHT IN OUR FRONT YARD FROG POND

GROANER'S CORNER:((  The husband and wife were playing on the ninth green when she collapsed from a heart attack. "Please dear, I need help." she said.  The husband ran off saying "I'll go get some help." A little while later he returned, picked up his club and began to line up his shot on the green.  His wife, on the ground, raised up her head and said, "I'm may be dying and you're putting?"  "Don't worry dear. I found a doctor on the second hole who said he come and help."  "The second hole??? When in the hell is he coming???"  "Hey! I told ya not to worry." he said, practice stroking his putt. "Everyone's already agreed to let him play through."

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A friend of mine is a deputy with the sheriff's department canine unit. One evening, the deputy was dispatched to the scene of a possible burglary, where he discovered the back door of a building ajar. He let the dog out of his patrol car and commanded it to enter and seek.  Jumping from the back seat, the dog headed for the building. After lunging through the doorway, the dog froze and backed out. My friend was puzzled until he investigated further and saw the sign on the building: “Veterinarian's Office.”

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Miranda likes to sing, and whenever she begins, her husband heads outside.
Hurt, she asked him, "Don't you like my singing?"  "Of course, dear," he replied. "I just want to make sure the neighbors know I'm not beating you."

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A doctor told his patient after reviewing his x-rays he needed surgery costing $5000.  The patient said he only had $500.00 and what could be done.  The doctor said, "Well, I can always touch up your x-rays."

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Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory.