ANCESTORS

It is well known that the area where I live was inhabited a thousand years and more before the present residents arrived here.  Several pit houses have been discovered on the north side of Willow Lake and have been carefully explored, restored as much as can be and are now on display for amateur archaelogists and history buffs.

The remaining pits where the houses stood, beginning in 850 A.D., have been protected with concrete walls and steel ramadas. Sidewalks have been laid to allow visitors to view the sites without causing any damage.

Holes were dug in the ground to support tree limbs which in turn provided support for the roofs.  Only the earth excavations remain. Artifacts including pottery shards were removed and taken to a museum.

The larger pits were used for food storage.

Archaelogists have learned that the pit houses were occupied more or less continuously for about 200 years, from around 900 A.D. to 1100 A.D.  Then the Native Americans slowly abandoned the sites and moved away. The area was not inhabited again until the 16th Century, when the Yavapai Apache moved into the area.  They are still here, on a small reservation, but now with a large resort hotel and two casinos.

The earliest inhabitants had this view toward the nearby Willow Lake.

Of course the many houses on the other side of the lake came hundreds of years later.

It's an interesting site worth visiting to learn about some of our earliest visitors to this land called Arizona.

ON A CLEAR DAY . . .

. . . you can see forever.

Those snow-capped mountains hold the highest point in Arizona. They are the San Francisco Peaks, just north of Flagstaff.  The highest point in the range is Mount Humphreys, 12,633 feet in elevation.  By road, they're around 120 miles from where this picture was taken.  By air, probably 90 to 100 miles.

Zooming in you can get an even better view.

It helps bring them into view when there's snow on the tops.  In the summer the blue of the mountains tends to sort of melt into the sky.

And, of course, it helps when there's a clear, sunny day like today.

Shifting the camera to the left a bit, I can show you Willow Lake.

In spite of a wetter than normal January, the lake is still low.

FRIDAY FUNNIES

You're laughing.  I know you are.  I can't hear you but I know it. Thanks to contributors and theft victims, as always, and keep a smile on your kisser, folks!

THROWBACK THURSDAY

Once upon a time, when I was living in Austin, Texas, I was out west of the city somewhere (Dripping Springs, maybe) and I stopped in the office of a resort along side a river.  The resort looked nice and I wanted to inquire as to the rates, thinking of maybe a weekend visit. As I was talking to the lady I nonchalantly said something like "I'm not from around here."

Her reply?  

"Yep, I could tell you was a Yankee!"

Now how do you suppose she could tell?

THE PLIGHT OF AN INDOOR CAT

We keep our cats inside the house.  The older one may remember how we rescued her years ago from a rain storm.  She has no inclination to go outside.  But the younger one spent more of his life as an outdoor feral cat.  Though he was quite seriously damaged numerous times in fights with some other animal, he still longs for the free air and the adventure of the outer world.  He has managed to escape the house briefly several times but was quickly captured and returned to "his prison."  We nicknamed him "the escape artist." While he seems to have finally adapted to his confinement, I still occasionally find him sitting in a beam of sunlight, staring seemingly morosely at that exciting life outside the glass door.

I have thought of getting one of those cat harnesses and leashes but I suspect Blackwell would react to it like this cat did.

It's not easy, being the companion of an indoor cat.

PRESCOTT VALLEY

As I was looking through blogs of "my friends" last night, I ran across this picture on Judy's blog.  (I put "my friends" in quotes because even though I feel they are my friends, I've never met any of them except here in cyberspace.)  Judy is a wonderful photographer with an exceptional "eye" for seeing a picture before she takes it.

But her photo reminded me of a couple I had taken a few days ago from a second floor window of the adjacent Prescott Valley Public Library.

I had been struck by the expanse and view from that window but when I looked at the photo on my camera I realized there was a great sky shot out there.  So I changed the angle slightly and took a second photo, which shows a bit of the Prescott Valley city government building which Judy's shot shows in full.

With the angles and the curves and the many sculptures sited around the grounds, the Prescott Valley municipal center offers a variety of subjects for the photographer.

Incidentally, that green-roofed building in the distance is the Prescott Valley Police Department's headquarters.

Great sky, though.

THE END . . AND THE BEGINNING

O.K. The football season is finally over.  But baseball's pitchers and catchers report in just 19 days!

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, America's TRUE sport is not that far away. Let there be rejoicing in the land.  Arizona's Diamondbacks have a new team with some exciting new players, a new manager, a new general manager and new hope for the coming season.  I won't say "let's play two" but I will say "let's play ball!"

Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow today and predicted six more weeks of winter.  But that's in the east and the midwest.  Here in Arizona, down by the old ball park, it's a balmy 72 today, heading for the 80's by the end of the week.  It's SPRING time, folks.  Let's get out there and enjoy it.  And while you're at it, pick some fresh fruit for your table.

EL LUNA

Was the moon bright last night or not?  

Here are several pictures taken just before sundown.

RAINY ARIZONA

I was watching a Phoenix television station the other night and the anchorman said "Wouldn't you know it?  52 weeks of the year and the one where we have both the Phoenix Open and the Super Bowl in town and it rains!"

Of course, the football game is Sunday and is being played in a stadium with a retractable roof.  And it didn't rain hard yesterday and I watched some of the golf tournament and it looked like they played through it.

Still, here's how it looked through my window yesterday morning.

Not exactly the best day for shooting that new tourism video.

THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

So here it is once again, folks, the end of a week and the beginning of a weekend.  What better time to irritate your fellows around you by staring at a computer screen and chuckling, chortling, outright laughing to yourself.  Launch mirth!

Well not me but someone I know.

So?  The cat's not hysterically funny this week?  Everyone deserves a break.

But for the others . . thanks to my (heh-heh) contributors and have a splendid weekend, folks. And remember, keep laughing!

THROWBACK THURSDAY

I've had an interesting life (so far).

From this . . .

  . . . . to this

(top picture: Stanley, North Dakota, probably the 1940's. Left to right - Jerome Larson (Romey), Roger Abelson, Jim Burbidge, Jerry Eidem, Bruce Taylor (me), Bruce Davick)

(bottom picture: Casino Monte Carlo, Monaco, 1985.  Me in lower left.)

We (Our Gang) had a lot of fun in our "kid" days.  Possibly less fun at Monte Carlo.  I didn't break the bank and I didn't see James Bond.

A SLIGHT ALTERATION

Here we go again.

The beard I patiently waited to grow out for 6 weeks or so.  I was hoping for a true Santa Claus look and if I had waited longer that dishwater look on the sides might have become white.  Or at least whiter.

But I didn't.

This morning I got rid of those sides and went back to my goatee.  Fuller, now.

We'll see how long this lasts.

And before you all start on me, yes it does bring a smile to my face. 

(Sort of.)

MY FAITHFUL COMPANION

"With my back to the light, he'll never see me"

"With my special vision, I'm scanning the horizon"

"My radar detectors are on full alert"

"I should chase the invader but this blanket is so-o-o-o comfy"

"Oh, all right.  Just get me from my best side"

DETECTING MY CRAZINESS

I hadn't meant it as a contest but . . . we have a winner!  Steve Glossin, my ex-pat friend from Northern California now retired from the military and living in Germany, hit it nearly spot on. Steve is the author of the blog Life is Good (Most of the Time) and several novels of international intrigue. He correctly identified yesterday's photos as close-ups of the sandstone slabs in my back yard altered with some photo-shopping colors.  I said "nearly" spot on because the slab in my header was not among those so altered.  But its neighbors were. So, as they say on the award shows, let's have a big round of applause for Steve.  It makes me think he may have had some type of military career as an analyst of some type. Congratulations, Steve.

Which brings us to celebratory Monday.  For the past two weeks I've been on not a diet exactly but an alteration of my lifestyle.  Much less booze, eating an early breakfast, avoiding fast food, and the like. This morning I'm proud to tell you the scale says I've lost 10 pounds. SWMBO would be quick to tell you that men always lose weight faster than women.  But I feel good about it if still not good about my weight.  The battle goes on.

Don't I look slimmer?  (Actually not much.  This picture was taken a few days ago.)  

Who knows how much weight I will lose when that beard comes off!