COFFEE ON A COLD WINDY MORNING WITH MY GOOD BUDDY JIM

A change of routine this morning.  My good buddy Jim and I had not gotten together for a coffee in slightly over a year so we made it a point to meet at a favorite spot of ours today.  The baseball Park in Seaforth, Ontario it was.  Under cloudy skies threatening rain and with a few drops on the windshield, it was 10 a.m. when we met and unfolded our lawn chairs beneath a big old maple tree.  I had checked the temperature earlier and it was 63F so I figured we'd be okay with that seeing how Jim was a tough old farm boy and I grew up strong in a small village.  Hey, we're men right!!  But, I had forgotten to check something else.  The windchill factor:((  I swear that some of those cold wind gusts whistling through that open Park this morning were turning my hands blue.   I thought I heard Jim's teeth rattling.  Of course, men being men, I wasn't about to mention to this hardened farm lad we should maybe go sit in the car with the heater on.  Jim may have had similar thoughts but you know....men being men and all.  Well, despite the cold wind, and having a lot to catch up on, we got right at it because this time something was different.  We had ourselves a time limit.  Now, for Jim and I, these coffee get-togethers of ours over the past 40+ years have often gone four or five hours, but with effort on both our parts earlier today we held this one down to two hours.  Much easier for aging backsides and creaky old bones to endure sitting on lawn chairs that long without moving.  But here's the main reason for our time limit.  Jim's wife had driven him over from Stratford today, dropped him off, and knowing she would be back in two hours Jim and I held fast to our Reader's Digest version of things instead of bringing our usual whole nine yards.  Barb, returning right on time, pulled into the parking lot and minutes later the farm boy and the Village lad were on their way home.  One going East and one going West.  Needless to say, I had the Subaru's heat cranked up to full blast.  I roasty toastily rolled into our driveway at 12:30 p.m. content in the the knowledge that a good time had been had by all:))

 HEADING HOME FROM SEAFORTH UNDER COLD CLOUDY SKIES

 I WAS SURPRISED TO SEE THIS FARMER HARVESTING HIS CORN ALREADY

 HEADING FOR THE CORNFIELD FOR ANOTHER LOAD OF CORN

It wasn't until mid-afternoon that Old Sol poked through the clouds and skies began to clear.  Temperatures came up to nearly 70F and that was good enough to get Pheebs and I out the door for a walk around the Park's pond.  I was short of photos for tonight's post so I took my camera with me.  It was a three-turtle walk.

With the 14-day weather forecast showing nice weather ahead I am going to have to get myself cranked up for a lot of yard work.  I have a bunch of frogs to round up and transport to the Park's pond, shrubs to be trimmed back for the Winter, flowerbed preparation, more grass cutting, weed whacking, and a few more front yard changes.

ALL YELLOW FLOWER PICS WERE TAKEN AROUND THE PARK'S POND THIS AFTERNOON

Al's Music Box:)) Old Time Rock And Roll is a song written by George Jackson and Thomas E. Jones III, with uncredited lyrics by Bob Seger.  It was recorded by Seger for his tenth studio album Stranger in Town. It was also released as a single in 1979. It is a sentimentalized look back at the music of the original rock 'n' roll era and has often been referenced as Seger's favorite song. The song gained renewed popularity after being featured in the 1983 film Risky Business. It has since become a standard in popular music and was ranked number two on the Amusement & Music Operators Association's survey of the Top 40 Jukebox Singles of All Time in 1996.  It was also listed as one of the Songs of the Century in 2001 and ranked No. 100 in the American Film Institute's 100 Years...100 Songs poll in 2004 of the top songs in American cinema.  The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, who often backed Seger in his studio recordings, sent Seger a demo of the song during the recording of Stranger in Town.  All I kept from the original was: "Old time rock and roll, that kind of music just soothes the soul, I reminisce about the days of old with that old time rock and roll". I rewrote the verses and I never took credit. That was the dumbest thing I ever did. And Tom Jones (Thomas E. Jones) and George Jackson know it, too. But I just wanted to finish the record [Stranger in Town]. I rewrote every verse you hear except for the choruses. I didn't ask for credit. My manager said: "You should ask for a third of the credit." And I said: "Nah. Nobody's gonna like it." I'm not credited on it so I couldn't control the copyright either. Meanwhile, it got into a Hardee's commercial because I couldn't control it. Oh my God, it was awful!  However, George Stephenson of Malaco Records claimed:  "Old Time Rock and Roll" is truly [George] Jackson's song, and he has the tapes to prove it, despite Seger's claims that he altered it. Bob had pretty much finished his recording at Muscle Shoals and he asked them if they had any other songs he could listen to for the future.  At the close of the decade, in December 2019, Seger restated his assertion that he rewrote the lyrics in the verses.  The song was recorded at the Muscle Shoals Sound Studio in Sheffield, Alabama, and Sound Suite Studios in Detroit Michigan. The guitar solo was contributed by Howie McDonald. Originally, the Silver Bullet Band was displeased with the song's inclusion on Stranger in Town, claiming, according to Seger, that the song was not "Silver Bullety". However, upon hearing audience reactions to it during their tour in Europe, the band grew to like the song.  In 1990, Seger joined Billy Joel on one occasion and Don Henley on another to play the song during their concerts in Auburn Hills, Michigan.  He also performed the song at his Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

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I came across a YouTube a few days ago of a red-headed Gal with a black hat, sunglasses, a flowery sundress, and army boots, grooving out on a guitar.  She's got a lot of MOXY this kid.

GROANER'S CORNER:(( On the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, there is a ceremony called Tashlich. Jewish people traditionally go to the ocean or a stream or river to pray and throw bread crumbs into the water.  Symbolically, the fish devour their sins. Occasionally, people ask what kind of breadcrumbs should be thrown. Here are suggestions for breads which may be most appropriate for specific sins and misbehaviors.

For ordinary sins.....................White Bread
For complex sins......................Multigrain
For twisted sins......................Pretzels
For sins of indecision................Waffles
For sins of chutzpah..................Fresh Bread
For committing auto theft.............Caraway
For timidity/cowardice................Milk Toast
For ill-temperedness..................Sourdough
For silliness, eccentricity...........Nut Bread
For war-mongering.....................Kaiser Rolls
For jingoism, chauvinism..............Yankee Doodles
For excessive irony...................Rye Bread
For erotic sins.......................French Bread
For particularly dark sins............Pumpernickel
For dressing immodestly...............Tarts
For causing injury to others..........Tortes
For being holier than thou............Bagels
For abrasiveness......................Grits
For dropping in without notice........Popovers
For overeating........................Stuffing
For pride and egotism.................Puff Pastry
For trashing the environment..........Dumplings
For telling bad jokes/puns............Corn Bread
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Officer to driver going the wrong way up a one way street, "And where do you think you are going?"
Driver: - "I'm not sure, but I must be late as everyone else is coming back."

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THANK HEAVENS I HAVE KELLY HERE TO SHOW ME HOW THINGS WORK

 A PICTURESQUE SKY OVER LAKE HURON THIS MORNING

Sunshine, blue skies, big white puffy clouds, windy and cooler.  Indeed a mighty nice early September blend of feeling good I'd say.  

 A TOUCH OF EARLY AUTUMN ON THE WAY OUT OF OUR FOREST THIS MORNING

 ON OUR WAY TO GODERICH

With Subie's heater on and needing some gas it was off to Goderich for Pheebs and I this morning.  A long wait in the McDonalds Drive-thru for coffee.  I figure the week-end is when all the kids are in charge of the fort and there always seems to be quite a comedy of errors going on in there.  

 PHEEBS GAZES AT A GRAZING GAGGLE OF GEESE

It was a stiff cold wind coming in off Lake Huron dragging choppy waves along with it.  Boardwalkers were bundled up.  With our usual stop at Walmart, we headed home with the heater on and Pheebs window down.  

DOGGY HAS A THIN STICK IN ITS MOUTH

 DRESSED WARM AGAINST THE MORNING'S CHILLY WIND COMING IN OFF THE LAKE

 NEAR THE DOG WALKING AREA

 ROUGH WATER ALONG GODERICH'S OUTER HARBOR

The furry kid and I managed a four-turtle afternoon walk around the Park's pond but you'll have to take my word about the turtles because I didn't take a camera with me.  Yes, I know that's unusual.  But sometimes.......

 A BIG SKY DAY

Unbeknownst to me and because I am a music buff always listening to music, Kelly bought me a pair of 'wireless' Bluetooth '1More Sonoflow-Pro Noise Cancelling HQ51 Over Ear Bluetooth' Headphones.  I've always been aware of the superb sound quality headphones bring and oh my are these ever great.  Earbuds don't work for me.  I put them in and they fall out!!-I put them in and they fall out!!  I was surprised at the range of these wireless headphones too.  I walked halfway to the Park's pond before the signal cut out.  Kelly is configuring an iPad for all my music.  She had bought this refurbished iPad years ago in the States but hadn't used it much.  Oh Dear, can you even begin to imagine the techno dilemma this has now posed for my nearly 80-year-old cob-webbed brain:((  Thank heavens I have Kelly here to set it up all and show me how things work:))     

Al's Music Box:)) Rhapsody In Blue is a 1924 musical composition for solo piano and jazz band, which combines elements of classical music with jazz-influenced effects. Commissioned by bandleader Paul Whiteman and written by George Gershwin, the work premiered in a concert titled "An Experiment in Modern Music" on February 12, 1924, in Aeolian Hall, New York City.  Whiteman's band performed the rhapsody with Gershwin playing the piano.  The Rhapsody is one of Gershwin's most recognizable creations and a key composition that defined the Jazz Age.  Gershwin's piece inaugurated a new era in America's musical history, established his reputation as an eminent composer and became one of the most popular of all concert works. In the American Heritage magazine, Frederic D. Schwarz posits that the famous opening clarinet glissando has become as instantly recognizable to concert audiences as the opening of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony.  Gershwin later claimed that, while on a train journey to Boston, the thematic seeds for Rhapsody in Blue began to germinate in his mind. He told biographer Isaac Goldberg in 1931: It was on the train, with its steely rhythms, and its rattly bang, that is so often so stimulating to a composer.... I frequently hear music in the very heart of the noise. And there I suddenly heard—and even saw on paper—the complete construction of the rhapsody, from beginning to end.  By the time I reached Boston, I had a definite plot of the piece.  By the end of 1927, Whiteman's band had performed Rhapsody in Blue approximately 84 times, and its recording sold a million copies. For the entire piece to fit onto two sides of a 12-inch record, the rhapsody had to be played at a faster speed than usual in a concert, which gave the recording a hurried feel with noticeably lost rubato. Whiteman later adopted the piece as his band's theme song and opened his radio programs with the slogan "Everything new but the Rhapsody in Blue."

 IN THE FOREGROUND A CLOUD SHADOW DARKENS THE CHOPPY WATER

GROANER'S CORNER:(( There was a man walking alone along a beach. He comes across a bottle with a cork in it. The man picks up the bottle and pulls out the cork. A loud roar follows and a genie appears. The genie says to the man, "I'm a little tired today and I can only give you two wishes."  The man says "That's OK, two is enough." "First, I would like one billion dollars in a Swiss bank account."  Poof - The genie hands the man a paper and says "Here's the number to your account."  Next the man says, "Second, I would like to be irresistible to women."  Poof - the genie turned him into a box of chocolates.

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A patient was waiting nervously in the examination room of a famous specialist.
"So who did you see before coming to me?" asked the doctor.  "My General Practitioner."  "Your GP?" scoffed the doctor. "What a waste of time. Tell me, what sort of useless advice did he give you?"
"He told me to come and see you."

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"Oh God," sighed the wife one morning, "I'm convinced my mind is almost completely gone!"  Her husband looked up from the newspaper and commented, "I'm not surprised: You've been giving me a piece of it every day for twenty years!"

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One day at the entrance to heaven, St. Peter saw a New York street gang walk up to the Pearly Gates. This being a first, St. Peter ran to God and said, "God, there are some evil, thieving New Yorkers at the Pearly Gates. What do I do?".  God replied, "Just do what you normally do with that type. Re-direct them down to hell."  St. Peter went back to carry out the order, and all of a sudden he comes running back yelling "God, God, they're gone, they're gone!"  "Who, the New Yorkers?".  "No, the Pearly Gates."
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AND I WILL LEAVE IT THERE

Overnight rains extended into morning so Pheebs and I didn't go far.  I don't find gray overcast days too inspirational.  We went down Bayfield River Road to the end, turned around, and came back.  With temps at 51F Kelly had the furnace on when we came in the door and the house was roasty toasty.  I like that.  By late morning the Sun's rays were trying to find their way through the heavy overcast clouds without a lot of success.  In fact, today's outside cold and wet dampness felt like an early November day.

 A COLD RAINY START TO OUR MORNING DRIVE

 A WET SILVERY ROAD IN MY OUTSIDE REARVIEW MIRROR

Too wet and cold to do anything outside so I turned my attention to reading......and I will leave it there.  

Al's Music Box:)) Runaround Sue is a rock and roll song (in a modified doo-wop style), originally a US No. 1 Hot 100 hit for the singer Dion during 1961, after he split with the Belmonts. It was written by Dion with Ernie Maresca, and tells the story of a disloyal lover. The song ranked No. 351 on the Rolling Stone list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.  In 2002, Dion was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame for "Runaround Sue".  According to Dion, he started to put the song together at an informal party for a friend's birthday, where he started improvising lyrics and encouraged his friends to add doo-wop background harmonies to a clapping rhythm. He then took the idea to his friend, budding songwriter Ernie Maresca, and they developed the tune and lyrics together. Having recently split with the Belmonts, Dion then discovered another vocal group, the Del-Satins, and they rehearsed the song. The co-owner of Laurie Records (Gene Schwartz) liked the song, and it was recorded in the summer of 1961 at Bell Sound Studios in New York City.  The lyrics are sung from the point of view of a man whose former girlfriend, named Sue, was extremely unfaithful. He warns all potential lovers to avoid her at all costs, as Sue "runs around" with every guy she meets and never settles down with any man in particular. He advises: "now people let me put you wise, Sue goes out with other guys" and suggests that potential suitors should "keep away from Runaround Sue".  Dion stated in his autobiography The Wanderer, that although his wife's name was Susan, "Runaround Sue" had nothing to do with her. Elsewhere he stated that the name Sue was of a girl he had admired from a distance, and that "her name fit the lyric line perfectly."  However, during a 1990 interview with his wife on The Oprah Winfrey Show, they presented the story that the song was indeed about her. 

A YELLOWING BEAN FIELD

GROANER'S CORNER:(( A man is going skydiving for the first time. After listening to the instructor for what seems like days, he is ready to go.  The man goes up in the airplane and waits to get to the proper altitude. Excited, he jumps out of the airplane. After a bit, he pulls the ripcord. Nothing happens. He tries again. Still nothing. He starts to panic, but remembers his back-up chute. He pulls that cord. Nothing happens. He frantically begins pulling both cords, but to no avail.  Suddenly, he looks down and he can't believe his eyes. Another man is in the air with him, but this guy is going up! Just as the other guy passes by, the skydiver, by this time scared out of his wits, yells, "Hey, do you know anything about skydiving?" The other guy yells back, "No! Do you know anything about lighting gas stoves?"

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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.

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Points to Ponder::

- The light went out, but where did it go?
- Why do banks charge you a "non-sufficient funds fee" on money they already know you don't have?
- How come when I call Information they can't tell me where my keys are?
- Why do people go to Burger King and Order a Double Whopper with a Large French Fry and insist on getting a Diet Coke?
- Does the reverse side also have a reverse side?
- Why is the alphabet in that order?
- If you got into a taxi and he started driving backwards, would the taxi driver end up owing you money?
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OFF TO LONDON'S UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL IN THE RAIN

 A RAINY MORNING IN BAYFIELD

Rains came in the night bringing with them cooler temperatures.  Before I heard the drip-drip of the gentle rain, I knew it was lightly raining because I could smell it.  I had left the patio door open beside my sleeping recliner and I was awoken in the night by a slightly familiar but different smell in the air.  It was similar, but milder to the scent in the air after a desert rainfall which many American south-westerners will be very familiar with.  I always loved that distinct slightly pungent smell in the air after rain had fallen on the desert floor.

 SOME BOATS HAVE ALREADY BEEN TAKEN OUT OF THE WATER FOR THE SEASON

Needless to say, Pheebs and I didn't go too far this morning in the drizzling rain.  Not wanting to muddy up the Subaru we stayed off the country roads and simply drove into Bayfield, cruised around for twenty minutes marveling at some of the nice homes, and came back.  

 HAD TO KEEP THE WINDOWS UP TO KEEP THE RAIN OUT

It was 12:15 early this afternoon when Kelly and I rolled out of our driveway in the Subaru heading for London's University Hospital.  Kelly had a 2 p.m. appointment for an endoscopy.  It was a wet drive.  Parking the car in the parking garage we walked over to the hospital and headed for the basement's Endoscopy place.  Kelly checked in at 1:30 and in full 'people avoidance' mode I headed off to hopefully find a people -free quiet lounge somewhere.  And I found that spot on the 4th floor across from the elevators.  Nobody there:))  Sat down, opened my Kindle, and read for the next hour and a half or so.  Hopped the elevator again and headed back down to the basement at 3:15.  Kelly was finished at 4 and we headed for the parking garage and what a zoo once we got out of there.  Bumper to bumper and everybody going like 'Jack the Bear'.  We launched right out into the Friday afternoon rush and fought our way north.  A quick stop at Best Buy to look at something and then out of town we went.  Quick stop at Lucan's Tim Hortons for a couple crispy chicken raps to go and off we went.  A slight detour east of Bayfield to head into the Village and stop at the Woodland Drive-In where Kelly snagged a chocolate milk shake.  We were home minutes later and the clock said it was 6:50 p.m.  Kelly's endoscopy went okay and nothing serious was found.  We'll be back to University again next week.

 ON OUR WAY TO THE HOSPITAL THROUGH THE PARKING GARAGE

 KELLY CHECKS INTO THE ENDOSCOPY SECTION

 AND OVER THERE IN THAT COZY LITTLE CORNER WAS MY WHOLE WORLD FOR THE NEXT HOUR AND A HALF

It's just about time for my annual frog round-up and some decisions again about our front yard frog pond.  Will I drain the pond and clean it this year?  Will I try to fix a leak in it?  Or is it time to dispense with the pond altogether, fill in the hole, and simply plant some flowers there or something??  A lot of work in the short run but it might save me a lot of work in the long run.  I'm finding that I don't have the sustained energy levels I once had and with the volume of yard maintenance here with this property, am I going to be able to keep it up in the next few years??  Do I really want to keep it up anymore??  All are valid questions for an aging mind and body.  And all are things I have to think about now. 

 SNAPPED A FEW DRIVE-BY PICS ON THE WAY HOME AND NICE TO SEE SOME PATCHES OF BLUE SKY AFTER THIS MORNING'S RAIN

OH-OH IT LOOKS LIKE RAIN HEADING OUR WAY

 IT WAS RAINING HERE SO I HAD THE WINDOWS UP WHICH UNFORTUNATELY CAUSED REFLECTIONS IN THIS PHOTO

 AND THEN 'WALLA' WE WERE BACK UNDER CLEARING SKIES

Al's Music Box:)) Lost In The Fifties Tonight is a single released by country music singer Ronnie Milsap. It is a medley of "Lost in the Fifties Tonight" written by Mike Reid and Troy Seals and a cover of The Five Satins 1956 hit "In the Still of the Night", earning a songwriting credit for Five Satins lead singer Fred Parris.  Released in July 1985, the song was Milsap's 42nd single to be released. At the same time, it was also his 27th number-one hit on the Billboard Hot Country Singles and Tracks chart.  Like many of his other singles, the song also fared well as a crossover hit on the Billboard Adult Contemporary charts as it entered the top 10, peaking at number eight. This is his last top-10 single to appear on this chart.  The song was praised by critics and fans alike and remains one of Milsap's most popular recordings. In a year when 51 songs rotated out of the Hot Country Singles' number-one position, "Lost in the Fifties Tonight" was one of just two songs of the group to spend more than one week at number one, and Milsap's song was the number-one country song of 1985.  That same year, it won Milsap his fourth Grammy Award for "Best Country Vocal Performance" for a male artist. It was also named Song of the Year.

 I SEE AN ICE CREAM CONE HEADED MY WAY

GROANER'S CORNER:(( A little boy asked the parish priest a question.  Little Boy: “Father I heard you once say that we all came from dust.”  Parish priest, “That's right I did say that”.  Little boy: “And Father I heard you say that when we die we go back to dust.”  Parish Priest: “That's right, I did say that. I am glad you were listening so very well”.  Little Boy: “Well Father I think you should come to my place and look under my bed because someone is either coming or going”!

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Driving down a remote road, a motorist sees a sign that says: "Watch For Fallen Rocks."  A couple of miles of careful driving later, he spots some pebbles and stops to pick a few up. Arriving in the next town, the motorist carries the stones into the highway maintenance office.  Placing them on the counter, he says to an official: "Here are your fallen rocks. Now where's my watch?"

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Patient: I'm in a hospital! Why am I in here?

Doctor: You've had an accident involving a bus.  Patient: What happened?  Doctor: Well, I've got some good news and some bad news. Which would you like to hear first?  Patient: Give me the bad news first.
Doctor: Your legs were injured so badly that we had to amputate both of them.
Patient: That's terrible! What's the good news?  Doctor: There's a guy in the next ward who made a very good offer on your slippers.

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