THROWBACK THURSDAY

There's a remarkable piece of reportage by one of my fellow bloggers today.

It's by Cindy and it can be found over on the right side of this page under "NearandFarAZ".

I say it's remarkable because it is about Carmel, Indiana and a couple of surrounding communities.

It's where my wife, the famed SWMBO, grew up and returned to raise her young family.

When I met Judy she lived in a house in a very wooded area, a forest really, just outside of Carmel and she remembers the population being around 3,000 people.

A village.

Today, as Cindy reports, Carmel is home to around 92,000 people and is a modern thriving city on the edge of Indianapolis.

Incidentally a point of interest: the name of the town is pronounced CAR-mel in Indiana.

In California their Carmel is pronounced car-MEL.

I failed to find any pictures of the town back in the day but I have this one of my dear love, from about the time that I met her . . . a girl from Carmel.

Beautiful then . . beautiful now.

A MAN

Martin Luther King Jr. was born on this date in 1929.

He was a man who knew how to draw a crowd.

He said:

 "Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness."

He would have been 91 today.

LAZY

Our "rent-a-cat" enjoying a nap on my messy unmade bed this morning.

NEARLY SILENT SATURDAY

Photo on my street, actually taken this past Thursday.

The clouds brought a bit of snow.

THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

Hello again.

One instruction today: don't anyone comment with "OK Boomer".

I just learned what it means.

You fellow seniors, just Google it.

It snowed here last night so let us begin with . . .

And on that cheery note, I shall bring this period of hilarity to a close with the advice to all of you to enjoy yourselves and have a spectacular weekend.

And always remember to keep laughing!

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

(ooooooh, now that's a bit snarky)

FRENCH APPLE CAKE

One of the blogs I follow is that of David Lebovitz, the former pastry chef at Chez Panisse restaurant in California and for a number of years now an expatriate in Paris.

He brings not only the taste of Paris but the tastes of French cuisine, most often as interpreted by an American.

He wrote on his blog about another American living in Paris, Dorie Greenspan, and her recipe for a French Apple Cake.

The recipe looked simple enough for an amateur home cook like me so yesterday I tried it.

It turned out well and I had a wee slice of it last night after dinner.

With a splash of whipped cream it was pretty darned good, if I do say so myself.

THROWBACK THURSDAY (ON WEDNESDAY)

Back in the day when I was skinny, had dark hair, a reddish beard.

Sometime in the late 1980's in Guadalajara, Mexico.

Gadfrey!

That's over 30 years ago!

Check out that computer and that monitor with green letters on a black screen.

Would it have been a Commodore 64?

I can't remember.

But I remember that cat.

Our beloved Chulapay (Mexican slang for Cutie Pie).

She loved the warmth from that lamp.

I was, as usual, into a vodka and water it appears.  

What you can't see is my ashtray and pack of cigarettes.

Ah, those were the days.

I had lunch yesterday at the Pie Place with a couple of colleagues from my days in Phoenix television news.

After hearing many of the tales of our rollicking times, I said then and I say now as I look at the photo above, "How in hell did we survive to our present old age?"

It's a mystery.