I SO MUCH MISS THOSE GREAT DAYS

ON THE WAY TO PICK UP MY GOOD BUDDY RICHARD THIS MORNING

Another in a series of mighty fine late October days.  The weather 22 years ago today certainly wasn't like this.  It was the final day for us in the old farmhouse at the old Weenie Roast Ranch near Fullarton Ontario. We had lived there for over 7 years.  It was a cold and dark rain-soaked night when we left our old haunt and moved the last load of stuff to where we now live in the Bayfield Pines Community near Bayfield Ontario.  It was Halloween night 2002 and the weather had played a 'trick' on us but it sure was a 'treat' that cold, and dark night to move into our warm cozy little place right here under the tall swaying Pine trees:))  

 FIERY SUMAC LEAVES

Coffee and muffins time for Richard and me so I picked him up this morning and off we went to cruise a few roads we hadn't been on for a while.  Always nice to change up the scenery from time to time and especially so now that we still have some gorgeous Autumn colors left in the countryside. 

 WE WERE SURPRISED BY A GOLFCART LOAD OF SCARY PARK CHARACTERS THIS AFTERNOON

 THE COMMUNITY SPIRIT IN OUR PARK IS VERY MUCH ALIVE AND WELL:))

I BORROWED THIS PHOTO FROM ANOTHER PARK RESIDENT

Kelly and I headed down to the south end of our Park this afternoon for a walk in the hardwood forest located there.  This is an area we often walked with our dogs in the earlier years of living here.  Sometimes we would make our way down a steep hundred-foot forested embankment to the Bayfield River far below.  But, that was years ago when we were younger and could do things like that on the spur of the moment without even having to worry about anything like getting back up the embankment again.  Actually, we had a purpose for being in that forest today.  We were looking for something we didn't find.  A bench.  Oh well, it was just great to be outside doing something we so much enjoyed doing in our RVing years.  We loved looking for things like old western Ghost Towns, (Charleston) lost gravesites, (Johnny Ringo and some Confederate soldiers) historical markers, old mines, Crested Saguaro Cactus, hidden trails, natural water tanks in the Kofa Mountains, the hard-to-find Mary Kidder ranch and old Fort Rucker in the Chiricahua Mountains, and Cochise's council rocks in Arizona's Dragoon Mountains.  We found the dump site for the old army Camp Furlong in Columbus New Mexico, Marshall South's homestead atop Ghost Mountain in California's Blair valley, and his gravesite in Julian California.  The endless list goes on and on and it was always one of our favorite things to do.  Get ourselves up in the morning and head out the door early to go places and find and do things we had never seen or done before.  I so much miss those great days............   

 WE DROVE SUBIE UP INTO THE HARDWOOD FOREST

 YOU CAN SEE IT WASA VERY WINDY AFTERNOON

 AN OLD FARM GATE IN THE WOODS

HEADING BACK TO THE CAR

 MAKING OUR WAY BACK OUT OF THE FOREST

Al's Music Box:)) Ghost Riders In The Sky by Geoff Castelucci is a cowboy-styled country/western song written in 1948 by American songwriter Stan Jones.  The song tells a folk tale of a cowboy who has a vision of red-eyed, steel-hooved cattle thundering across the sky, being chased by the spirits of damned cowboys. One warns him that if he does not change his ways, he will be doomed to join them, forever "trying to catch the Devil's herd across these endless skies".  Stan Jones stated that he had been told the story when he was 12 years old by an old Native American who resided northeast of the Douglas Arizona border town, a few miles behind D Hill, north of Agua Prieta. Sonora. The Native Americans, possibly Apache, who lived within Cochise County, believed that when souls vacate their physical bodies, they reside as spirits in the sky, resembling ghost riders. He related this story to Wayne Hester, a boyhood friend (later owner of the Douglas Cable Company). As both boys were looking at the clouds, Stan shared what the old Native American had told him, looking in amazement as the cloudy shapes were identified as the "ghost riders" that years later, would be transposed into lyrics.............Here is an instrumental version of the same song played on a steel guitar.  Ghost Riders.  And of course, the version I grew up with....Frankie Laines version of Ghost Riders In The Sky.  And, because it's Halloween, here is Bobby (Boris) Pickett and the Crypt Kicker Five with The Monster Mash.

GROANER'S CORNER:(( A car was involved in an accident on the street. As expected a large crowd gathered. A newspaper reporter, anxious to get his story could not get near the car.  Being a clever sort, he started shouting loudly, "Let me through! Let me through! I am the son of the victim."  The crowd made way for him.  Lying in front of the car was a donkey.

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[1] Regular naps prevent old age, especially if you take them while driving.

[2] Having one child makes you a parent; having two makes you a referee.

[3] Marriage is a relationship in which one person is always right and the other is the husband!

[4] I believe we should all pay our taxes with a smile. I tried – but they wanted cash.

[5] A child's greatest period of growth is the month after you've purchased new school uniforms.

[6] Don't feel bad. A lot of people have no talent.

[7] Don't marry the person you want to live with, marry the one you cannot live without, but whatever you do, you'll regret it later.

[8] You can't buy love, but you pay heavily for it.

[9] Bad officials are elected by good citizens who do not vote.

[10] Laziness is nothing more than the habit of resting before you get tired.

[11] Marriage is give and take. You'd better give it to her or she'll take it.

[12] My wife and I always compromise. I admit I'm wrong and she agrees with me.

[13] Those who can't laugh at themselves leave the job to others.

[14] Ladies first. Pretty ladies sooner.

[15] A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person.

[16] You're getting old when you enjoy remembering things more than doing them.

[17] It doesn't matter how often a married man changes his job, he still ends up with the same boss.

[18] Real friends are the ones who survive transitions between address books.

[19] Saving is the best thing. Especially when your parents have done it for you.

[20] Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools talk because they have to say something

[21] They call our language the mother tongue because the father seldom gets to speak!

[22] Man: Is there any way for long life?
Dr: Get married.
Man: Will it help?
Dr: No, but then the thought of long life will never come.

[23] Why do couples hold hands during their wedding? It's a formality just like two boxers touching gloves before the fight begins!

[24] Wife: Darling today is our anniversary, what should we do?
Husband: Let us stand in silence for 2 minutes.

[25] There is only one perfect child in the world and every mother has it.

[26] There is only one perfect wife in the world and every neighbor has it!

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                           Al's Art Gallery

'YAAAAY' A BONANZA CORN SPILL:))

I think our Planet must be tipping upside down on its axis.  It's October 30th, two days away from November, and at 8 o'clock this morning our outside temperature was 64F.  I'm not complaining, I'm welcoming that axis tip with open arms.  Maybe we can go right from Autumn weather to Spring weather this year:))

Under a light cloud cover, Pheebs and I slipped east along Bayfield River Road then turned north on Tipperary Line.  We were on the hunt for corn spills alongside the road.  We hadn't traveled far when looking at a partially harvested field I spotted the telltale signs of a sizeable yellow clump on the ground about a hundred feet in from the road.  'Yaaaay', a bonanza corn spill:))  It was at a spot the farmer uses to get his farm equipment in and out of the field.  I quickly stopped and backed into the field and right away noticed about a dozen strange green-looking round balls on the ground.  Too big to be apples and too small to be soccer balls.  'What the heck' I thought as I stepped out of the car.  I picked one up and saw it was textured, slightly soft, and moist, and it had some weight to it.  I quickly surmised this must be a group of Aliens from a faraway Planet.  These must be their brain craniums or something.  No sign of a crashed spacecraft nearby.  Oh well I thought, I've got more important things going on here and I had better get this corn shoveled into my big bucket before the Aliens Mothership returns to pick up the crew.  Well, I was like a little kid in a candy shop as I hastily scooped up the yellow corn kernels with my blue shovel into my white bucket. (because of my photography hobby, my mind works in colors)  There was more than enough corn there for my bucket so I soon hefted my load into the back of the Subaru, picked up one of the little green Alien heads, and headed for home.

 WHILE DRIVING BY THIS PARTIALLY HARVESTED CORNFIELD I SPOTTED THE POT OF KERNEL GOLD I WAS LOOKING FOR

 A BONANZA CORN SPILL

 THAT WAS A HEAVY LIFT INTO THE CAR

 WHAT THE BIG DARN HECK ARE THESE THINGS?!!?

For the second day in a row, I was outside in my shirt sleeves doing a host of things around our yard.  A small poorly built cedar fence out by the road had fallen over (ya ya I built it about 15 years ago) so once again for the umpteenth time, I was able to pull it back up and with a rope, lash a couple of the posts to tree branches behind them.  A couple strategically placed rocks helped as well until the next time the fence falls over. And, oh yes, it will fall over again!!  On a roll from my fence fix, I used my garden trowel to bury an extension power cord between two flower beds that I have carefully been easing the lawn mower over for the past two summers.  It sometimes takes me a while to get things done.  And, imagine how happy I was this morning to see that the birdfeeder I had shakily re-hung in a tree yesterday.......was still hanging in the tree.  Will wonders ever cease.  And, when Pheebs and I headed out for an afternoon walk I spotted a frog sitting on a rock beside our small front yard pond and I'm sure it was the same little fella I had to catch Tuesday and take to the Park's pond.  Well, I grabbed my net and scooped up the little frog again, and with Pheebs leading the way, we all headed for the Park's pond.  A couple minutes later,  after having a friendly Father to Frog talk with the little wayward traveler, I gently placed him back in the Park's pond.  I think with this unusual warm weather going on right now..., this little fella is thinking it's Spring and he's anxious to get back to our front yard pond for another summer season of tasty bugs.  

I SPOTTED THIS LITTLE CHAP SITTING ON A ROCK BESIDE OUR POND

 SAFELY IN MY NET AND ON OUR WAY

 BEFORE PLACING THIS LITTLE GUY IN THE PARK'S POND I HAD A TALK WITH HIM EXPLAINING WHY IT'S BETTER TO BE IN THE DEEPER PARK POND THAN OUR SHALLOW FRONT YARD POND.....YOU CAN SEE HE IS INTENSIVELY THINKING ABOUT WHAT I SAID

 ANOTHER NICE AFTERNOON WALK

A Blast From Our Past:)) Facebook tossed me a memory today from late October 2011 when I wrote something about silence...Sitting In The Darkness Listening To 'The Sounds Of Silence'.  

Oh, and about those round green Alien brains I found this morning.  Kelly, using her iPhone took a picture of it, then used an app on her phone to identify the round green Orb.  Here is what they are......... Osage Orange

Al's Music Box:)) That's Just The Way It Is is a song by American rock group Bruce Hornsby and the Range.  Written by Hornsby it was released in July 1986 as the second single from their debut album, The Way It Is. The song topped the charts in the US, Canada and the Netherlands in 1986.  Hornsby's brother John said, "The song is mainly about compassion, about understanding racial and social types, and beliefs and practices that are different from your own. It's about a status quo that's so complacent in its narrow-mindedness and bigotry that it seems it'll never change. That's why the line 'Ah, but don’t you believe them' is so important." "The Way It Is" evokes people to give to the poor and to protest against racial segregation, white supremacy and economic value.  Musically, the song is characterized by two long piano solos by Hornsby.

GROANER'S CORNER:(( A family of three was heading to Kansas, and they got to the airport way early. The four-year-old son, super excited, kept wandering off, so his dad had to chase him down over and over.  Finally, the dad got tired and said, “If you wander off again, I’ll check you in with the luggage!”  Of course, the kid wanders off again. So the dad picks him up and takes him to the gate agent. The agent says, “Uh, sir, you can’t check in your own child.”  The dad sighs and says, “So… you’re saying I’ll have to carry on my wayward son?”

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- Sadly my obese parrot just died.
But it's a huge weight off my shoulders.
-A midget walks into a library and asked the librarian if there are any books about irony.
The librarian says yes it’s on the top shelf.
- My friend decided to get a face tattoo of his favourite Star Wars character…You should have seen the Luke on his face!
- How can you convert dollars to pounds?
By visiting McDonalds

- My wife said to me, "How on earth are we going to use 9% less gas this winter?"  "You can stop burning my dinner for a start," I replied.

- When I was younger I had a job pretending to be a statue.  I held that position for some time.
- The new thought-activated car they're working on is going to be even more popular than the voice-activated one.
It goes without saying.
- My wife is one of the clumsiest people I know.  I'm so glad she fell for me.

- I can’t think of a time when I lost my toupee while riding a motorcycle.  At least not right off the top of my head.

Q. Why is it so hard for women to find men who are sensitive, caring, and good-looking?
A. Because those men already have boyfriends.
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 THIS TO ME LOOKS LIKE A SHEEPWRECK

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                          Al's Art Gallery