IT'S NOT EASY BEING OLD...ESPECIALLY IF YOUR A MAN:((

With two new prescriptions to pick up for Kelly and one refill for me, Pheebs and I headed off under cold wind-driven moody skies to Goderich's Walmart Pharmacy.  We switched things up a bit from our normal routine and made Walmart the first stop to submit the prescriptions.  Grabbed a few groceries and headed off down to the harbor.  A few icy drops of rain on the windshield which probably started out as sleet higher up in the darker clouds. The wind coming in across the lake was frigid but I did see a few surfers in wetsuits on the beach.

HEADING OUT OF OUR PARK THIS MORNING

 BEAUTIFUL SKIES OVER LAKE HURON TODAY

 LAKE WATERS WERE CHOPPY THIS MORNING

 NO MATTER HOW COLD...AWAY THEY GO

THE HELENA G WAS IN PORT THIS MORNING TAKING ON A LOAD OF GRAIN OR CORN

 THAT IS ONE MIGHTY BIG BULBOUS BOW ON THAT SHIP

From the harbor, we headed back to Walmart and picked up the 'filled' prescriptions and from there began our homeward trek with a short stop at Richard and Gayles.  Bursts of brilliant sunshine along the way mixed with a few traveling wind-blown scatters of rain.  There was probably a rainbow or two somewhere in the colorful Autumn countryside as well.

 AWESOME SKIES COULD BE SEEN IN ALL DIRECTIONS

 THOSE DARK GRAY CLOUDS ARE CARRYING RAIN

There are still outside things for me to do here but I have to be patient and wait until the right mood stirs me to get out there and get them done.  I think I've been on a low-energy lazy streak these last few days.

 A BUSY SATURDAY MORNING FOR THIS FARMER

I've noticed a few RV folks we know already have their RV wheels rolling and are heading south.  Most of these people we know are heading to the American Southwest.  Ivan and his cat Bailey Roadtrip 2025 from Alberta towing a 5th wheel are already on their way.  You might want to grab onto Ivan's coattails and follow along.  He moves around a lot from place to place.  Peter and Bea (Canadian Traveler) from Campobello Island just off the southeast coast of New Brunswick have just picked up a 'new to them' Class A Diesel Motorhome in Trinidad Colorado before swinging south to their favorite spot east of El Centro, California.  Deb and Riley (On A Long And Lonesome Highway) from Manitoulin Island in Ontario are also traveling with a 5th wheel and are already somewhere in Texas moving West.  Patsy and Bill (Chillin' With Patsy) from a place not too far north of us here in Bayfield Ontario are currently in Nashville on their way west as well.  Bill's a model plane enthusiast.  Mike and Janna (Restoration Cowboy Style) with their little black Schnauzer, Kaycee have already left their ranch in Montana and traveled to their winter home near Sunsites, Arizona.  With the exception of Deb and Riley, we have met all these folks and some of them numerous times.  Ivan, Mike and Janna come to mind.  We have known these three folks since our very early RVing days ranch sitting near McNeal Arizona and we have visited several times with Janna and Mike at their beautifully restored desert home near Sunsites.  

 AREA TREES ARE SLOWLY LOSING THEIR LEAVES

Pretty much every time one starts with a new prescription one has to go over the medication instructions with the Pharmacist.  And, so it was today at the Walmart Pharmacy when I picked up two new meds for Kelly.  Really, what are the chances of an 80-year-old man even retaining a mere tenth of what he is being told or instructed to do or remember.  The helpful Pharmacy man did all the talking and my head did all the bobbing.  I got out a few okays and a couple yes words and might have even managed an embarrassing unnatural smile to cover up my total befuddlement before turning away and asking a Walmart worker to help me to the door and then point me in the direction of the parking lot, wish me well, give me a little push, and keep your fingers crossed I can find my car before winter sets in.  Of course, when I got home, one of Kelly's first questions for me was, "well, what did the Pharmacist say"??  It's not easy being old.......especially if you're a man:((

Al's Music Box:)) Ebb Tide by Pat Boone is a popular song written in 1953 by the lyricist Carl Sigman and composer and harpist Robert Maxwell. In 1953, Frank Chacksfield and his Orchestra reached number two on the US pop chart, and number nine on the UK chart with an instrumental version of the song.

 BUSH LANE

GROANER'S CORNER:(( One day, three unemployed factory workers heard that a large food company was enlarging and needed more staff. So they went downtown to see if they could get themselves a job.  After filing out their applications, each one was interviewed and each one managed to get hired. As they were waiting to be assigned their new duties, a foreman came by and spoke to the hiring boss.  The foreman told the boss that he didn't think it was such a good idea as one of the workers had snapped for no apparent reason at his last job.  Also a second was said to have had cracked up after severe mental stress.  The third, he believed was their father who he felt was a bit odd but he couldn't put his finger on it.  The hiring boss reassured the foreman and said that they would start on something easy and after a week, the company would re-assess them to see if they would be kept on.  The foreman reluctantly agreed and asked the boss where he thought they should start.  The boss replied, "Why not take them and put them in our Cereal Division...Snap, Crackle and Pop should work out fine down there."

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My 7 year-old nephew showed me with pride the "telephone" he had just made from a string and two tin cans.  I pulled out my iPhone and said, "That's nice, but... look at the phones that kids your age are making in China!"

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After the revival had concluded, the three pastors were discussing the results with one another.  The Methodist minister said, "The revival worked out great for us! We gained 4 new families." The Baptist preacher said, "We did better than that! We gained 6 new families."The Presbyterian pastor said, "Well, we did even better than that! We got rid of our 10 biggest troublemakers!"

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{Quote} Life doesn't always get better. But you do. You get stronger. You get wiser. You get softer. With tattered wings you rise. And the world watches in wonder at the breathless beauty of a human who survived life.

                              Al's Art Gallery

CHEVY CORVETTES DESCEND UPON BAYFIELD....AND A SNOW MEMORY

Despite a dark overcast morning threatening rain, Bayfield's annual Vettefest in Clan Gregor Square was well underway by the time Pheebs and I took a drive through the Village earlier today. Last year they had over 400 Corvettes in attendance and with nearly a Chevy Corvette on every corner this morning, I wouldn't be surprised if they had another great turnout this time again.  Pheebs and I cruised through the festivities and contented ourselves with a few drive-by pics before heading to the Bayfield Cemetery for a quiet walk away from the bustling Vettefest crowds of people in Bayfield.  

 THE TAIL END OF A LONG LINE-UP FOR THE 'FIREMAN'S BREAKFAST' NEAR CLAN GREGOR SQUARE

Our walk was unfortunately cut short by swarms of biting Deer flies.  An hour earlier, Kelly had to cut her morning walk with Pheebs short for the very same reason.  Rotten miserable things those #%!!*!!*# useless good-for-nothing abominations of nature are!!  I wished Deer Flies and Mosquitos would declare an all-out war on each other with each side totally annihilating the other side forever!!

WIPING THE DUST OF THE WHEELS

 JOGGERS STOPPING FOR A BREAK NEAR CLAN GREGOR SQUARE

 ALONG BAYFIELD'S MAIN STREET

Despite the humidity, the day's air remained cool so Pheebs and I had ourselves a slow walk over to the Park's pond and back.  Didn't see any critters and thankfully the Deer Flies didn't bug us.

 NOT ALL FOLKS WERE AT VETTEFEST THIS MORNING

 THIS TRIANGULAR DEER FLY ADMIRES ITSELF IN MY DRIVERS SIDE MIRROR

And, Facebook threw me a memory from back in early 2008 when we were 'ranch sitting' near McNeal, Arizona about 20 minutes north of Douglas Arizona and the Mexican border.  Being RV Newbies at the time we didn't think it snowed in Arizona.  The photo below shows how wrong we were.  And, this wasn't the last time we got snowed on in Arizona either over the next bunch of winter seasons.  And that includes getting snowed on in Columbus New Mexico 3 miles from the Mexican border and Julian, California an hour's drive east of San Diego in the Cuyamaca Mountains.  Also at our former house in Congress Arizona a couple times.

Al's Music Box:)) My Love is a song by the British–American band Paul McCartney and Wings that was first released as the lead single from their 1973 album Red Rose Speedway. It was written by McCartney as a love song to his wife and Wings bandmate Linda. The single marked the first time that McCartney's name appeared in the artist credit for a Wings record, after their previous releases had been credited to Wings alone. The single was viewed as Wings' first significant success in the US and helped Red Rose Speedway achieve commercial success.  Wings recorded "My Love" at Abbey Road Studios in London in January 1973. The song is a piano ballad and features an orchestral arrangement by Richard Hewson that was recorded live with the main track. The recording also includes a guitar solo by Henry McCullough that some commentators view as a highlight of the track. In his improvised playing, McCullough imposed his own style on a Wings song for the first time, countering the more regimented approach favored by McCartney.  Despite its commercial success, "My Love" was given an unfavorable reception by many music critics, some of whom considered it overly sentimental and lyrically inconsequential. A live version of the song was included on Wings' 1976 album Wings Over America, and McCartney has continued to perform it in concert as a tribute to Linda following her death in 1998. He included the song in the musical program for Linda's memorial services in London and New York City, where it was performed by a string quartet. After forming the band Wings with Linda in the summer of 1971, McCartney included "My Love" in the set lists for the group's two concert tours in 1972.  When they performed it at Nottingham University on 9 February for Wings' public debut, the song included Linda singing lines in response to McCartney's lead vocal.  According to Perasi, the performance was otherwise "almost identical" to the version that the band subsequently recorded for official release.  McCartney invited Richard Hewson, with whom he had worked before while with the Beatles, to arrange the orchestral accompaniment for "My Love".  The song was recorded live at Abbey Road Studios in London with a 50-piece orchestra accompanying the band.  The session took place in January 1973.  McCartney played a Fender Rhodes electric piano on the track, while Denny Laine substituted for McCartney on bass guitar. The idea to tape the basic track and the orchestral arrangement simultaneously went against music industry convention, since the session musicians were paid by the hour.  Hewson recalled that he recruited "the best jazz musicians I knew ... They had this particular warm sound" and that the reason for the live recording was because McCartney wanted to capture "a certain feeling".  In music journalist Tom Breihan's description, although the song appears to lack a formal structure, "It chugs and twinkles with the slow confidence of an old torch song, while the orchestra ... swells and contracts."  According to Hewson, around 20 takes were performed over three hours, leaving the musicians tired and having to assure McCartney that their playing could not be improved on.  McCullough later said, "it had got to the point where I achingly wanted to be the guitar player in the band", rather than a sideman playing lines dictated by McCartney.  McCartney recalled in a 2010 interview:  I'd sort of written the solo, as I often did write our solos, and he walked up to me right before the take and said, "Hey, would it be alright if I try something else?" And I said, "Er ... yeah." It was like, "Do I believe in this guy?" And he played the solo on "My Love", which came right out of the blue. And I just thought, Great.  And so there were plenty of moments like that where somebody's skill or feeling would overtake my wishes.  According to McCullough, it was the first time that anyone in Wings had challenged McCartney, and it was an approach that others in the band encouraged, in an effort to make Wings a genuine band and improve McCartney's image.  He described the result on "My Love" as "a stroke of luck, a gift from God really, and you sometimes get that in music".

GROANER'S CORNER:(( Two factory workers were talking. "I know how to get some time off from work." said the man.  "How do you think you will do that?" said the other one. He proceeded to show her...by climbing up to the rafters, and hanging upside down.  The boss walked in, saw the worker hanging from the ceiling, and asked him what on earth he was doing? "I'm a light bulb" answered the guy.  "I think you need some time off," said the boss. So, the man jumped down and walked out of the factory. The second worker began walking out too. The boss asked her where did she think she was going?  "Home. I can't work in the dark." 

The salesman was demonstrating unbreakable combs in the department store. He was impressing the people who stopped by to look by putting the comb through all sorts of torture and stress.  Finally, to impress even the skeptics in the crowd, he bent the comb completely in half, and it snapped with a loud crack. Without missing a beat, he bravely held up both halves of the 'unbreakable' comb for everyone to see and said,  "And this, ladies and gentlemen, is what an unbreakable comb looks like on the inside..."

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THE DAY WE MET RV SUE AND HER CANINE CREW

 HERE'S A COMBINATION OF COLORS I'VE ALWAYS LIKED

Sort of a sunny sunrise but it didn't do anything to make the frigid 19F temperature feel any better.  Fortunately, our weather once again begins to roll towards Spring Sunday with predictions of 50F on Monday.  Shorts and tank tops eh.  With a few snowflakes drifting lazily in the air Pheebs and I headed out on our short Jeep ride around the Park's roads.  I could feel myself getting antsy about heading out into the countryside and had to remind myself I only have 3 more days to go with this temporary medical hold on my driver's license.  Years ago I would have been out driving around all over the place anyway but time has changed that way of thinking for me.  There is definitely something to be said about this age, maturity, and wisdom stuff.

 A PARK BENCH FOR WEARY RESIDENTS COMING AND GOING

 I BELIEVE THAT OPEN WATER BY THE SHORE HAS BEEN MADE BY A MUSKRAT

NOTICE THE STRAIGHT LINE CRITTER TRACK ON THE LEFT....IT'S PROBABLY A COYOTE BECAUSE DOGS DON'T WALK IN STRAIGHT LINES 

 PARK RESIDENTS OUT PLAYING IN THE SNOW

 BRIGHTLY COLORED FLAGS GATHERED AROUND A HIDDEN HOLE IN THE GROUND

I am pretty much free of my cane nowadays and about the only thing I can't do yet since my total right hip replacement, is put my right sock on.  I'm close but hesitant to bend that leg the extra couple of inches because I can feel the excess strain in my hip.  Having come this far I sure don't want to do anything that might land me back in the hospital again.  At the moment I am employing the aid of a plastic sock device to get my sock on until at some point in the not-too-distant future when that hip joint becomes flexible enough to allow me to put my sock on the normal way.

 THIS PARTIALLY HIDDEN BLUE JAY KEEPS A CLOSE EYE ON THE BIRD STATION WAITING FOR THE GRACKLES TO CLEAR OUT

With this afternoon's sustained sunshine digging into our recent snowfall, Pheebs and I took ourselves for a walk over to the pond.  We soaked up some sunshine and marveled at how quickly our snowy white landscape is melting and giving way to Spring's luscious green again.  I'm sure glad we are closing in on the beginning of April and not the beginning of November.

 WALKING TO THE POND

 SO GREAT TO SEE GREEN GRASS AGAIN

 LOOKING BACK IN THE DIRECTION FROM WHENCE WE CAME

 I SUSPECT THE POND'S ICE WILL BE GONE BY TUESDAY OF NEXT WEEK

 THIS WAS OUR TURNAROUND POINT AND WE HEADED BACK

 THE SHORT PATH UNDER THE TALL PINE TREES ACROSS THE ROAD FROM OUR HOUSE

 I SURE HOPE THIS IS THE LAST OF THE SNOW FOR THIS SEASON

In keeping with Bloggers and Blogland for one more day it was December 10th of 2011 that we met another RV Blogger just beginning her travel adventures in the great American Southwest.   The Bayfield Bunch Meets RV Sue And Her Canine Crew  From this day on RV Sue and her crew went on to travel many dusty roads leading from one hidden away boondocking site to another.  Privacy was always a priority for Sue.  Over the next number of years she garnered herself a rather large following of blog readers whom she lovingly referred to as her, 'Bloggereenos':))

 KELLY WALKING ON DARBY WELL ROAD WITH RV SUE AND HER CANINE CREW BRIDGIT AND SPIKE

A Blast From Our Past:))   In our RVing years to the great American Southwest, it was generally in mid to late March that we would finally begin our long homeward trek to Bayfield Ontario.  On March 22nd, 2009 it was the day before we left our ranch-sitting days near McNeal, Arizona.  And for me, as is often the case, I was feeling sad about having to say goodbye to my newest best Pals.  And yes, I even said goodbye to the chickens and the donkeys too.  Dogs....My Bestest Pals Of Ever  

 GLEESON AND PEARCE WERE BOTH NAMED AFTER TWO OLD WESTERN TOWNS NEARBY

 GLEESON ALWAYS LIKED HIS TUMMY RUBS

Al's Music Box:)) On The Beach by British singer-songwriter singer Chris Rea. The song was released in 1986.  "While his album The Road to Hell shows the darker side of Rea's worldview, On the Beach is an excellent introduction to his brighter, more optimistic songwriting". (It is Chris Rea's song 'Driving Home For Christmas' that I post in my blog every Christmas--Al)

GROANER'S CORNER:(( After being away on business, Tim thought it would be nice to bring his wife a little gift. "How about some perfume?" he asked the cosmetics clerk. She showed him a bottle costing $50.00.  "That's a bit much," said Tim, so she returned with a smaller bottle for $30.00. "That's still quite a bit," Tim complained.  Growing annoyed, the clerk brought out a tiny $15.00 bottle. "What I mean," said Tim, "is I'd like to see something really cheap."  The clerk handed him a mirror.

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Liz: I get so nervous and frightened during driving tests!

Doctor: Don't worry about it. You'll pass eventually.

Liz: I'm the examiner!

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Teacher to a student: "Can you think of a solution to end unemployment?"  "Yes, sir! I'd put all the men on one island and the women on another."  "And what would they be doing then?"  "Building boats!"

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The Reverend Billy Graham tells of a time early in his ministry when he arrived in a small town to preach a sermon. Wanting to mail a letter, he asked a young boy where the post office was. When the boy had told him, Dr. Graham thanked him and said, "If you'll come to the Church this evening, you can hear me telling everyone how to get to Heaven."  "I don't think I'll be there," the boy said. "You don't even know your way to the post office."

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