NEARLY WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

Keeping an eye on things

BARE NAKED

Rick the Handyman was here this morning to demolish and haul away our poor fallen tree.

A storm uprooted it last week and it was obvious the end was near.

Rick made short order of the finale for the poor thing.

Well, Rick and this noisy device.

His onerous duties completed, this is how our arbor looks now.

Which explains the title of this blog.

And you were lasciviously expecting something else, weren't you?

MONDAY, MONDAY

LESSON LEARNED

The lesson learned is that it does not pay to be too flighty about the weekend and those Friday Funnies and tweaking the Weather Gods.

Because yesterday they all struck back.

I was taking a wee bit of a nap when SWMBO burst in on my slumber to blurt out that there was a huge storm, the neighbor's roof was gone and so was our tree.

Huh?

Well I looked out to see heavy rain, hail and wind lashing the environs.

When it cleared off, here's what I found.

First, the neighbor.

It looked worse than it was.

The shingles and tarpaper had been ripped loose from his patio roof and were strewn across the roof of his house.

Our tree, however, was finito.

You (and the birds) will be happy to know, though, that the bird bath suffered no damage in spite of being thrown to the ground.

Nor did the Blue Cat on whom it landed.

SWMBO had been worrying for months about that tree.

She had complained about its lack of green growth this Spring and then when wind was causing it to rock she said "that sucker's goin' to go one of these days."

It apparently was an Elm and it apparently was suffering from Dutch Elm Disease.

So the roots were rotting away as was the tree itself.

But wait, Gentle Campers!

That's not the worst of it.

Lightning reportedly hit a power pole in our neighborhood and blasted it to pieces which pulled down several more poles.

That was yesterday at 2:52 p.m., the un-holy time the power ceased here.

Arizona Public Service Company workers have been on the job ever since, on a day where the temperature climbed to around 97 degrees Fahrenheit.

And finally at 6 p.m. tonight, some 27 hours later, we once again have electricity.

The A.C. has been working overtime, trying to catch up with a hot house.

But it feels great, as does the vodka going from my glass to my gullet.

It will all be good now.

But don't ever tweak those Weather Gods!

THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

Well, fellow plutocrats, Mueller Week is about over.

And what a week it was.

But it's Friday now and you know what that means.

It's time to dance.

Uh-one-and-a-two-and-uh . . .

I don't know about you but I'm feelin' better already.

Enough!  Enough!

Halt this hilarity, he hollered.

Now I want you all to hit the high road and have a great weekend.

And always remember to keep laughing!

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

THROWBACK THURSDAY - 10 YEARS AGO

I had nothing to blog about today so I decided to take a look back and see what I could find.

Exactly ten years ago today I wrote this post on July 25, 2009.

Truth be told, I don't really remember the gold cat but there have been a lot of them.

Pals

Smoke, our sidewalk supervisor, yard foreman and the only one of our cats that we let go outdoors, has taken to napping on one of the deck chairs recently. I looked out and spotted him there this morning.

But, to my surprise, I discovered another cat on an adjacent chair.

This little darlin' has been hanging around lately and Smoke seemingly has accepted him. He's quite shy, yet bold, and neither of us has been able to approach him. I think he's a girl but SWMBO says yellow/orange cats are always boys and she named him Golden Boy. But he's not at all aggressive which, I guess, is why Smoke has accepted him so readily.

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

RAIN ! ! !

Last night as SWMBO and I were sitting on the patio the sky was growing oppressive.

Huge masses of roiling dark clouds were tinted red in spots by the setting sun.

As the day lengthened, the clouds grew darker and more ominous.

Shortly after taking the picture below we spotted several lightning bolts in the sky.

We decided discretion was the better part of valor and headed inside as the wind began to rise.

Moments later the skies opened and a huge thunderstorm with thunder and lightning was upon us.

This morning Judy checked the rain gauge and found an inch and a half in it.

Today is my friend Phil's 77th birthday and I emailed him a greeting and thanked him for the rain.

He wrote back, saying "I haven't lost my touch on controlling the Gods."

NATURE COPIED

THE MIGHTY FISHER(WO)MAN

I have written here on occasion about my friend, Diane, who I've known for nearly a half century.

She is 87 now and still a bundle of fire.

Like the Timex watch she just keeps ticking.

In a short time she's leaving with a friend for a river cruise.

In RUSSIA!

But the subject of this post is fishing.

Yes, I said "fishing".

For some odd reason, Diane has had a lifelong affection for fishing and she went out with one of her daughters yesterday at a tiny lake in Northern Arizona.

And here she is showing off what they caught.

Five exquisite Rainbow Trout, a couple of them 15 inches long!

Not bad for an afternoon sitting on the side of a lake in Arizona.

She said the big ones were the largest she's hooked since her kids were three years old.

And that is a long time ago.

So KOKO, Diane.

(That's text talk for Keep On Keepin' On.)

No word yet on whether she'll be dipping a rod off that cruise boat in Russia.

THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

Yup, it's time once again for some humor to lighten your weekend.

So, without further ado . . .

There!

That ought to hold you for a weekend.

Or a week.

Now don't let your day be ruined.

Have a fabulous weekend and always remember to keep laughing.

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

(. . . or is that kitty-kitty-kitty-kitty-kitty . . .)

A SUNNY FACE

My neighbor across the street has put in a big garden but the javelinas got all his zucchini this year.

But that didn't stop this smiling face.

That's a huge bloom, as big as my face.

Sunflowers make everyone happy, I think.