A NINETY SIX YEAR OLD HELPS AN EIGHTY SIX YEAR OLD

 NO, THIS IS NOT A MONARCH BUTTERFLY

Nine thirty this morning found us sitting down for breakfast at Bayfield's Renegades Diner with our good friends Richard and Gayle.  It had been a while since we'd last got together for breakfast so today was it.  I think that a good old-fashioned bacon and egg breakfast is probably my most favorite eating-out meal nowadays.  It's just too bad it has got so expensive.....like everything else!!  And, by the way, Renegades is in the process of changing ownership at the moment.  I sure hope the new owner doesn't turn it into some kind of Abbysinian Inginidgious place featuring fried fish eyes, live eels, and raw octopus tentacles!!

A walk around the Park's pond this afternoon netted me a few pics.  I was looking for any wildlife other than more Frogasaurasus guys.

OUR LATE SUMMERS PARK'S POND IS STILL LOOKING VERY LUSH

 WILDFLOWERS AT THE POND'S EDGE

 SPOTTED THIS LITTLE GRASSHOPPER FELLOW ON THE UNDERSIDE OF A MILKWEED LEAF

 AND HERE HE IS ON THE TOP SIDE OF THE SAME LEAF

ALSO ON THE SAME MILKWEED PLANT, I SAW THIS MONARCH BUTTERFLY CATERPILLAR

 WILLOW TREE ROOTS ALONG THE POND'S SURFACE AT THE WATER'S EDGE

 I COUNTED HALF A DOZEN PAINTED TURTLES IN THE POND

 THIS MIGHT BE A MOTHER AND TWO SIBLINGS

 I WAS LINING UP A SHOT OF FOUR TURTLES ON THIS LOG WHEN PHEEBS WALKED BY AND SCARED THEM ALL OFF THE LOG INTO THE WATER

As readers know, I call my Aunt Jean in Florida every Friday night to see how she's doing.  The dust from her big move a few months ago is still settling.  Since moving into Sunnyside Village she has especially enjoyed the great food there but there is a problem.  Despite eating so well she has been losing weight and has now dropped to below a hundred pounds.  Her Doctor ordered a number of tests to determine why the weight loss.  Not all of the test results are in yet so at this time the reason for the weight loss has not been determined.  Being 96 and having been a registered nurse she knows, understands, and accepts her situation but I know it is weighing heavy on her mind........ To lighten that weight a bit, here's a little side story about Aunt Jean and her good friend Joyce at the Village.  Joyce is 86 years old and is undergoing radiation treatments for cancer.  A week ago, Joyce was in a dilemma when the person who normally picks her up to take her to the cancer appointment phoned and told her that they had been in a minor fender-bender accident and couldn't make it.  Joyce related this to Jean and Jean, being the helping and caring person she is, quickly said, "No problem I'll drive you there".  So, that is what she did.  She drove her friend Joyce to her appointment and back even managing to lift Joyce's walker into and out of the car.  A couple days ago Jean once again drove Joyce to another radiation appointment but on their way home Jean noticed a low whistling sound emanating from her car's engine.  Jean doesn't carry a cell phone with her and knew that if they broke down in the heavy Sarasota Florida traffic they would both be in big trouble.  Luckily, they made it back to Sunnyside okay without any incidents.  I said to Jean that had they broken down they might have made the 6 o'clock Sarasota news with a headline that might have gone like this, 'A Ninety-Six Year Old Motorist Helping An Eighty-Six Year Old Lady Broke Down In Heavy Traffic On I-75 This Morning Without Either One Of Them Having A Cell Phone To Call For Assistance.  Luckily, A Passing State Trooper Spotted The Two Elderly Seniors Hitch-Hiking With Their Walkers And Was Able To Get Turned Around And Pick Them Up'.........On a serious note though, Aunt Jean's friend Joyce was suddenly taken to the hospital by ambulance Friday morning and due to her poor condition, Jean is worried her good friend may not return.  And, on another sad note, two of my longest blog readers are a couple named Norma and Jim.  Norma is my first cousin on my Mother's side and her husband Jim has been battling cancer.  He was rushed to a Kitchener hospital yesterday and arrangements are now being made to place him in Hospice care.  A sad time for a once young and vibrant downhill skiing, golfing, and adventurous traveling couple.    

 AN OVERTURNED CANOE IN THE WEEDS AT THE POND'S SOUTH END

Al's Music Box:)) What's Going On by Marvin Gaye from his 1971 album 'What's Going On'.

 NOW YOU REALLY DIDN'T THINK I'D LET YOU AWAY WITHOUT ANOTHER FROG PICTURE DID YA

GROANER'S CORNER:(( In our home we tend to get the children to help out. One day our youngest son came in to the living room and asked, “Does anyone want a cup of coffee?”  “Yes please!” we said.  He replied, “What kind of coffee do you want? Capitated or decapitated?”

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Did you hear about the two radio antennas that got married?  The wedding was terrible, but the reception was excellent!

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Just as a surgeon was finishing up an operation and was about to close, the patient awakes, sits up, and demands to know what is going on.  "I'm about to close," the surgeon says.  The patient grabs the surgeon's hand and says, "I'm not going to let you do that! I'll close my own incision!"  The doctor hands him the needle and thread and says, "Suture self."

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TIME SURE HAS A HABIT OF SLIPPING BY

A NICE LATE SUMMER MORNING'S DRIVE THROUGH THE COUNTRYSIDE

The warm air felt nice this morning.  Not the outside air but the inside air.  Kelly had turned on our furnace for the first time since last Spring.  I've already had our little fireplace in the sunroom going a few times.  I seem to get cold more easily these days.

 ABOVE THE BEAN FIELD AND OVER THE TREES A DARK BLUE LINE CAN BE SEEN AND THAT IS THE WATERS OF LAKE HURON ABOUT THREE MILES AWAY

 THE COMING AUTUMN'S FIELD COLORS

I'M GUESSING THOSE ARE STARLINGS AHEAD

 YUP, I DO THINK THEY ARE STARLINGS

A nice morning for a country road walk, but I didn't get too far.  Right from the time I got up my right hip was giving me a lot of grief.  Maybe it was from mowing the lawn Thursday afternoon.  After walking maybe a quarter mile, we were back to the car and heading home.  

 I THINK THIS FARMER IS PLANTING SOMETHING

 AND WHATEVER HE IS PLANTING IS PROBABLY IN THAT WHITE TRAILER

SOME KIND OF AN ENVIRONMENTAL STATION ALONGSIDE THE ROAD NEXT TO A BEAN FIELD

I don't normally put our outside summer furniture and ornaments away for another month or so but I figured I had better get it done now while I still can.  Moving in a kind of slow-motion mode I gathered up a couple wheelbarrow loads of flowerpots, knick-knacks, and assorted outside things.  I was sure glad to get back into the house and sit down to take the weight of my right leg.  Later in the afternoon, Pheebs and I took a slow walk over around the Park's pond and beyond.  Instead of taking my camera, I took my cane just in case.  Luckily, by taking things slow I didn't have to use it.  

 I STILL HAVE MORE STUFF TO GATHER UP

When Kelly reminded me a couple weeks ago that its over a year now since we brought our 2018 Subaru home I could hardly believe it.  It seems like it was only seven or eight months ago.  Time sure has a habit of slipping by when one isn't paying attention.   

Al's Music Box:)) Snowbird by Anne Murray from her 1969 album, 'This Way Is My Way'.  In 1969 Murray would recall: Gene MacLellan told me he wrote "Snowbird" in twenty minutes while walking on a beach on Prince Edward Island.

GROANER'S CORNER:((Visiting the modern art museum, a lady turned to an attendant standing nearby.  "This," she said, "I suppose, is one of those hideous representations you call modern art?"  "No, Madam," replied the attendant. "That one's called a mirror."

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- Does a clean house indicate that there is a broken computer in it?

- Why is it that no matter what color of bubble bath you use the bubbles are always white?

- Why do people constantly return to the refrigerator with hopes that something new to eat will have materialized?

- On electric toasters, why do they engrave the message “one slice?” How many pieces of bread do they think people are really gonna try to stuff in that slot?

- Why do people keep running over a string a dozen times with their vacuum cleaner, then reach down, pick it up, examine it, then put it down to give the vacuum one more chance?

- Why is it that no plastic garbage bag will open from the end you first try?

- How do those dead bugs get into those closed light fixtures?

- Considering all the lint you get in your dryer, if you kept drying your clothes would they eventually just disappear?

- Why is it that whenever you attempt to catch something that's falling off the table you always manage to knock something else over?

- Is it true that the only difference between a yard sale and a trash pickup is how close to the road the stuff is placed?

- In winter why do we try to keep the house as warm as it was in summer when we complained about the heat?

- How come you never hear father-in-law jokes?

- If at first you don't succeed, shouldn't you try doing it like your wife told you to do it in the first place

- Obviously if at first you don't succeed, then don't take up sky diving!

- The statistics on sanity are that one out of every four Americans is suffering from some sort of mental illness. Think of your three best friends, if they're okay, then it's you.
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KELLY'S X-RAY RESULTS:((

A big bright sunny and cool 63F day:))))  Pheebs and I slipped into Bayfield this morning to wash the Subaru and take ourselves for a walk in the cemetery.  A lady walking by even called Pheebs by name saying hello to her as she passed.  Home again, I vacuumed all the dog hair out of Subie and cleaned the glass.  Mowed some grass, and with the leaf blower, I blew off our front porch and blew out our carport.  It took four tries to start the Jeep but at least it started so I let it run for a bit to keep the battery up.

 A FEW MORE PHOTOS FROM AROUND OUR FRONT YARD

Kelly had her lower back X-ray done early this afternoon and by late afternoon her (our) Nurse Practitioner phoned with the results.  Kelly has a compression fractures of the L2 and L3 vertebrae.  This would also explain Kelly's skin discolorization she has had for quite a while at the base of her spine.  The X-ray showed she has also lost 30% of her height.  The pain is sometimes bad enough that she can hardly get out of her recliner and at other times the pain is mild to moderate.  Getting into and out of the car is also difficult for her.  It is quite a pair we are here now as we both limp and lumber around with our various age-related physical ailments.  Is it any wonder I post so many medical cartoons!!  

 AN ORCHID FLOWER WITH A COBWEB

 A GERANIUM FLOWER

Al's Music Box:)) Time In A Bottle by Jim Croce from his 1972 album, 'You Don't Mess Around With Jim'.  Jim Croce died in a plane crash in September of 1973.

GROANER'S CORNER:((  A couple was celebrating their golden wedding anniversary. Their domestic tranquility had long been the talk of the town. A local newspaper reporter was inquiring as to the secret of their long and happy marriage.  "Well, it dates back to our honeymoon," explained the husband. "We visited the Grand Canyon and took a trip down to the bottom of the canyon by pack mule.  "We hadn't gone too far when my wife's mule stumbled.  My wife quietly said 'That's once.'  We proceeded a little farther when the mule stumbled again. Once more my wife quietly said, 'That's twice.'  We hadn't gone a half-mile when the mule stumbled a third time. My wife, a redhead, promptly removed a revolver from her purse and shot the mule.  I started to protest over her treatment of the mule when she looked at me and quietly said, 'That's once'."

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- Being an older parent, my son learned to count by filling my pill dispenser.

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More State Mottos::

- Idaho: More Than Just Potatoes...Well Okay, We're Not, But The Potatoes Sure Are Real Good
- Illinois: Please Don't Pronounce the "S"
- Indiana: 2 Billion Years Tidal Wave Free
- Iowa: We Do Amazing Things With Corn
- Kansas: First Of The Rectangle States
- Kentucky: Five Million People; Fifteen Last Names
- Louisiana: We're Not ALL Drunk Cajun Wackos, But That's Our Tourism Campaign
- Maine: We're Really Cold, But We Have Cheap Lobster
- Maryland: If You Can Dream It, We Can Tax It
- Massachusetts: Our Taxes Are Lower Than Sweden's (For Most Tax Brackets)
- Michigan: First Line Of Defense Against The Canadians

- Minnesota: 10,000 Lakes And 10,000,000,000,000 Mosquitoes

- Mississippi: Come Feel Better About Your Own State
- Missouri: Your Federal Flood Relief Tax Dollars At Work

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And, for you older folks who remember Jack Webb from the TV show Dragnet and Johnny Carson from the Tonight Show you might get a kick out of the two of them doing this short skit called Copper Clapper

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