A RED MAPLE

The maple tree in our front yard is growing redder and redder as the temperatures at night go lower and lower.

More of the leaves are changing (and falling) every day.  It seems like one could stand in front of the tree and watch the red creep in.

The color offers a nice contrast to our brilliant blue sky.

If you look at this picture carefully, or perhaps blow it up by clicking on it, you'll spot a crescent of an early-rising moon up and to the right.

I CAN'T IKEA

I've never been inside an IKEA store, the Swedish furniture giant. But when we lived in Phoenix my wife and her daughter made a visit to the big store fairly near where we lived. SWMBO said it was the most confusing place she had ever gone to shop and she had to ask an employee how to find her way out of the place.  I suppose it's good marketing, thinking that people will spot other stuff they just have to have while they're working their way through the maze.  But I know the two gals never made a second visit.  Herewith, then, is a diagram of the typical IKEA store.

Talk about rats in a maze.

On a gentler note, here's a place beloved by the thousands of children who have been dragged through one of those many arts and crafts fairs on "The Square" in Prescott on a hot summer day.

The fence that surrounds the fountain keeps youngsters and dogs out but it's low enough to allow arms to reach in and touch the water.  A blessing in Arizona.

OLD PRESCOTT AND A FAMILY NAME

Sometimes you don't appreciate what's around you, right there in plain sight. Very close to where I live, the Fitzmaurice ruins contain artifacts of the Mountain Patayan people who lived in the area some 14,000 years ago. Still the city (still called a town) has only been incorporated 36 years.  So while humans have been around here for hundreds of generations, it's a town with relatively little history.  

But just down the road a piece lies the town of Prescott, which this year is celebrating it's 150th anniversary.  1864 was when the first streets were laid out and homesites sold, even though it took almost 20 more years before they got around to incorporating.

Still there are many significant historical buildings right in downtown Prescott.  You can recognize them by the architecture and the stonework.

Not the least of these 19th Century structures is the Yavapai County Court House.

It's a grand old building that has been undergoing some badly needed renovations in the past year or so.

The Courthouse Plaza, or The Square. surrounds the building on all four sides. While it hosts many arts and crafts festivals throughout the summer months, it is also sacred ground. The flags flying honor the 19 firefighters who died in a wildfire in 2013.  

There are monuments to local citizens who served their country during many wars over the years, like this one honoring World War Two veterans and victims.

There was a familiar name among the listings.

That was my father's name.  He was Franklin Berry Taylor, known as Frank.  It's a version of my name also . . Franklin Bruce Taylor, known as Bruce, though in my senior years when I have to fill out more and more documents who demand my first and last name, I've begun to use Franklin.  It just makes life easier.

By the name, that name on the plaque is no relative of ours, at least as far as I know.

Neither is the guitar-maker's name I noticed on the front of a downtown store.

They're headquartered in El Cajon, California. Still . . I just might have to send off for one of their tee shirts.  I think I'd go for the antique-looking one.

That just would seem to fit with the theme I've been wandering around in today, wouldn't it?

SOME BONUS FUNNIES

It's a silly Sunday.  Keep chuckling even though tomorrow is Monday.

LEAF ME ALONE

FRIDAY FUNNIES

It's Friday once again and I have been overwhelmed with contributions this week.  So I'm just gonna pick 7 or 8 and save the others.  If yours didn't make this week's list, remember there are other Fridays in the year and Stay Tuned.

And, of course, the cats.

That's it for this week, folks.  Loads of thanks to my contributors. Have a fantastic weekend. Be careful and don't Fall.  (There's a wee joke there.)  And always remember to keep laughing.

THROWBACK THURSDAY: Twice Told Tales

I was a kid in North Dakota in the 1940's.  No Internet back then. Heck, there wasn't even television.  So we got our entertainment from books and radio programs.  I don't know where I got the idea I wanted to be a magician but one year I got a magic set for Christmas.  Over the years I had a pretty good collection of books on magic.  And I gathered together some paraphernalia for making coins disappear and confounding my playmates with a deck of playing cards.  My mother was pretty good with a sewing machine and with craft paper and she made me a black magician's cape and a black top hat and sent The Great Taylor out to do a show.

Now those pants and dusty old cowboy boots could have used some work but look at those hands.  Magician's hands!

The magic shows didn't last but acting had gotten under my skin.  In high school and college I was in a number of plays and entertained the idea of becoming a professional actor.  Alas!  Youthful dreams.

But speaking of dreams, check out this dreamboat.

Mom outdid herself creating this Prince Charming costume for some play or operetta from my far and distant youth.  

Eat your heart out, Pacino!

THE (new) MARTIAN CHRONICLES

Yesterday I discussed briefly the idea of human exploration of the Planet Mars and the possibility of an earth colony there some day.  I accompanied my thoughts with a photo.  This one.

The idea was to convey an impression of the surface of Mars with its reddish surface, its mountain ridges and perhaps with its canals and seas which one day may have held water.  

But, as some of my discerning readers pointed out, it looked like something else.

Quilted Dogs questioned whether it might really be a part of my epidermis.

Which prompted Phil Perisich to remember my comments earlier about my camera's macro photography capabilities.

And Susie said it looked a little like a paper bag.

To those amateur detectives I offer a tip of the hat.  But just a tip. Because none of you were exactly correct.

Here's the true subject of that photograph, taken from further back.

It's the blotter pad which rests atop my desk.  But with various spillings it has taken on a distinctly Martian appearance and when I figured out how to use my camera's macro capabilities I just couldn't resist a little October Fool's joke.

I guess I should have remembered the famous quote from Abraham Lincoln - "You can fool some of the people all the time and all the people some of the time but you can't fool all the people all the time."

WHAT? A SECOND POST?

I know I (hardly) ever post twice in one day but then I saw this video of The Naked Chef, Jamie Oliver, and Superstar Taylor Swift. They're doing a cake-baking competition while Jamie sings (sort of) his version of Taylor's latest hit song "Shake It Off."  It's pretty funny and Ms. Swift looks sensational.  Enjoy.

INTERSTELLAR EXPLORATION

There are those among us who believe our life on Earth is coming to a close. Not soon but in the foreseeable future. Thus they are searching for new planets on which to establish a colony of earthlings. One of the sites being talked about as a new Earth is the planet Mars, long known as the Red Planet because of the coloration of the soil. Recent discoveries there have led to the belief that there was once water on the planet, a building block to life as we know it. The first humans to land on Mars may be many decades away but it is still an interesting proposition.  Can human life actually be established on Mars? Only future scientists will know for certain.

PEDICURE TIME

It was time.  Definitely time.  Blackwell has been caught clawing the furniture lately and it was time for his pedicure.

So it was into the cat carrier and into the car for the short trip to the cat groomer.  It's a trip he definitely does not like and he let me know all the way, both coming and going.  With his short memory I don't think he remembered the groomer from his last trip but she said he behaved like a perfect gentleman.  And it was all over in just minutes.

Home again and I inspected the job.

It looks a bit rough but at least those sharp points are gone.  For awhile.

Meantime, Blackwell gives me a look which I can only interpret as "how could you?"

But I know he'll be back in my lap soon enough.  I do, after all, belong to him.

ARIZONA AUTUMN COLOR

I believe I mentioned this before and there was some gentle sneering. But here in the Central Highlands of Arizona the trees truly are changing color.  Here is a selection of photos from my neighborhood in the foothills of the Bradshaw Mountains.

The last two are from a Maple tree directly in front of our house. Every day more and more of the leaves are turning red.

Yesterday was cool enough here that SWMBO finally broke down and turned on the furnace. Today it's sunny and warm and we have opened the doors and windows again.

FRIDAY FUNNIES

I don't know about this week's Funnies . . . they seem to have a bit of an edge to them.  Oh, well, here goes.

Well, maybe something in this collection made you smile. Here's hoping you have a mirthful weekend and thanks to all my contributors.