HAD TO DO SOMETHING AGE RELATED TODAY I'D NEVER HAD TO DO BEFORE

 LEAFY SHADOWS

So many fine sunny mornings all in a row and this morning was no exception.  Out to our walking spot Pheebs and I went but we didn't walk very far again.  Pheebs just kinda walked about 10 feet and then stood there looking around.  I know she wants to go for a walk, but like so many of us now, her age is rapidly catching up to her and she, like we, increasingly become limited as to what we would like to do and what we can do.  After a short drive, we sadly headed home.

 AFTER A SHORT WALK WE WERE BACK IN THE CAR AGAIN

 OH MY, THE AROMATIC SCENT OF THIS NEWLY MOWN HAYFIELD ALONGSIDE OUR WALKING ROAD WAS HEAVENLY THIS MORNING

 NOT A SINGLE CLOUD IN THIS MORNING'S DEEP BLUE SKY

A month or so ago I received something in the mail from a branch of the MTO (Ministry of Transportation) telling me that as I will soon be turning 80 (as if I needed reminding) my presence was requested today at 100 Don Street Clinton Ontario at 12:30 p.m.  Oh Geezzzz, now what I thought to myself!!  As it turns out it was time for my driver's license renewal.  But, this time there was a difference.  Here in Ontario Canada when one turns 80 it is mandatory every two years thereafter that one reports to one of these sessions for one's driver's license renewal.  To say things like this make me nervous is an understatement.  If it was a physical test, okay.  But with any kind of mental test or anything, I have good reason to be nervous.  I do not have a good track record when it comes to even the simplest tests and exams and that dates back to public school for me.  It all has to do with this faulty short-term memory of mine which I've had since I was kid.  Anyway.....here's how it went today..... From the time I walked into the building to the time I walked out of the building was 15 minutes.  Only thing I had to do was a simple 10-second vision test and then draw a big circle on a piece of paper and enter the numbers of a clock with the hands pointing to 10 after ll.  That done, I was informed I had successfully passed the test (whew) and out the door I went.  By the way, there were 6 other people there and I felt I was the youngest one of the bunch.  I did feel sorry for a couple of people who seemed to be having a little trouble with confusion.  I will have to do this again in two years and I figure if they don't change the time on the clock I should be good to go:))

I CAME ACROSS SOME COWS ON MY WAY TO CLINTON

I have received a few more Facebook requests with some of them already being on my friends list.  This is exactly how I got hacked twice a bunch of years ago when I accepted a couple re-requests.  Because of this, I do not normally accept friend requests anymore.  If you legitimately sent me a friend request and I did not respond or accept it, don't feel I'm ignoring you, I just don't want to take the chance of being hacked again.

 ON THE WAY HOME FROM CLINTON I CAME ACROSS A DIFFERENT BUNCH OF COWS CROWDED UNDER A SHADE TREE

 A FEW OF THE YOUNGER FRISKIER ONES WERE OUT PLAYING IN THE SUN

A Blast From Our Past:)) Facebook tossed me an old memory today from this September 4th day in 2009....Today I Had To Eat Crow And Email An Apology 

I finished my latest book, The Last Escaper by author Peter Tunstall.  I thought this a good read and it casts light into the dark difficulties and sometimes humorous lives of what Prisoners of War experienced in the hands of their captors.  I felt it was an honest portrayal of the prisoner's interaction with their guards and does not paint all German people with a negative brush.  Bomber pilot and prisoner Peter Tunstall was a genuine rascal and a never-ending pain in the butt of his captors.  And yes, that includes water balloons, and a whole host of other tricks he always had up his sleeve.  There is a serious side to this book (how could there not be) as expected, but there is also a lighter human side to it as well.............. For my next read, I have gone back to my ever-growing interest in a deeper subject that first caught my attention a few years ago.  Beyond NDE's: The Next Step in Near Death Research.  I've only just started the book and already I am enthralled by what I am reading.

Al's Music Box:)) Superstar is a 1969 song written by Bonnie Bramlett and Leon Russell, that has been a hit for many artists in different genres in the years since. The best-known versions are by the Carpenters in 1971, Luther Vandross in 1983, and Sonic Youth in 1994.  Richard Carpenter became aware of the song after watching Bette Midler sing it on the February 15, 1971 edition of The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.  Produced by Richard Carpenter with Jack Daugherty, it was recorded using members of the Wrecking Crew, a famed collection of Los /angeles area session muscians. Because the original subject matter of the song was more risqué than was typical for the Carpenters, Richard changed a lyric in the second verse from "And I can hardly wait/To sleep with you again" to the less suggestive "And I can hardly wait/To be with you again." The track was finished in one take.  Karen Carpenter's vocal was praised for its intensity and emotional nature. David Hepworth commented: "Even with only half her mind on the job, she delivered a perfect performance. The guide vocal never needed to be replaced."  The duo's rendition was included on the May 1971 album Carpenters, and then released as a single in August 1971, rising to number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart, held out of the top spot by Rod Stewart's 'Maggie May'.  Richard was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist for the song. "Superstar" would go on to appear on two mid-1970s Carpenters live albums as well as on many compilation albums. 

GROANER'S CORNER:(( Things You Learn in Texas::

- Armadillos sleep in the middle of the road with their feet in the air.
- There are 5,000 types of snakes on earth and 4,998 live in Texas.
- There are 10,000 types of spiders. All 10,000 live in Texas plus a couple that have not been identified yet.
- Onced and Twiced are words.
- It is not a shopping cart; it is a buggy.
- People actually grow and eat okra.
- "Fixinto" is one word.
- There is no such thing as "lunch." There is only dinner and then there is supper.
- Iced tea is appropriate for all meals and you start drinking it when you're two. We do like a little tea with our sugar!
- DJeet? means "Did you eat?"
- You don't have to wear a watch because it doesn't matter what time it is. You work until you're done or it's too dark to see.
- You measure distance in minutes.
- You've ever had to switch from "heat" to "A/C" in the same day.
- All the festivals across the state are named after a fruit, vegetable, grain, insect or animal.
- You install security lights on your house and garage and leave both unlocked.
- The local papers cover national and international news on one page, but require 6 pages for local gossip and sports.
- The first day of deer season is a national holiday.
- 100 degrees Fahrenheit is "a little warm." - We have four seasons: Almost Summer, Summer, still Summer and Christmas.
- A cool snap (below 70 degrees) is good pinto-bean weather.
- We don't need no stinking driver's Ed . . . If our mama says we can drive, we can drive.
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When a new child visited our Sunday school, the teacher greeted him and asked his age. The little boy held up four fingers.
"Oh, you're four," said the teacher. "And when will you be 5?"  The child stared at her and after a few seconds replied, "When I hold up the other finger."

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"Give me a sentence about a public servant," said the teacher.The small boy wrote: "The fireman came down the ladder   pregnant."  The teacher took the lad aside to correct him. "Don't you know what pregnant means?" she asked.  "Sure," said the young boy, confidently. "Means carrying a child."

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