THROWBACK THURSDAY

45 years ago today I married the love of my life.

Amazingly we're still together.

While this is us, this is not our wedding picture.

It was posed in a photo studio for a Christmas card.

This is also not our wedding picture.

Judy handmade the costumes for a Halloween masquerade party at her daughter's house.

This was a fine day during our European tour in 1985.

Monte Carlo, Monaco, at the marina.

The only day in a month that we found a menu with escargot on a restaurant menu.

We gorged.

And this is one of my favorite pictures of the two of us.

On the enclosed patio of our home in Guadalajara, Mexico, around the time of our 20th anniversary.

We've been around a bit and the signs of age are showing.

But we're still creaking along.

Together.

Happy 45th anniversary, J.G.

MEDITATION

This is a mono, or monk that we acquired when we lived in Mexico.

He/she has been with us for several decades and now stands watch in our back yard.

The monk began as a dusty green color but seems to have turned gray as it has aged.

Coupled with that came this even odder picture in my email a few minutes ago.

So it goes.

TUESDAY TRAVELS

Back in the day when we first lived in Phoenix, we discovered Lost Dutchman State Park in Apache Junction.

Located just off the Apache Trail, the park is adjacent to the Superstition Mountains and is named after the perhaps mythical Lost Dutchman Gold Mine.

The mysterious mine supposedly was discovered and its location kept secret by a German immigrant named Jacob Waltz in the 19th century.

Many people have searched for generations in the Superstitions without ever finding the mine.

Some have lost their lives in the search, adding to the mystique.

But we just used the park for weekend picnics for many years.

Not the Lost Dutchman. It was me in front of the Superstitions range.

And SWMBO or as one our friends once labeled her The Storied and Fabled Judy.

My dad spent winters for several years escaping the North Dakota weather by living in Mesa and we took him to the park a couple of times.

One Easter many years ago, Judy and I hiked up into the foothills of the mountains and picnicked with a spectacular view.

This shot was taken partway back down the "trail" as she stopped to harvest some wildflowers.

If you ever get to Arizona you could do yourself a favor by visiting the Lost Dutchman park, about 40 miles east of Phoenix.

And I'd be happy to share if you somehow discover that hidden gold mine.

SENSATIONAL SUNDAY

What could be better than a warm Sunday morning on the patio with a couple of pieces of re-heated pizza for brunch?

Well, let me tell you.

Late Sunday afternoon, with the temperature hovering in the low 70's, SWMBO fired up the grill for the first time this season.

She had found a recipe for Spatchcocked Chicken in a magazine and was determined to fix it.

I told her I had mentioned Spatchcocked Chicken to her several times over the years with no interest until she found a recipe on her own.

She replied "Oh, I've known about fixing chicken that way for years only I never heard it called Spatchcocked. I just smashed that sucker flat!"

So, with apologies for my idiotic camera setting on the chicken picture, here's our meal.

In case you don't know that's a temperature probe in the chicken.

To accompany . . .

A mix of vegetables also grilled.

And my oven-baked sweet potato spears with a citrus sour cream sauce.

Oh and there was this too.

A nice bottle of white.

By the time we got through all of that, y'know what?

I had forgotten all about my breakfast pizza.

THE DREADED ZOMBIE

SWMBO and I visited a Tiki bar when we last lived in Phoenix.

It was my suggestion.

I remember fondly the many happy meals (and drinks) we used to have at the original Trader Vic's restaurant in Scottsdale.

It was loaded with kitsch, fake food of the islands and powerful drinks.

But we young(er) romantics loved it.

So when I read about a bar and restaurant called Hula's Modern Tiki in Central Phoenix, I had to check it out.

We stopped in one day just for a peek and a drink.

The drinks are shown on the banner at the top of this page.

Mine is a Pink Bikini Martini, which featured watermelon juice.

SWMBO said she'd try a Zombie, a drink she hadn't tasted for decades.

Probably for a good reason.

Esquire Magazine's recipe is on the web.

It has light, dark and golden rum mixed with lime, pineapple and papaya juice and a teaspoon of superfine sugar.

Then to top it off there's a "float" of 151-proof rum!

And there's a toothpick with two cherries surrounding a cube of pineapple atop the drink.

Don the Beachcomber supposedly invented the drink back in the 1930's for some guy with a horrendous hangover.

It is said that no self-respecting bartender will allow a patron more than two of these killer cocktails.

SWMBO said hers was good and we left after one to go home for a nap.

All of this has absolutely nothing to do with this next song but I always enjoyed it back in the mid-20th Century.

THE PRESAGE

I can't say I wasn't warned.

It snowed here much of Wednesday afternoon.

I was stunned.

It was the last day of March and I thought we had escaped the traditional early Spring snowstorm.

I should have known better.

A short while before I noticed the snow in the air I had taken note of an extremely cloudy looking sky to the north.

I thought it was just a low-hanging cloud.

Mainly fog.

Perhaps a spit or two of rain.

Even though it looked ominous.

A short time later I noticed the snowfall.

It was warm enough that even though it snowed, on and off, most of the afternoon none of it stuck to the ground.

SWMBO escaped the weather wrath as she was visiting a friend in Sun City, a suburb of Phoenix, on that day and was enjoying 70 degree weather.

She returned the next day and brought warming temperatures with her.

The forecast says it will be 82 F/28 C here NEXT Wednesday.

"If you don't like the weather, just wait an hour. It will change."

                        --an old expression, used everywhere

FRIDAY FUNNIES

How could anything be any more perfect?

It is Friday and time once again for the Friday Funnies.

AND

It's April 1st!

April Fool's Day!

Could anything be more perfect?

Well, one thing, maybe

All right.

With that little gift for the dog lovers among you, we'll say good-bye for this week.

Here's hoping you don't get fooled too bad today, that you have an incredibly satisfying weekend and that you always remember to keep laughing.

Here, kitty kitty.

(Ohhhhh, this is gonna hurt . . .)