BIRTHDAY BLUES

 

THOUGHTS

 

It's a bleak morning out there with rain showers forecast off and on for much of the day.

But my mood is much better than yesterday's.

Sunday evening I forgot to take my "night pills", which include a couple of supplements which help me to sleep.

I was troubled by insomnia until about 3 a.m. when I realized what I'd done and gulped them down.

Of course it takes an hour or two for them to "kick in" so it was well toward morning before I caught a few hours of sleep.

A two-hour afternoon nap helped somewhat and then making sure I took the pills last night eased me into the arms of Morpheus.

I've been using that expression, the arms of Morpheus, for decades now and I just thought to Google it to see how it's defined.

It was as I thought with one slight adaptation.

Morpheus was the Greek god of dreams, a son of Hypnos.

Hypnos was the god of sleep.

But "the arms of Morpheus" is correctly used to mean sleeping.

So there you have it.

Your daily lesson in Greek mythology.

Or just another few minutes reading a silly blog post.

Ho-hum.

Time for a nap?

You can thank me later.

CATCHING UP

 

An outing!

Our first cultural immersion in I don't know how many years.

We went to a piano and strings concert at Yavapai College in Prescott yesterday.

The musicians were exemplary. 

Their leader, James D'León has been playing piano since the age of 4 and is a touring Steinway Artist.

His first violinist was Grace Nakano, the assistant Concertmaster of the Tucson Symphony Orchestra, a lovely native of Japan who played with great emotion.

Also performing were second violinist Laura Cásarez, also from The Tucson Symphony; Ruthie Wilde, the principal cellist with the West Valley Symphony; and Kimberly Sullivan, the principal Violist with Arizona Philharmonic.

I liked the entire concert but I think my favorite piece was the Scherzo: Allegro by Brahms.

So to come down from that excitement we went to Murphy's Bar and Restaurant in Prescott for a drink and a shared platter of mussels in a garlic, butter and white wine sauce.

Heaven!

And a perfect day.

Oh, that picture at the top of this post?

I just wanted you all to know I'm not taking you for granite.

(Ba-Da-Boomp)

RANDOM PHOTO

 

Home

MUFFINS

 We just tasted my latest culinary creation - Banana Walnut Muffins.

If I must say so myself, they are spectacular.

And SWMBO said "You done good."

So, as I responded to her, I think I'll keep the recipe.

For those of you about to ask me for my recipe, it's Dr. Dan's from the website you can access by clicking here.

He's a doctor so it's gotta be good for you, right?

VETTE

 I've never been a fan of the Chevrolet Corvette but this one caught my eye yesterday.

Something about that brilliant color and the sleek shape caused me to stop and stare and think "This might be fun to take for a drive."

Judy would say "That's your old man coming out, thinking you could lure a younger woman."

THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

 Well, well, well, how's your Spring planting weeding going?

Oh, stop with that nasty language, I get the drift.

Here in Paradise the temperature is scheduled to climb clear up to 80 degrees today, the sun is shining and all is right in the world.

So let us not dither any longer.

Strike up the band.

Well how about that, we ended right where we began.

This guy is amazing!

Now, no negativity, no niggling, no nagging, no neanderthalism, just nacreous nicety this weekend.

And always remember to keep laughing!

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

(awwwwww)

THE THING ABOUT SPRING . .

Yesterday was one of those days, as I told SWMBO, that makes me say my least favorite season of the year is Spring.

She knew what I meant.

I had gone out to the backyard to get the trash can and take it to the dumpster in front, prior to putting the latter out by the street for emptying by the trashmen.

While I was doing that I perceived (for the umpteenth time) that there was a plethora of weeds along the path so I got a weeding stick and went to work on them.

I was feeling pretty good about the progress I was making when I heard a truck stop out front.

I knew what it was.

It was FedEx.

So I hurried to the front and found a tightly rolled 8 by 10 foot astroturf carpet by the front door. 

I picked it up (sort of) and dragged and carried it around to the back yard.

(Need I remind you that I am an octogenarian?)

Well I got it to the back patio which awaited it and SWMBO came out and we got it unwrapped and spread out on the patio.

It's an improvement over the carpeting we had there for a number of years that had slowly begun to rot away.

And it looks better than the bare concrete.

Almost looks like grass, doesn't it?

So after getting that job done I dragged the hose over and filled the bird bath and gave the honeysuckle vine a brief spritz, then dragged the hose back and coiled it up again.

And took the garbage can, now full again with wrappings from the carpet, out to the dumpster again.

And then came in and collapsed on my bed for awhile.

But not too long as I had volunteered to make pizza for our comida (Spanish for dinner).

So that was my day.

Now do you see why Spring is my least favorite season of the year?

(Need I remind you once again that I am an octogenarian?)

A NEW LOOK

 I've been telling SWMBO for years that I like her look in bangs.

And after I saw the BRD in bangs I've been telling her she looks great with them.

So yesterday, we got a picture from her with, as she put it, a new look.

I love it.

How about you?

The BRD (Beautiful Rich Daughter)

aka Gayle

FUNNY MONEY

 Tummy Tickling Tuesday - just for laughs!

(Thanks, Wally)

(Thanks, Carla)

SPRING - DAY TWO

 Today is the second day of Spring, in the year 2022.

But the temperature here in the Central Highlands of Arizona is running in the 50's and it's accompanied today by a sharp breeze which puts a bit of an edge on The New Season.

Not only that, look what appeared since yesterday on the Bradshaws, just south of town.

Yes, Gentle Readers, those white spots are fresh snow!

But never fear.

The flowering fruit trees here in the more civilized city are taking their cues from the calendar, not the Weather Gods.

So Spring actually has made it's entrance and it's going to make itself even more apparent as this week moves on.

By next weekend, the mercury is predicted to have warmed into the 70's here and, Arizona Haters, into the 90's already down in the Big Valley of Phoenix.

And it's still March.

SPRING

 Up here in the north, it is, indeed, the day of the Vernal Equinox.

On this day the sun is directly over the Equator, which means that every place on earth has exactly equal amounts of sunlight and darkness: 12 hours.

But up here the weather will slowly get warmer while south of the Equator, it will get cooler.

Allegedly.

And there's this:

Some early birds among us are already perusing seed catalogs or visiting plant nurseries to rush the season.

Others just take the changing seasons in stride and with total boredom.

If you're like Ella Fitzgerald, singing . .

Spring is here

Why doesn't my heart go dancing?

Spring is here

Why isn't the waltz entrancing?

. . then you may understand the ennui of that feline above, our Visiting Cat, Matty, catnip sedated and ready for his nap.

OPTICAL ILLUSION

 I was curious about this pickup truck parked seemingly forever on a rocky mound in front of a new strip mall being built nearby.

So I went to check on it.

Well, surprise!

This "pickup" wasn't going anywhere.

It appears to be sculpted.

But what's even more surprising was what the rear of the "truck" displayed.

That's right.

A constantly flowing gusher of water.

But it wasn't pouring off into the street.

What we have here, ladies and gentlemen, is someone's idea of a fountain.

What will they think of next?

THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

 How are we all doing today?

Head ache a little from all that Hibernian Hell-Raisin' yesterday?

Well, if St. Patrick can drive the snakes out of Ireland, I can surely drive the pain out of your body with a little humor.

In respect to those aches and pains our subject today is aging.

Brace yourselves.

There now.

Feeling better?

Me neither.

Oh well, as long as you can still laugh you're all right.

So always remember to keep laughing and have a cautiously wonderful weekend.

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

(. . . oh, ouch . . .)

IT'S TIME

 For those of you steeped in mythology (or green beer), your time has come.

It is St. Patrick's Day!

Last night the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame defeated Rutgers in TWO OVERTIMES to make their way into the 64-team field who begin competition today in the annual NCAA Basketball Tournament.

It was truly March Madness so once again the Irish among you have something to celebrate.

As for the other mythology of the day, there's this:

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Sláinte!

DAMN SPELLCHECK!

 

BREAKFAST

 I broke my fast early this morning with a sizable slice of that Dutch Apple Pie my beloved baked yesterday.

And I topped it with two small scoops of vanilla ice cream.

All at around 8:30 a.m.

It was wonderful!

And now that Pi Day has been noted and celebrated, we can get on to the next festive mark on the calendar.

BAKE, BABY, BAKE

 Far be it from me to attempt to bake a pie on Pi Day.

But that may be because I have one of the finest chefs in the world living under my roof.

She took up the challenge.

Here is her product, fresh out of the oven.

That's Judy's Dutch Apple Pie.

What makes it a "Dutch" apple pie, you may be asking.

I did.

She told me it's because it has a crumb topping rather than a second crust.

I just know that I love it.

And I love her.

But not so much that I couldn't play around with it a little bit.