PHEEBS AND I HEADED OFF TO SEE THE MORNING BUTTERFLIES AND HEAR THE CHIRPING CRICKETS

Our evenings, nights, and mornings have returned to a refreshing coolness again after this recent hot spell as we rapidly close in on the first day of September.  Under a sunny sky Pheebs and I slipped out to our walking spot to see the morning butterflies and hear the chirping crickets.  Not as many pretty butterflies or hidden crickets as last week but we did manage to see and hear some on our short walk.  Back into the car, we dusted up a few country roads and headed for home. 

USUALLY, HAY BALES ARE WRAPPED INDIVIDUALLY BUT IN THIS CASE THIS IS ONE BIG LONG WRAP

I'VE NEVER SEEN HAY BALES DONE IN A SINGLE WRAP BEFORE

 A LOT OF TURKEY VULTURES IN THIS FIELD

 I SEE A FEW CROWS IN THERE WITH THE BUZZARDS

 HOW NICE TO STAND HERE LISTENING TO THE MORNING BREEZE RUSTLING THE CORN STALK LEAVES....ANOTHER SURE SIGN OF THE COMING AUTUMN

 WILDFLOWERS ALONGSIDE OUR WALKING ROAD

 THIS MAPLE TREE'S LEAVES ARE BEGINNING TO TURN

Because of the cooler morning, I was energized enough to hurry up and wash the Subaru and clean the interior before the air got sticky again.  I sure wish that hot and humid stuff would go away forever.  I did hear somewhere that this is the third hottest record-breaking summer in a row.  Hmmmmm!?

I had too many photos for yesterday's post so I will catch-up a few of them up here.  Some may think that I sometimes have too many photos of Ella, but keep in mind, she has cousins and friends, aunts and uncles, and grandparents who don't often get to see her growing years except here in my blog.  Plus, she is so naturally photogenic.  I can easily see her becoming a model someday.

 HERE'S ELLA AND I HAVING A SHOOT-OUT WITH OUR CAMERAS

 BACK TO OUR WEENIE ROAST AFTERNOON

 ELLA ALWAYS HAS HER 'STUFFY' BY HER SIDE

 A SHADOWY LITTLE FACE

 I THINK ELLA IS IN TROUBLE WITH HER SECOND HOTDOG

 YUP SHE IS

 OH DEAR AND I THINK IT'S SERIOUS

OH NO, SHE'S EITHER YELLING AT HER WEENIE OR SHE'S ABOUT TO DEMOLISH IT

 SAYING GGODBYE TO SPENCER AND THE GANG LAST NIGHT

It has been a few years since Kelly last saw her sister Kathy from Rochester, New York.  Not wanting to drive here by herself, Kathy is having her son, Zack bring her as well as his friend Evin and her son Wes.  They will be staying at a B&B (bed & breakfast) in Bayfield.  They are arriving tonight and returning to Rochester on Sunday.  We will see them in the morning.  I've met Kelly's sister a number of times but not her son Zack.

 I WOULD JUST LIKE TO GO OVER THERE AND LOOK IN THE WINDOWS

 DID YOU NOTICE THE TWO BUZZARDS ON THE OLD SILO

 ANYBODY LOOKING FOR A HOBBY TRACTOR

Al's Music Box:)) Doctor My Eyes  is a 1972 song written and performed by Jackson Browne and included on his debut album Jackson Browne. Featuring a combination of an upbeat piano riff coupled with lyrics about feeling world-weary, the song was a surprise hit, reaching number 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the spring 1972, after debuting on the chart at number 80. Browne would not see the chart's Top 10 again until 1982's soundtrack hit "Somebody's Baby", although "Running on Empty" just missed the Top 10.  Billboard ranked "Doctor My Eyes" as the No. 92 song for 1972.  Jesse Ed Davis played the electric guitar (including a much-lauded solo) in the track, while David Crosby and Graham Nash sang backing vocals. Russ Kunkel played drums and Leland Sklar played bass.  "Doctor, My Eyes" became a concert mainstay for Browne, and was included on both his later compilation albums.  A lively 4/4 beat, played on drums and congas, and supported by piano, set up a catchy underlying riff before the lyrics even began.  In part 1 of the 2013 documentary History of the Eagles, JD Souther and Glen Frey discuss at some length the process of Browne's work methods while Browne was working on the song over a period of some months. The three lived in adjacent downmarket apartments; Frey would hear Browne, through the walls, at work on his piano every morning.  Jeff Walker, in his review of Browne's debut album for Phonograph Record magazine in 1972, wrote that "Doctor My Eyes" is one of a number of tracks on the album that "deal with a spiritual search; no preaching, no conclusions, just searching."  Cash Box described it as "the eye-opener to bring a talented singer/songwriter to AM attention'" going on to say that "harmonies are great, but it's Browne tune and show all the way."  Record World said it has "vocal color and phrasing much like Van Morrison but [Browne] is his own man."  Ruhlmann of AllMusic called it "a rollicking pop/rock song about being almost terminally burnt out."  Ultimate Classic Rock critic Michael Gallucci rated it as Browne's 7th greatest song, saying that "it's a little heavy-handed, as far as the sentiment goes...but it sets the template for almost every Top 10 Jackson Browne song."  Classic Rock History critic Brian Kachejian rated it as Browne's 10th greatest song.

 I DIDN'T SEE THE BEE WHEN I TOOK THE PICTURE BUT NOTICED IT LATER WHEN I EDITED THE PHOTO

GROANER'S CORNER:(( I bought a plunger the other day. You ever bought a plunger? Its an embarrassing purchase. At first, you think it's no big deal. Stand in the line, swinging it. And then you realize everybody knows; you got a situation at home. Nobody buys a plunger on a whim.

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- I've been taking salsa lessons for months, but I just don't feel like I'm progressing. It's just one step forward... two steps back.

- I love the Olympics. My friend and I invented a new type of relay baton: well, he came up with the idea and I ran with it.

- "Evidently, my pain pills are not working."
"Why do you say that?"  "Well, you're still here."

- I used to have job at a calendar factory, but I got fired because I took a couple of days off.

- My dad used to say to me “Pints, gallons, litres” – which, I think, speaks volumes.

- My cousin Jimmy was having a terrible time falling asleep unless he was lying on a pile of old magazines.  It turns out he had back issues.

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WHEN WE WILL EVER SEE THEM AGAIN IS AN UNKNOWN

Pulling back our living room curtains first thing this morning I was greeted by a dull overcast day. (we later had bouts of sunshine) I could hear a machine working somewhere not too far away and being the nosey Senior I have grown to become I had to get myself out the door to see what was going on where.  I saw a yellow Bobcat machine down the road loading something into a couple big black dump trucks.  I'd never seen big black dump trucks in this area before.  Yellow ones, red and white ones, and yellow and beige ones, but not black ones.  Say, you don't suppose they could be loading up the remains of a crashed UFO or something do ya??:)) (turns out it was just a neighbor having a paved driveway installed)

Ella was busy with her IPad this morning and Pheebs was feeling a bit left out of things so I loaded up the furry little Bug into the Subaru and off we went for a little drive around the countryside.  Our travels took us along the Bannockburn Line again.  I didn't seem to have my photo hat on so I didn't take many pictures and we were soon home again.

HAY BALES ON HAY WAGONS WAITING TO BE TAKEN TO THE BARN

 SUMAC LEAVES ARE BEGINNING TO TURN COLOR

 TO ME IT LOOKS LIKE THESE FARM FOLKS MAY BE SETTING UP FOR A WEDDING THIS WEEKEND

 SCUFFLING UP A FIELD

Rebecca and Ricardo were here when Pheebs and I got back so it was a lot of visiting for the rest of the day.  Ella showed me her YouTube channel and we looked at a lot of stuff she was interested in.  Later, I got a backyard campfire going and out came the weenies for a weenie roast.  I think I was the only one who never had a hotdog.  The ladies then headed back into the house while Ricardo and I sat around the campfire for a long talk.  Turns out we have a lot more in common than either one of us had expected.  A campfire chat to remember.

 OUR AFTERNOON CAMPFIRE BEGINS

 MOM AND DAUGHTERS TOASTING UP SOME WEENIES

 I THINK ELLA HAS HER WEENIE TOO CLOSE TO THE ASHES

 YUP SHE DID

 PHEEBS IS KEEPING A CLOSE EYE ON ELLA'S HOT DOG

I THINK FATHER AND DAUGHTER ARE GETTING SMOKED OUT HERE

 GLOWING EMBERS

As the afternoon wore on heading into evening, it was finally time to say goodbye to Rebecca, Ricardo, and Ella.  They will be heading back to Spain next week and when we will ever see them again is an unknown.  Maybe next summer, maybe not.  Kind of like in our RVing days saying goodbye to fellow RVing friends never knowing whether we would ever see them again.  It was about 7:40 p.m. when they got everything all packed up and ready to go. 

 IT'S TIME TO SAY GOODBYE

 A BIG HUG FOR ELLA AND GRANDMA

 A GENUINE SURPRISED TAYLOR SWIFT LOOK ON ELLA'S FACE WHEN KELLY GAVE HER A RED CANADA 'PUG' BAG

 AND THERE THEY GO:((

I didn't include all of today's photos but I will post more tomorrow and possibly the next day.  At the time of posting this tonight I am so tired I can hardly keep my eyes open.  We have one day to rest up and then we have more company coming from south of the border. 

Al's Music Box:)) I Feel The Earth Move is a song written and recorded by American singer-songwriter Carole King, for her second studio album Tapestry. Additionally, the song is one half of the double A-sided single, the flip side of which was "It's Too Late". Together, both "I Feel the Earth Move" and "It's Too Late" became among the biggest mainstream pop hits of 1971.  Jon Landau's review of Tapestry forRolling Stone praised King's voice on this track, saying it negotiates turns from "raunchy" to "bluesy" to "harsh" to "soothing", with the last echoing the development of the song's melody into its chorus.  Landau describes the melody of the refrain as "a pretty pop line".  Forty years later, Rolling Stone stated that King's "warm, earnest singing" brought "earthy joy" to the song.  Music journalist Harvey Kubernik wrote that "I Feel the Earth Move" was "probably the most sexually aggressive song on the Tapestry album" and a "brave" opening to an album whose mood is mostly "mellow confessionality".  AllMusic critic Stewart Mason describes the song as "the ultimate in hippie-chick eroticism" and writes that it "sounds like the unleashing of an entire generation of soft-spoken college girls' collective libidos".  Cash Box described the song as being a "forceful 'earthquake song'" and considered its pairing with "It's Too Late" as a single to be "double dynamite."  Record World said that it is "quality contemporary pop."  Author James Perone praised the way the lyrics and music work together.  As a prime example, he notes the syncopated rhythm to the melody on which King sings "tumbling down".  This rhythm, putting the accent at the end of the word "tumbling" rather than at the beginning, produces a "musical equivalent of a tumble."  Perone also notes that the fast tempo allows the listener to feel the singer's excitement over being near her lover, and that the lyrics also express sexual tension even though that tension is left implicit.  Perone attributes some of the song's success to producer Lou Adler's decision to highlight King's piano playing in the song, giving it a different feel from the guitar-based singer-songwriter approach King took in her prior album.  Mason also attributes the song's success to the "piano-led groove" and to King's vocal delivery.  King's version of "I Feel the Earth Move" peaked at number 1 on the Billbord Hot 100 chart dated June 19, 1971.  Given its upbeat nature, Ode Records selected "I Feel the Earth Move" as the A-side to Tapestry's first single. It achieved airplay, but then disc jockeys and listeners began to prefer the slower, lamenting B-side "It's Too Late". Both sides received airplay for a while, but eventually "It's Too Late" dominated. In fact, on the concurrent Cash Box singles chart, which still tracked the progress of both sides of a single separately, "It's Too Late" spent four weeks at number 1 while "I Feel the Earth Move" did not chart at all. Regardless, since Billboard had declared the record a double A-side and their chart gradually became seen by many as the "official" singles chart, it is generally listed in books and articles that both "I Feel the Earth Move" and "It's Too Late" reached number 1.  Together with "It's Too Late", "I Feel the Earth Move" was named by the RIAA as number 213 of 365 Songs of the Century.

GROANER'S CORNER:(( There were four country churches in a small Texas town: The Presbyterian Church, the Baptist Church, the Methodist Church and the Catholic Church. Each church was overrun with pesky squirrels.

One day, the Presbyterian Church called a meeting to decide what to do about the squirrels. After much prayer and consideration, they determined that the squirrels were predestined to be there and they shouldn't interfere with God's divine will.
In the Baptist Church the squirrels had taken up habitation in the baptistery. The deacons met and decided to put a cover on the baptistery and drown the squirrels in it. The squirrels escaped somehow and there were twice as many there the next week.
The Methodist Church got together and decided that they were not in a position to harm any of God's creation. So, they humanely trapped the Squirrels and set them free a few miles outside of town. Three days later, the squirrels were back.
But -- The Catholic Church came up with the best and most effective solution. They baptized the squirrels and registered them as members of the church. Now they only see them on Christmas Day and Easter.

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- I'm not much in seizing the day.  I just poke it around with a stick.

- I'm not totally useless.....I can be used as a bad example.

- Ever notice that there are no lines for bathrooms at water Parks.

- This cannot be the same 90 degrees that I used to run around in as a child.

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