DEATH AND DECONSTRUCTION

We lost a couple of good ones again.

Chuck Berry, who some (Chuck?) say invented rock and roll, dead at 90.

His voice, along with those of Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis Presley, was in my head in the 1950's when I was a high school student.

His bizarre "duck walk", which became a trademark, evolved from an accident where he fell while playing.

Troubles with the law led to several terms in reform school and prison.

He was emblematic of the times and the trade he took up.

But it didn't stop him from writing and performing some of the great songs we all grew up with.

And this morning we learn of the death of Jimmy Breslin at 88.

A consumate newspaper reporter for decades in New York City, Jimmy told the stories of the common man so well he won a Pulitzer Prize.

A cigar-chomping, hard drinking "ink stained wretch" of the newspaper business with a knack for finding and telling a story.

Who else would think to interview the man who dug the grave for John F. Kennedy?

We'll miss them.

For the second part of my post, take a look at what Chef Judy, aka SWMBO, created for the evening meal yesterday.

It's a deconstructed (or Inside-Out) Vietnamese Spring Roll.

Shrimp, rice vermicelli, carrots, peppers, peanuts, mint leaves.

Topped with a spicy peanut sauce (unshown) it was delicious.

I know.

I'm a lucky man.

CHANGES IN LATITUDES . . .

Judy and I drove to Jerome at mid-day yesterday to meet a granddaughter and her significant other for lunch at the Asylum in the Grand Hotel.

They arrived late because of traffic tied up south of Phoenix on the I-10 freeway while wreckage from four consecutive accidents was cleared.

But they got there only about 45 minutes late and we had a nice lunch in one of our favorite restaurants.

We reminisced with "the kids" about one of the first times we had visited Jerome, of how I had a photograph of the then 16 year old daughter who became the mother of our lunchtime companion.

It's a classic photograph of her sitting at the bar in the Spirit Room, a pub that's thrived on the same corner in the heart of town for many decades.

It was pretty much a ghost town in those days and we stayed in a hotel room with a broken glass window above the bar on one of our forays.

Now it's a fancy boutique hotel, completely re-done.

This was the view from just outside the Grand Hotel where we lunched.

It was a hazy day but you can see the San Francisco Peaks 75 or 80 miles in the distance.

I had been watching t.v. before we left for Jerome and heard a weathercaster say that it was going to be in the mid 90's in Phoenix but if you wanted to cool off and go skiing there was still plenty of snow at the Arizona Snow Bowl on those peaks.

About 160 miles separates those two locations and climate zones.

We were about mid-way in between and the day was very pleasant, with temperatures probably in the low 70's.

As we said our good-byes to the young ones we were heading back down the mountain through Old Cottonwood and New Cottonwood and back home.

When we lived between Old Cottonwood and Clarkdale over 20 years ago it was a sleepy place.

Now there were fancy stores and shops and restaurants everywhere.

It always makes me think of the line from Jimmy Buffet's song "...nothing remains quite the same..."

A DIRGE ON ST. PADDY'S DAY

Who would think a lad from Dartford, just outside of London, would link up with an Irish band to sing this mournful tale of murder and lust.

Never mind the national differences.

I love this version of this song.

FRIDAY FUNNIES

I guess all you Gentle Readers out there can tell by the change of color here what day this is.

It's the day we put on the stupid t-shirts that say "Kiss Me, I'm Irish!"

In America anyway.

I have read that the people of Ireland don't mark this saint's day by any such alcohol-fueled malarkey.

Be that as it may, let me wish you the standard . . .

But enough with the Irish blather.

Let's continue now with the regular funnies.

Hey now, something to put next to my birdbath!

Please allow me to give you some words of advice: don't drink too much, don't drive, you don't even have to eat corned beef and cabbage if you don't like it.

And, since I know no one listens to my advice anyway, good luck with your hangover.

And always remember to keep laughing.

Here, kitty-kitty . . . oh, quit bullying that dog!

SHORT TERM POSIES

The Redbud tree just outside my den window is bursting with blooms right now.

It's amazing how speedily nature's march takes place when the weather warms up.

Only a couple of days ago I remarked to SWMBO that the tree was full of buds.

But they began blooming yesterday and this morning the tree is full of the pretty pink and purple posies.

And it won't be long before green leaves sprout from these flowers and the tree will be covered with a protective layer of arboreal greenery.

Meanwhile, just below the Redbud is a ground-hugging Oregon Grape plant.

It offers a contrast to the rosy hue above with it's bright yellow flowers.

Now the sharpest of viewers will see in the next photo an example of my bravery as a nature photographer.

No, that's not a snake in the upper right.

It's actually our garden hose.

The lurking danger is difficult to see but I'll blow it up to give you a better view.

This makes it blurry but you can now see a big fat bee that was buzzing among the blossoms as I performed my photographic duties.

No danger, though.

He was too busy pollinating the flowers to pay any more than the slightest attention to me.

Nature.

Constantly fascinating.

THE ITALIAN VEGETARIAN

Judy stopped at our local Sprouts store the other day and discovered something she'd never seen before: baby eggplants.

Shoppers were scooping them up and she got a bagful and then asked a lady loading up on them how she fixed them.

The lady turned out to be Italian and she gave her a lengthy recipe which at one point involved cutting the eggplants in half and scoring them.

A man was listening in and at that point he said "Score them?  How do you do that?"

Apparently he had his mind on the NCAA basketball tournament but when eggplant scoring was explained to him realized his mistaken thought.

So . . .

. . . here, at home, are the halved eggplants, just a tad larger than a large egg, and some sliced zucchini.

And Judy shoots, she SCORES!

Go alongs include some garlic, a shallot, some cherry tomatoes and a sliced yellow pepper.

Throw all of that in a big pan and saute it with some olive oil and this is what you get.

Healthy and pretty darn good.

Judy called it sort of an Italian ratatouille minus the "gravy", as Italians call their red sauce.

(AMIT* - We had some chicken nuggets along with it so it wasn't a true vegetarian meal.)

<< *AMIT = A Moment Of Truth >>

AND NOT JUST THE PLUMS!

One street over the decorative pear trees are following the plums with a burst of ivory whiteness.

But I can't help wondering, as the temperature hovers at 85 degrees in mid-March, what will it be like here in August?

I have a friend and former colleague who grew up in Arizona but lives now in snow covered Maine.

The other day on Facebook she commented that she envies her Arizona friends right now but she'll be laughing out of the other side of her mouth when June rolls around.