AN OLD GERMAN SOLDIER TOLD ME ABOUT HIS THOUGHTS ON THE MORNING OF JUNE 6TH, 1944

 ALL ANIMAL PHOTOS IN TODAY'S POST WERE TAKEN IN MEMMONITE/AMISH COUNTRY

A bright and sunny start to the day but cool again at 50F with a 45F wind chill factor going on.  My turn to drive this morning so I picked Richard up a 9:30 and we headed East to Clinton and snagged a couple coffees and carrot muffins at Tim Hortons.  It was quite a while since we had last been up through Amish/Mennonite farm country so that is the direction we headed.  Beautiful morning for a scenic country road drive through a picturesque hilly landscape with blue skies and white puffy clouds overhead.

 HMMM, I THINK RICHARD LIVES IN THIS BUSH AT THE END OF THIS LONG BUSH LANE SOMEWHERE

WHAT A BEAUTIFUL MORNING FOR A DRIVE THROUGH AMISH/MENNONITE COUNTRY

 A GROUP OF COWS WALLOWING IN A SWAMPY WATER AREA

Home again and with my energy levels up and legs feeling okay I figured I'd better take advantage of that winning combination.  Using up all the rocks in my rock pile for flowerbed borders last week I was in a bit of a quandary when I ran out of rocks leaving a couple flower beds incomplete.  Figured Pheebs and I on our morning Jeep ride travels were going to have to hunt us down a discarded rural rock pile somewhere to replenish my rock pile stash and finish the flowerbed borders.  Then, while out in the backyard a couple days ago I rediscovered a whole bunch of rocks I had kinda forgotten about over the years because of the periwinkle and English Ivy that had overgrown them in the past ten to fifteen years when I had used them at the time for flowerbed borders.  I had piled the rock borders three high at the time so I went around gathering up the top layers of rocks and parts of a low-to-the-ground concrete and rock wall a neighbor with an interesting past had made decades ago.  A little bit about this old German soldier's past and his concrete rocks in the next paragraph.

 THESE ARE SECTIONS OF GUS''S CONCRETE STONE CREATIONS

 WHERE I HAVE MORE ROCKS IN THE BACKYARD THAT I HAD FORGOTTEN ABOUT

 THAT PIECE OF CONCRETE IS FROM GUS AND INGRID'S OLD PROPERTY

IT'S NO WONDER I HAD FORGOTTEN ABOUT MY OVERGROWN ROCKS

The very first time we drove into this Park on a Labor Day weekend back in early September of 2002 we saw this 'For Sale' unit we are in now in at the entrance to the Park on an information board.  We found the address at 32 Maple Drive and the second I laid eyes on it, I knew this is what we had been looking for.  Nobody lived in the house so we pulled right into the driveway, parked, and got out for a look around.  Minutes later, a friendly older couple approached from the house behind this one.  They both had German accents and their names were Ingrid and Gus.    Little did we know how much our lives would become part of their lives and vice versa over the next decade and a half.  Of course, we had lots of questions about the Park and the house we were looking at, and Ingrid and Gus were happy to answer all of our questions.  We ended up buying the house. (and that's another whole story) Now, fast forward to Gus.  Quite a character who could be jolly and laughing one minute and have a temper tantrum the next.  Gus, moody at times, didn't talk about the Second World War much but one day out of the blue he told me where he was on the early morning of June 6th, 1944.  The location was Normandy on the north coast of France and as it turns out it was D-Day.  Gus said he remembered the fear and sheer panic that went through him and others when early that morning they gazed out over the English Channel and saw the armada of ships stretching as far as the eye could see to the distant horizon.  Gus didn't say any more about what happened that day or the days following but I have a feeling he might have been taken prisoner and eventually sent to a German prisoner-of-war camp somewhere here in Canada.  I say that because after the war Gus and Ingrid emigrated to Canada and opened a bakeshop in a small town somewhere before moving to Toronto, and eventually Bayfield.

 RICHARD AND I DROVE AROUND LAKE WAWANOSH IN THE HEART OF AMISH/MENNONITE COUNTRY EARLIER TODAY

 CANADA GEESE IN WAWANOSH'S SPARKLING WATERS

Okay, so what's the connection between Gus and the concrete rocks I was moving today.  Gus at some point long before we moved here made some wooden frames, filled them with concrete, and before it hardened, placed rocks in the soft concrete.  Removing the wooden frames he used the concrete rock creations to border their flower beds, driveway, and sidewalk.  About a year after we moved here, their house caught fire one morning while they were in Goderich shopping.  The fire gutted the house and it was a total loss and had to be torn down.  Ingrid and Gus in the meantime bought another place in the Park and moved there.  Gus had no interest in trying to salvage his concrete rock borders or about 50 patio stones so I went over and lugged the patio stones home and broke up parts of the concrete rock creation with a sledgehammer so I could lift and carry the sections home for our backyard flower beds.  And, it was some of those heavy sections that I moved around to the front yard today.  As a result of that, I'm back to using my cane again because of lower back pain.  Some days a feller just can't win for losing and especially so in these big Spring clean-up and project days of mine every Spring.  The pain point isn't in the spine area so I figure it's just a stretched muscle that's not used to being stretched.  I should be good to go in the morning.              

TULIPS IN AN AMISH FARMYARD

Al's Music Box:)) Four Walls  is a country song written in 1951 by Marvin J. Moore (lyrics) and George H. Campbell, Jr. (music). Moore also wrote the lyrics for the hit song "Green Door".  jim Reeves had noticed the song in the office of RCA VictorChet Atkins record producer and asked to record it. Atkins felt that the song was more suitable for a female singer, but Reeves persisted and eventually, a recording was made on February 7, 1957. Many of the singer's previous records had been made in a forceful style, but Reeves employed a more mellow delivery, standing closer to the microphone for "Four Walls".  Accompanied by Bob Moore on bass, Chet Atkins on guitar, Farris Coursey on drums, Floyd Cramer on piano, with vocal backing by The Jordanaires.

GROANER'S CORNER:(( An old Indian lined up all of his 10 little Indian sons and stood in front of them.  He then asked, "Who push port-a-potty over cliff?"  Nobody answered him.  He then asked again, "Who push port-a-potty over cliff?"  Again nobody answered.  The old Indian said, "I tell story of Georgie and Georgie father. Georgie chop down cherry tree. Georgie tell truth, Big Georgie no punish." So the Indian asked again,  "Who push port-a-potty over cliff?"  To which the littlest Indian replied, "I push port-a-potty over cliff."  The old Indian then shakes and spanks him, for his punishment. When he is done, the little Indian asks, "Georgie tell truth, Georgie no get punish. I tell truth, I get punished. Why you punish, father?"  The old Indian replied, "Big Georgie not in cherry tree when it got chopped down!!!"

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- Don't text me while I'm in the middle of texting you. Now i have to change my whole text.

TEACHER: What is the chemical formula for water?
SARAH: "HIJKLMNO"!
TEACHER: What are you talking about?
SARAH: Yesterday you said it's H to O!

Q: What do you call a dead atheist?
A: Someone all dressed up with nowhere to go!

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Little Pete came home from the playground with a bloody nose, black eye, and torn clothing. It was obvious he’d been in a bad fight and lost. While his father was patching him up, he asked his son what happened.  “Well, Dad,” said Pete, “ I challenged Larry to a duel. And, you know, I gave him his choice of weapons.”  “Uh-huh,” said the father, “that seems fair.”  “I know, but I never thought he’d choose his sister!”

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PHEEBS AND I TRIED A WALK THIS AFTERNOON, BUT.....

 SEEN IN GODERICH THIS MORNING

It was another mighty fine deep blue sky sunny Spring morning as I made my way to Goderich's Dynacare lab for some bloodwork stuff.  I'm always amazed at how 'usually' painless this procedure is and I think it all has to do with newer needle technology making needles smaller and thinner.  I remember years ago when it felt like they were using hollowed-out nails.   

 A FEW COWS ON MY WAY TO GODERICH

Following the Dynacare stop I slipped down around the Goderich harbor before a last stop at Walmart to pick up a couple prescriptions for Kelly.

THE ALGOMA MARINER WAS IN PORT TAKING ON A LOAD OF SALT

Being only a mile or two from the big cold lake the air around here is still on the cool side and with any kind of a breeze or wind, it feels cold to me.  Today's windchill factor was 45F.  So, for the most part, I am still wearing long-sleeve shirts with a T-shirt underneath and a jacket on windy days like today.

 FOREST FOLIAGE IS  STEADILY FILLING IN

I still have half a dozen little projects to get at outside concerning our front yard but for some reason, I could not seem to drum up the energy to do them today and my legs feeling achy didn't help.  Pheebs and I tried a walk this afternoon but she just wasn't into it.  Her age is catching up to her:((

 OUR BURNING BUSH PLANT AT LEFT IS HAPPIER NOW IN IT'S NEW SUNNIER LOCATION

Al's Music Box:)) The End is a song with music by Jimmy Krondes and lyrics by Sid Jacobson. In 1958, the song was released in the United States as a 1958 single by Earl Grant. Grant's single on the Decca label, featured the orchestra of Charles 'Bud' Dant.  Some pressings of the single were shown with the title "(At) The End (Of A Rainbow)". 

GROANER'S CORNER:((  A frog walks into a bank. He goes to the only open teller and sees that her name is Paddy Whack. "Hey, listen," says the frog. "I really need a loan! I'm out of work, and my wife and tadpoles are at home starving! I need money so I can feed them and provide for them!"  Now Paddy feels very sorry for the poor frog and asks him if he has any collateral. He holds up a small glass elephant. Paddy is a little surprised by this and quite unsure, but she feels so sorry for the poor frog that she takes the elephant to her manager. "Mr. Manager, sir," Paddy begins "there is a frog out there who desperately needs a loan. He's out of work and he has a wife and tadpoles who are at home starving. He needs some money so he can provide for them! But all he has for collateral is this little glass elephant. What should I do?"  Well, Mr. Manager takes a good hard look at that elephant, thinks about it a little, and then replies, "It's a knick-knack, Paddy Whack, give the frog a loan!"

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Q: What does every woman call an intelligent, attractive, caring, loving and sensitive man?
A: A dream.

Boss: You should have been here at 9.30 a.m.
Employee: Why what happened?
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They sell book lights now, a little spotlight you attach to your book. You know, I actually thought about buying one of these, and then I remembered, I own a lamp.

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I AM GOING TO ROUND UP ALL THE SQUIRRELS THIS SUMMER!!

A nice looking sunny morning so Pheebs and I headed out to our country road walking spot but again we cut our walk short.  I could tell Pheebs really wasn't into a walk so it was back to the Jeep and away we went for a slow cruise around half a dozen country roads before heading home.

FARMERS WERE ON THE LAND TODAY AND I THINK THIS FELLA IS DOING SOME PLANTING

 BY THE LOOKS OF THE UNIFORM TIRE TRACKS I'D SAY THIS FIELD HAS ALREADY BEEN PLANTED

 THIS FIELD ON OUR WALKING ROAD IS REALLY BEGINNING TO TURN GREEN

 I'M GUESSING THAT TRUCK IS HAULING LIQUID FERTILIZER

 NOT ALL FARMERS DRIVE BIG TRACTORS

Happy to say my right leg felt a hundred percent better today so intending to keep it that way I took things easy.  Moved our recently planted Burning Bush Tree to a sunnier location and hitched up the utility trailer and hauled a half load of yard waste to our Park's recycle area.  That was about it and I headed inside to do some relaxing reading.  Today felt like a slow-motion Sunday and that was okay because my body was needing a rest.

 AT OUR PARK'S RECYCLE AREA THIS AFTERNOON

 A NICELY KEPT FARM ON TIPPERARY LINE

In frustration this afternoon, I took all the bird feeders down to thwart the out-of-control and ravenous Grackles and Squirrels.  An hour later I put two of them back up when I saw a pair of Rose Breasted Grosbeaks, a couple of Gold Finches, and a Woodpecker sitting dejectedly outside the sunroom window wondering where all their seeds had gone.  There is nothing I can do about the swarming Grackles but sometime this summer I am going to round up all the Squirrels here and transport the whole gang to a forest near our country road walking spot way far out in the countryside.  I don't want to do that now because some of those Squirrels have babies nearby.  By the way, I've noticed all the little Dark-Eyed Juncos have left for the cooler climate areas of Northern Ontario and beyond.  They will begin returning in late October.

 A GOLDFINCH AND A MALE ROSE BREASTED GROSBEAK AT OUR FEEDER

With both our energy levels up, Pheebs and I slipped out for our afternoon walk and neither she or I had any problems. I like when that happens.

 AT THE NORTHEAST END OF THE PARK'S POND THIS AFTERNOON

 I KNOW THE YELLOW FLOWERS ARE DANDELIONS BUT I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE PURPLE ONES ARE

 HONEY BEE ON A DANDELION

It will be just me in the Jeep Wednesday morning as I head off to the Dynacare Lab in Goderich to have bloodwork done for my Urologist, Dr. Bukala.  This is for my once-a-year PSA test.  I'll be seeing Dr. Bukala for a follow-up on the 14th of May.  My Nurse Practitioner has also requested blood work for something or other and it might have something to do with a short diabetic clinic I've been asked to attend on May 16th.     

 A SHEEP FARM JUST DOWN THE ROAD FROM OUR PARK

Al's Music Box:(( A Taste Of Honey by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass is a pop standard written by Bobby Scott and Ric Marlow. It was originally an instrumental track (or recurring theme) written for the 1960 Broadway version of the 1958 British play A Taste of Honey which was also made into the film of the same name in 1961. The original and a later recording by Herb Alpert in 1965 earned the song four Grammy Awards including Record of the Year at the Grammy Awards of 1966.  Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass recorded the most popular instrumental version of the song with a cover on their 1965 album, Whipped Cream & Other Delights. This version is noted for the eight drum beats before the tempo increased, intended as an editing cue to be removed in the final version, but Alpert decided to keep it in.

GROANER'S CORNER:((  Now that I am older, here's what I have discovered:

1. I started out with nothing, and I still have most of it.
2. My wild oats have turned into prunes and All Bran.
3. I finally got my head together, now my body is falling apart.
4. Funny, I don't remember being absent-minded...
5. All reports are in; life is now officially unfair.
6. If all is not lost, where is it?
7. It is easier to get older than it is to get wiser.
8. Some days you're the dog and some days you're the hydrant.
9. I wish the buck stopped here; I sure could use a few.
10. Kids in the back seat cause accidents.
11. It's hard to make a comeback when you haven't been anywhere.
12. Only time the world beats a path to your door is when you're in the bathroom.
13. If God wanted me to touch my toes, he would have put them on my knees.
14. When I'm finally holding all the cards, why does everyone decide to play chess?
15. It's not hard to meet expenses... they're everywhere.
16. The only difference between a rut and a grave is the depth.
17. These days I spend a lot of time thinking about the hereafter.... I go somewhere to get something and then wonder what I'm here after.

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The Senility Prayer::
God grant me the senility to forget the people I never liked anyway, the good fortune to run into the ones I do, and the eyesight to tell the difference...

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