WALKING WITH MY CANE AGAIN AND ANOTHER RV BLOGGING FRIEND HAS PASSED AWAY

 SNOWDROP FLOWERS

Cloudy first thing this morning but at least the rain had finally stopped, the temperature was pushing 40F, and there were a couple brief bursts of sunlight.  Pheebs and I were out for a routine drive around the Park and managed to find a few more photos.

 IN ANOTHER MONTH OR SO THIS FOREST FLOOR IN OUR PARK WILL BE FILLED WITH SPRINGS TRILLIUM FLOWERS

 AN OLD UPROOTED PINE TREE POINTS TO THE SKY

 MANY BABY PINE TREES GROWING IN OUR PARK

I have a habit at times of pushing myself a little too hard whether it be mentally or physically.  In this case, it was physical though I do not see it as a step backward.  As of yesterday, I am using my cane again and will probably do so for the next couple of days.  Pushing myself to walk without a cane a few days ago was premature and it was my hip and right leg that ouchily told me so.  This time I will wait for my hip to give me the 'all clear' signal instead of me telling it to 'straighten up and walk right'.

 I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THESE FLOWERS ARE

With errands to run, a few groceries to pick up, and a stop at the Dynacare Lab for bloodwork, Kelly headed off to Goderich this morning.  All went well and she didn't have any problems.

 HMMMM, LOOKS LIKE A CRITTER CAM TO ME

 ALL EXISTING PROPERTIES IN OUR PARK NOW HAVE 911 NUMBERS AND DID YOU NOTICE THE BLACK SQUIRREL IN THE BACKGROUND

Kelly is making headway with her new iPhone 15.  On the phone with Bell Telephone Thursday she finally hammered out a satisfactory new phone plan which turned out to be better than her old plan.  At the moment she is awaiting the delivery of a new Sim card from Bell to fully activate the phone.       

 THE PINE FOREST HERE IN THE PARK CAN BE QUITE DENSE IN SOME AREAS

We got word Thursday evening that another RV Blogger friend has passed away while hiking in a State Park in Phoenix, Arizona.  In our early RVing days John Brown, an Alberta rancher had been one of our earliest blog followers.  While boondocked south of Quartzsite, Arizona in January of 2009 a knock came to our door one fine sunny morning.  Opening it, there stood a tall good looking fella with a big smile on his face.  It was John Brown.  You can read about that morning here...Pleasantly Surprised By Some Blog Followers  Over the years we would run into John and his wife Brenda a few times here and there and especially at our Congress House when they and some other long-time RV Blogging friends of ours, Janna and Mike popped in.  The last time we saw John was on Yellowbird Road in Bouse Arizona....A Long Day In Parker Arizona At Castro's Garage  It was our last RVing year.  John was a fine example of a gentle giant.  A true soft spoken cowboy who loved, raised, and rode horses.  In fact, John and Brenda would sometimes trailer their horses from Alberta to Arizona to ride them in the winter months.  Just prior to the time Kelly and I bought our little ranch house in Congress Arizona, John and Brenda bought a ranch house just west of Casa Grande, Arizona.  They called their place 'Dog Pound South' and their ranch in Alberta, 'Dog Pound North'.  John worked many years for the Shell Oil Company.  In his early days, someone else worked for Shell Oil as well and it was none other than Douglas Bader, the Second World War's renowned fighter pilot ace during The Battle of Britain.  Following the war Douglas Bader in later years worked for Shell Oil flying executives, engineers, and workers around various oil sites and cities.  And, one of those Shell Oil employees was John Brown.  For me, having read many books about the fighter pilots of that era, I would say to John when shaking his hand, 'hey it's an honor to shake the hand of a man who once shook the hand of one of England's top fighter aces.  John always got a big smile out of that.  Here's John's story in his own words about Douglas Bader..."In the far distant past Douglas Bader was the chief pilot for the company I worked for. One time on a long flight from Inuvik back to Calgary he like I was a passenger on our company plane. Being about 6'6" I was always on the lookout for a seat with a little extra leg room. On this flight I found one, but the crew put the bum's rush on me and said it was for Mr. Bader, he came along just at that time and said heck that kid needs the leg room more than I do, I can just take my legs off. Later on that flight he told me he always sat at the back of the plane. "Further from the point of impact" was his theory”.   John's blog has been on my sidebar for the past 16 years and you can read his last post here....Happy New Year.      

 THIS IS THE FIRST PICTURE I TOOK OF JOHN BROWN ON JANUARY 20TH 2009 SOUTH OF QUARTZZITE ARIZONA

 THIS IS THE LAST PICTURE I TOOK OF JOHN BROWN HEADING BACK TO HIS TRUCK AND FIFTH WHEEL ON YELLOWBIRD ROAD, NEAR BOUSE ARIZONA...FEBRUARY 1ST, 2019

 IT WAS JOHN WHO TOOK THIS PICTURE OF US AT OUR CONGRESS ARIZONA HOUSE

Al's Music Box:)) Blue Moon is the debut studio album by the doo-wop group The Marcels. It was released in 1961.   Although the album Blue Moon failed to chart on the Billboard albums chart, the first single "Blue Moon" did well. The single charted at No. 1 on the billboard Hot 100 for three weeks, charted at No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart, sold one million copies and the group was awarded a gold disc.

GROANER'S CORNER:(( A farmer got pulled over by a state trooper for speeding, and the trooper started to lecture the farmer about his speed, and in general, began to throw his weight around to try to make the farmer uncomfortable. Finally, the trooper got around to writing out the ticket, and as he was doing that he kept swatting at some flies that were buzzing around his head.  The farmer said, 'Having some problems with circle flies there, are ya?' The trooper stopped writing the ticket and said, 'Well yeah, if that's what they are, but I never heard of circle flies.'  So the farmer says, 'Well, circle flies are common on farms. See, they're called circle flies because they're almost always found circling around the back end of a horse.'  The trooper says, 'Oh,' and goes back to writing the ticket. Then after a minute he stops and says, 'Hey...wait a minute, are you trying to call me a horse's ass?'  The farmer says, 'Oh no, officer. I have too much respect for law enforcement and police officers to even think about calling you a horse's ass.'  The trooper says, 'Well, that's a good thing,' and goes back to writing the ticket.  After a long pause, the farmer says, 'Hard to fool them flies though...'

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- “A timber wolf is an animal with wooden legs.”

- I'm not 10, I'm more like two 5's held together by mashed potatoes.

Q: How does an archeologist tell a male skeleton from a female skeleton?
A: He knows it’s a female skeleton if the jawbone is worn down.

- Teacher: "You are the only one in the entire class who makes so many mistakes in the homework assignment."  Student: "That is not true, I am not the only one. My parents are involved in this as well!"
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GOODBYE THURSDAY, MAYBE SEE YOU NEXT WEEK

 RAIN PUDDLES

Cloudy day but that was okay because it was in the house I decided to stay.  With my body in need of rest I did my best to not go out in the yard and play.  Except for a ride with my Pal at my side, I found me a new book to have me a look at what stories I could find to entertain my mind.  But days like this I am sometimes remiss to dismiss the bliss in my heart I may not find.  And so went another mid-March day.

I don't know when it was the rains came but when I looked up from my book sometime around mid-afternoon I noticed our wet deck.  Pheebs lay asleep beside my sunroom chair.  Goodbye Thursday,  maybe see you next week...........    

Al's Music Box:)) A bit of a different start to the Music Box tonight.  I finished Willie Nelson's biography entitled It's A Long Story: My Life.  Tonight I have the first four big hit songs Willie wrote in one year that were performed by well-known country artists at the time.  This was the major turning point in Willie Nelson's life where he literally, after many hard and difficult years, went from rags to riches.  Crazy by Patsy Cline.  Funny How Time Slips Away by Billy Walker.  Hello Walls by Faron Young and Night Life by Ray Price.  Willie writes about how these songs and many, many, others came to him.  I found this to be a great book and I have gained a lot of respect for the man, his music, and his honesty:))  So now, how about a song from the man himself.....Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain

GROANER'S CORNER:(( This 60-year-old woman was walking along 5th Avenue when she heard a voice from above: "You will live to be 100."  She looked around and didn't see anyone. Again she heard: "You will live to be 100."  "Boy," she thought to herself, "that was the voice of God. I've got 40 more years to live!"  So off she went to the plastic surgeon. She got everything fixed from head to toe.  When she left the plastic surgeon's office, she got hit by a bus, died, and went up to heaven.  She said to God, "You told me I would live to be 100. I was supposed to have had 40 more years. So how come you let the bus kill me?"  God said, "I didn't recognize you".

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"How's the diet going?"
"Not good, I had eggs for breakfast."
"Scrambled?"
"No, chocolate."

- The 1st time I went skydiving I asked the instructor how long it would take to hit the ground if my parachute didn't open.
With a sly smile on his face he said, "The rest of your life son."

- Frustrated, the teen storms into his sister's bedroom. "Why are adults always asking us what we want to be when we grow up?"  Without hesitation the sister replies, "It's because they’re looking for ideas.”

- It was dinner time on a British Airways flight from London to New York. As the flight attendant moved down the plane, she asked one of the passengers: “Would you like dinner?”  “What are my choices?” asked the passenger.  “Yes or No,” replied the attendant.

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I WOULD HAVE TOLD THEM 'THEY WERE ABSOLUTELY TOTALLY NUTS'!!

 MY FIRST PHOTO OF A ROBIN THIS YEAR

It was another great Spring-like day with temps over 50F as Richard picked me up on this sunny almost mid-March morning.  Not a cloud in the sky.  Our travels took us through  Clinton's Tim Hortons drive-thru for two coffees and two carrot muffins to go.  And go we did went, out and around the Hullett Marsh.  Saw a lot of Tundra Swans in the distance on one of the big Marsh ponds  Surprisingly and no doubt because of the early Spring weather, most of the roads leading into the Marsh were already open for the season so we took advantage of a couple roads and cruised into the Marsh noticing the already budding pussy willows.  How great it was to be out in the countryside and the Hullett Marsh surrounded by nature.

 A LONG 600MM SHOT THROUGH THE WINDSHILED OF DUCKS AND GEESE ON A SMALL POND IN THE MARSH

ALSO THROUGH THE WINDSHIELD THIS 600MM SHOT OF TUNDRA SWANS PROBABLY HALF A MILE AWAY.....WE SAW THE HARD TO SEE SWANS CIRCLING AND ALTHOUGH I DIDN'T HAVE EYES ON THE SWANS WHEN I TOOK THIS PHOTO I AIMED AT A SECTION OF SKY WHERE I THOUGHT THEY WOULD BE IN THEIR FLIGHT PATTERN

Home again, I decided to try taking my wheelbarrow for a walk so with my leaf rake and pitchfork in hand I was able to pick up some piles of yard waste and deposit them into our utility trailer.  I was careful not to overdo it so I stopped after two wheelbarrow loads.  Several times throughout the day I thought back to exactly one month ago today when I had my hip surgery.  Had at any time during that painful long day, had someone said to me, 'a month from today you will be out in your yard with your leaf rake, pitchfork, and wheelbarrow' I would have told them they were absolutely totally nuts!!

 LOADING UP THE WHEELBARROW

 AND THE UTILITY TRAILER

 WITH ITS DEEPER COLORS I AM GUESSING THIS ROBIN IS A MALE

Wanting to keep my hip moving, Pheebs and I headed off for another afternoon walk over to our Park's pond.  I left my cane at home and we made out alright but we didn't go all the way around this time.  Snapped a few pics and headed back home.  I have to be careful I don't overdo things.

 SPOTTED THIS ONE-EYED POND MONSTER

 ALSO A SECOND POND MONSTER

 A SLIGHT MOVEMENT AT THE FAR END OF THE POND CAUGHT MY ATTENTION AND THIS LONG TELEPHOTO SHOT FOUND A PAIR OF CANADA GEESE

It was 3:52 late this afternoon when we heard the familiar sound of the big old brown UPS truck rolling up to the end of our driveway.  Kelly and Pheebs were quickly out the door with Pheebs on the run to meet the driver.  Not only did he have a package for Kelly but as always, he had a treat for Pheebs as well.  Pheebs loves the UPS guy.  Minutes later at the kitchen table, Kelly carefully opened up the package.  It was her brand spanking new iPhone 15:)))))  

 KELLY OPENING THE BOX THAT CONTAINS HER NEW PHONE

 AND, THERE IT IS:))

Al's Music Box)) Good Vibrations is a song by the American rock band the Beach Boys that was composed by Brian Wilson with lyrics by Mike Love. It was released as a single on October 10, 1966, and was an immediate critical and commercial hit, topping record charts in several countries including the United States and the United Kingdom. Characterized by its complex soundscapes, episodic structure, and subversions of pop music formula, it was the most expensive single ever recorded. "Good Vibrations" later became widely acclaimed as one of the finest and most important works of the rock era.  Also produced by Wilson, the title derived from his fascination with cosmic vibrations, as his mother would tell him as a child that dogs sometimes bark at people in response to their "bad vibrations". He used the concept to suggest extrasensory perception, while Love's lyrics were inspired by the nascent Flower Power movement. The song was written as it was recorded and in a similar fashion to other compositions from Wilson's Smile period. It was issued as a standalone single, backed with "Let's Go Away for Awhile", and was to be included on the never-finished album Smile. Instead, the track appeared on the September 1967 release Smiley Smile.  The making of "Good Vibrations" was unprecedented for any kind of recording. Building on his approach for Pet Sounds, Wilson recorded a surplus of short, interchangeable musical fragments with his bandmates and a host of session musicians at four different Hollywood studios from February to September 1966, a process reflected in the song's several dramatic shifts in key, texture, instrumentation, and mood. Over 90 hours of tape was consumed in the sessions, with the total cost of production estimated to be in the tens of thousands of dollars. Band publicist Derek Taylor dubbed the unusual work a "pocket symphony". It helped develop the use of the studio as an instrument and heralded a wave of pop experimentation and the onset of psychedelic and progressive rock. The track featured a novel mix of instruments, including jaw harp and Electro-Theremin, and although the latter is not a true theremin, the song's success led to a renewed interest and sales of theremins and synthesizers.  "Good Vibrations" received a Grammy nomination for Best Vocal Group Performance in 1967 and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1994.

GROANER'S CORNER:(( Reaching the end of a job interview, the Human Resources Person asked a young Engineer fresh out of MIT, "And what starting salary were you looking for?"  The Engineer said, "In the neighborhood of $125,000 a year, depending on the benefits package." The interviewer said, "Well, what would you say to a package of 5 weeks vacation, 14 paid holidays, full medical and dental, a company matching retirement fund for 50% of your salary, and a company car leased every 2 years -- say, a red Corvette?"  The Engineer sat up straight and said, "Wow! Are you kidding?"  And the interviewer replied, "Yeah, but you started it."

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Passenger to Airline Ticket Agent: I want my brown suitcase sent to Los Angeles, my green suitcase sent to Kansas City, and my tan suitcase sent to New Orleans.
Ticket Agent: I'm sorry, sir; this flight is to Nashville. We can't do that.  Passenger: Why not ? You did it last time.

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The young couple invited their aged pastor for Sunday dinner. While they were in the kitchen preparing the meal, the minister asked their son what they were having. "Goat," the little boy replied.  "Goat?" replied the startled man of the cloth, "Are you sure about that?"  "Yep," said the youngster. "I heard Pa say to Ma, 'Might as well have the old goat for dinner today as any other day.'" 

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I TOOK IT ANYWAY JUST IN CASE

A PAIR OF CANADA GEESE ON OUR PARK'S POND THIS AFTERNOON

It was a nice Spring-like day (60F) for a drive to and from my Physio appointment in Exeter, Ontario this morning.  Physio went fine and they had me on an exercise bike for a bit.  Coffee to go at Tim Hortons and we were home before 1 p.m.

 A NICE SUNNY DRIVE TO EXETER AND BACK

 TWO COFFEES TO GO

After an early afternoon sunroom snooze Pheebs and I headed out for a walk and made it all the way around the Park's pond with no problem.  Although I wouldn't have had to take my cane, I took it anyway just in case.

 PHEEBS LOVES HER WALKS

 A SWATCH OF SNOW AT THE POND'S EDGE

 REFLECTIONS

Richard picks me up in the morning and we'll be off once again on one of our country road coffee tours.   Weather is looking good.  

 PLANTS ARE SPROUTING

 NO FLOWERS YET BUT THE BUDS ARE FORMING

Al's Music Box:)) Moondance is the third studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It was released on 27 January 1970 by Warner Bros. Records.  Moondance was an immediate critical and commercial success. It helped establish Morrison as a major artist in popular music.  Among the most acclaimed records in history, Moondance frequently ranks in professional listings of the greatest albums. In 2013.  Morrison's lyrics on Moondance deal with themes of spiritual renewal and redemption.

GROANER'S CORNER:(( While getting a checkup, a man tells his doctor that he thinks his wife is losing her hearing.  The doctor says, "You should do a simple test. Stand about 15 feet behind your wife and say 'honey? Move 3 feet closer, and do it again. Keep moving 3 feet closer until she finally responds. Remember how close you were when she gives you an answer. That will help me know how bad her hearing loss is."  About a month later, the same guy is at the doctor again, and the doctor asks, "Well, did you do that experiment with your wife's hearing?  The man says "yes."  "How close did you get before she answered?"  "Well, by the time I got about 3 feet away, she just turned around and said, "For the FIFTH TIME... WHAT???"

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