Tuesday, January 10, 2017

TUESDAY TRAVELS

The only travel I'll write about today is the venture out to my back yard yesterday.

The day began with a beautiful and colorful dawn and ended with a magnificent sunset.

I watched the dawn colors paint the sky but didn't photograph it.

But in the evening SWMBO called my attention to the sky and I did grab my camera.


The setting sun reflecting off the clouds in the sky from a rainy day made it appear as if there was a massive fire just beyond the line of houses.


The colors ranged from golden to red to purple as the sun sank below the horizon.


It was an amazing display of the artistry of Mother Nature's paintbrush.

Monday, January 9, 2017

A MINOR IRRITATION

I have tried, lord knows I've tried.

I have steadfastly tried not to discuss politics on this blog.

But today I am breaking my promise to myself.

Last night's Golden Globes telecast featured a special award to the actress Meryl Streep for lifetime achievement.

When she accepted the award, Ms. Streep took the occasion to criticize President-elect Donald Trump for his speech in which he mimicked a disabled New York Times reporter.

You knew that the incredibly thin-skinned Trump would respond to that, didn't you?

He first tweeted that Streep was one of the most over-rated actresses in Hollywood and then said she was a Hillary Clinton flunky who "lost big."

Trump went on to say that he never mocked the Times reporter but simply showed him groveling after changing a story he had written about the President-elect.

Okay, folks, them are the facts.

Now here comes my opinion.

First of all while I am no fan of Donald Trump, I get a little burned by the actors and actresses who take advantage of a public microphone at an event honoring excellence in movies and television to express their political opinions.

My view is that if they wish to express those opinions they should do it in a proper place.

Write an op-ed piece for a newspaper, do an interview with a political reporter, but leave what is supposed to be an entertainment vehicle as a place to graciously accept your award and thank the people who helped you win it.

As for Trump, how can he call the most honored actress of our generation "one of the most over-rated actresses in Hollywood"?

And Streep (Hillary Clinton) didn't lose big.

Let us remind the Tweetster in Chief that his opponent won nearly three million more votes than he did.

And I suspect no one who saw Trump's speech would doubt that he was mocking that reporter.

And what the hell is he doing carrying on one little spat after another on a Twitter account for anyway?

Doesn't he have matters of state to attend to, like forming a government?

How are we to respect a President who has such a tender ego and such silly priorities?

All right.

End of rant and though I know there will be comments I'm going to get back, after today, to my non-political stance on this blog.

Have a nice day, Gentle Readers.

Sunday, January 8, 2017

YES, THEY REALLY DID

Gentle Readers, if you didn't believe yesterday's post about the Polar Bear Splash, there is absolute proof in today's edition of our local newspaper.

To see pictures of the madness, click here.

Saturday, January 7, 2017

THE POLAR BEAR SPLASH

There is a strange phenomenon in this world which involves people taking part in abnormal activities.

In Prescott Valley, Arizona, where I live, as in many other places, this takes place in early January, at the local swimming pool.


I should note that the swimming pool is only open for this one event, having been closed for months because of the colder weather.


Yet for some odd reasons, such as manliness and general lunacy, a small group of men come to the pool to take a plunge.


There is also an Ice Princess contest, men only, in which the winner is determined by the amount of hair on his chest!

Each of the Plungers has to sign in, presumably on a waiver of responsibility for the medical problems that may ensue.


A couple of the loonies brave souls were checking out the water.


So why, you might ask, would any individual leave his warm home on a day when the temperature is hovering in the 40's to jump (however briefly) into an icy cold swimming pool?

Maybe it's the free pancake breakfast with which they are tempted.


And it's not only the youngest citizens of the community who join in.

This fellow claimed to be "only" 58!


He asked me if I was going to join him?

I swiftly declined, thinking to myself . . . "my mama didn't raise any idiot children!"

As a matter of fact, the air temperature was cold enough to send me scampering for home over an hour before the scheduled plunge.

You and I can only assume that they actually did it.

Friday, January 6, 2017

FRIDAY FUNNIES


Yeah, yeah, I know.

I mean I appreciate Fridays too but I really get tired of this gal running up and down the street yelling with her Valley Girl accent.

But it's not a day to be grouchy so let's move right along to the humor.










Oops, sorry 'bout that.

Gentle Readers, wherever on the globe this finds you, I sincerely hope you have an outlandishly fabulous weekend.

And remember, always keep laughing.

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

Oh don't be frightened.  

It's just that gal running around welcoming "Fraiyday" again.


Thursday, January 5, 2017

THROWBACK THURSDAY

This is a picture of me as a diligent student in my college days.


Clean-shaven, bespectacled, with a crew cut hairdo.

But why, Gentle Readers might ask, is he wearing that silly grin, with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

Because he is participating in a campus stunt of the late 1950's which involved stuffing as many people as possible into a space built for many fewer.

I think it began with phone booths.

Those of you too young to remember phone booths, this is what they looked like.


Generally they were a compartment with a folding door containing a pay telephone.

If you're a fan of the Doctor Who television series, you may recognize them as looking like this.


But, before the advent of cell phones, they were used to make telephone calls.

Or for rowdy students to cram into en masse.

But by the time of the picture of the student that began this post the telephone booth had been replaced as a space to be stuffed by another small object.


The Volkswagen Beetle!

The tiny German car was designed as a rear-engine economy car for four people.

(I might add four SMALL people.)

The front compartment was the trunk, here housing your scribe, among others.

On this particular night, I believe the seats had been removed from the car in order to accomodate more passengers.

The owner of the automobile, Lew White, is seated on the floor behind the steering wheel with his glasses pushed up onto his forehead.

21 Jamestown College students were crammed into the car. 

It was driven slowly and carefully, with much noise from the occupants shouting directions to the driver who couldn't see where he was going, over to the girl's dormitory.

Proof can be shown by the lighted headlight.

You may note a miniature cowbell in my hand, used to further announce our arrival.

Ah, college days, when so many hours were spent at desks "hitting the books".

And then there were nights like this.

(Before I hear from the fashion mavens out there, I will call attention to my stylish argyle socks.)

Wednesday, January 4, 2017

DAWN


Dawn over the savannah the other day.

Could this represent the light dawning in Washington yesterday.

I doubt it.