PEOPLE SOMETIMES ASK ME HOW I'M DOING

With so many cold and cloudy winter mornings back to back it's kind of hard to get excited about anything.  For me, doing anything outside is out of the question unless it's in a warm heated car.  So with that, I loaded up the Pheebs and off we went to I knew not where.  But, wherever it was we went, we got there and came home again.

 EVEN THESE TWO OLD CROWS ON A PUMP HANDLE WERE LOOKING A LITTLE SNOWY THIS MORNING

 SAW A FEW WINTER FLAG FLOWERS IN FULL BLOOM

Well, as it turns out, it was into Bayfield we went.  I was curious to see how far out into the lake the ice had formed.  And, to no surprise, the ice was out as far as the eye could see.  Some may wonder if the lake ever freezes over clear across to Michigan and the answer to that is no.  However, Lake Erie south of us has been known to freeze right across to the State of New York because of its shallow depth.  

 HERE'S A FELLA CHECKING ON HOW FAR THE ICE IS OUT ON THE LAKE

BY THE LOOKS OF IT THE ICE IS FAR OUT AS THE EYE CAN SEE

LOOKS LIKE THE TRACKS OF MORNING WALKER HEADING TOWARD THE BEACH

 A FEW DAYS AGO I TOOK A PIC FROM THIS POINT AND THE ICE WASN'T EVEN BEYOND THE POINT OF THE PIER

 IT WILL BE A FEW MONTHS MORE BEFORE THESE COLORFUL BINS WILL BE FILLED WITH THE FISHERMEN'S CATCH

NO, IT'S NOT THE WRECK OF THE EDMUND FITZGERALD

 THE BAYFIELD BRIDGE AS SEEN THROUGH SOME TREES

 FROM A HIGHER VIEWPOINT AT PIONEER PARK ONE STILL CAN'T SEE OPEN WATER ON THE HORIZON

There is still a mountain of things to be done in the house yet but my problem with getting at them is my lack of inspiration and enthusiasm.  And, I'm not good at getting stuff done when I don't feel like doing stuff.  Well, I suppose that makes me quite normal.  But awe-shucks, who wants to be normal anymore anyway.  In this day and age though it just isn't normal to be normal anymore.

Under the circumstances, people sometimes ask my how I'm doing.  My answer is always the same, 'oh, I'm doing alright'.  And, that's a truthful answer because I am doing alright although every day is not exactly great.  In my case here where grief and sadness are prevalent at the moment it is up to me how I handle that.  Being a realist, I accept what has happened so I don't struggle with denial.  Kelly's passing was not a separation or divorce so there is no anger.  There is a slightly deeper level of depression than usual running through me but I haven't let that hobble me and I know that will slowly lift.  I know from my past life experiences that I will get through this with brighter, cheerier, days ahead.  What I also know is that I will not carry the heavy weight of sadness and grief through the coming years.  Kelly wouldn't have done that either if the tables had been reversed and she certainly wouldn't want me to do that.  

So, for this 80+ guy, the sands of time are running quicker now and I have to think a bit more seriously about my future.  With Kelly's passing, my comfortable little world has suddenly taken a turn and I now have choices to make, and decisions to consider.  My focus at the moment is not on what has been but on what could be.  A few things are slowly beginning to emerge and one of those things up and slapped me in the face today as I was outside shoveling snow.  I said to myself, "self, I do not want to have to spend another long cold gray unhealthy inactive winter here in this cold and gray snow-infested freezing climate"!! But, that's about as far as I got with my thought.  I still had more snow to shovel:((

 THIS IS MY PREFERRED IDEA OF WINTER.....PHOTOS OF PHEEBS AND I BY KELLY

Al's Music Box:)) Time is a song released in 1981 as a single by the Alan Parsons Project. It was from their 1980 album The Turn of a Friendly Card. The song was the first Alan Parsons Project song (and single) to feature Eric Woolfson as lead vocalist and one of the group's few songs in which Alan Parsons's own voice can be heard singing (background/counterpoint vocals).   

 THIS IS NOT HOW I WANT TO SPEND THE REST OF MY WINTERS

GROANER'S CORNER:(( As a senior citizen on a fixed income I realize that the days of cheap cell phones are over...Now, if I fall and hear a crack, I am hoping it's my leg and not my cell phone.

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- I used to think drinking was bad for me.  So I gave up thinking.

- In my last job my wages were paid in vegetables.  I left because i was unhappy with the celery.

- It was a very moving ceremony.  Even the cake is in tiers.

- So, today, I told my team about the importance of dried grapes.  It’s all about raisin awareness.

- I was in a Zoom meeting when I told a joke and they didn’t laugh.  It turns out I’m not even remotely funny.

- My mum told me that I can’t drive a car made of spaghetti.  You should have seen her face when I drove pasta.

- What did the beaver say to the Birch Tree?
  Nice gnawing you!

“My door was ajar, so I added jelly, now it's a door jam.”

- How does Good King Wenceslas like his pizza?
 One that's deep pan, crisp and even!

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Al's Doggy World

Meanings::

Kellys Corner

 A COUPLE MORE PICS OF KELLY CROSSING THE SAN PEDRO RIVER NORTHWEST OF TOMBSTONE ARIZONA

Al's Art Gallery