THROWBACK THURSDAY

I have related in this blog some of the adventures and misadventures of my career in radio and television through the years.

But you should know, it wasn't always serious business.

This is a lighter moment at the Republican National Convention in Dallas, Texas in 1984.

Catalyst, then Senior Producer for KPNX-TV, Phoenix; now retired.

Jim Benneman, then a Washington correspondent for the Gannet News Bureau; now television anchorman, KCNC-TV, Denver.

Al Macias, then a producer/assignment editor for KPNX-TV, Phoenix; now News Director, KJZZ-FM, Phoenix.

Tracey Lyons, then a Washington correspondent and producer for the Gannet News Bureau; last I heard, Senior Producer, NBC Nightly News.

All of that talent but still a bunch of wild and crazy people.

WHAT A DRIP!

Recently, the tree above the bird bath was coated in snow.

But, as I've often said, snow doesn't last long here in the High Desert of Arizona.

And it wasn't long before the sun began to do its work.

The moisture formed by melting snow began dripping and I watched the drops hit the bird's basin.

The snow cat in the background also was watching.

Drop by drop the white stuff began to disappear.

I know what you're thinking.

"Catalyst has too much time on his hands."

Or maybe, "Watching snow melt is like watching paint dry."

Both expressions may be true.

So be it.

TUESDAY TRAVELS

The Hofbrauhaus in Munich, Germany

Great city, great beer, great barmaids carrying three or four of those big ones in each hand.

Prost!

DAVID & MICK

THE WOOD BUTCHER

We have a visitor this week from Indiana.

When we asked him yesterday what he calls himself, professionally, he responded "I'm a carpenter. A wood butcher."

He is much, much more than that.

He runs his own contracting company in the Indianapolis area and does jobs on restaurants, offices and private homes throughout the state.

He loves his work and he sometimes has to stand to explain a technique.

He has followed in the footsteps of his grandfather and become a very well-known and respected success.

Oh, yes, and he's Judy's oldest offspring.

There's amusement there but also pride in that mother's eyes for her son, Scott Bolton.

BLACK AND WHITE

Just a few miles northeast of where I sit are the Black Hills of Arizona.

No, really.

Everyone knows about the Black Hills of South Dakota, home of Mount Rushmore.

But fewer know that Arizona has its' own Black Hills.

Most locals just refer to it as Mingus Mountain, which is just one of the peaks in the hills.

And it's not even the highest.

That title goes to Woodchute Mountain, four miles away, at 7,840 feet.

Mingus is 22 feet lower, at 7,818 feet.

It's better known, probably because the peak can be reached by a road, there is a hang-glider launching pad, as well as a number of campgrounds and summer camps up there.

All of this leads up to an anomaly this week.

The Black Hills have turned white!

There wasn't a lot of snow but enough to alter the view of the hills.*

SWMBO said yesterday "Sitting at my desk and looking out the window it's as if I'm living near the Alps!"

That may be an overstatement but I can understand the feeling.

Somehow when the hills are covered in white snow they seem to come into view and appear to be much closer and more rugged than they normally do.

By the way the photos are better if you click on them to expand them.

*I've said this before but my friend Tim, who lives in Colorado, once told me "Those aren't mountains . . they're just hills!"

SNOW DAY

Amid dire predictions of a terrible winter storm with up to a foot of snow coming out way, here's what we got.

The pictures are from Friday morning.

There's your foot of snow. 

Looks more like maybe half an inch, at most, to me.

The only one who might have been bothered by the snowfall was this quiet Buddha.

But then he's trained to accept whatever comes along, isn't he?