Road Trip

SWMBO and I went on a road trip yesterday.  We'd been talking for months about making a trip up to Williams, since "it's only 50 miles." Ah, old age and a faulty memory. I was remembering the distance from the north side of Prescott to Ash Fork, or the junction with Interstate 40. But it's 8 to 10 miles from our house over to join the highway north from Prescott and then another 15 miles from Ash Fork back east to Williams.  So that 50 mile jaunt turned out to be around 73 miles. But we got there.

These bronze sculptures mark the east entrance to Williams.  It's up in "tall pine" country or as a sign alongside the road noted "elk country." These, typically for me, were the only elk we saw.

One other thing I forgot about - the weather. The town sits at about 6,700 feet, nearly a couple of thousand higher than home and the temperature was in the low 40's and there were occasional snow flurries. Not a good day for ambling along the street visiting shops. And Williams has plenty of them, mostly devoted to the fact that it sits on a famous highway.

We spent quite a bit of time wandering through one huge business that must have had every known item of kitsch to remind the shopper that they were in Route 66, Harley Davidson and gun country. But we also visited a wonderful business devoted to Native American art and jewelry. The proprietor was very knowledgeable and solicitous, without putting "the sell" on us.

Then it was time for lunch.

The restaurant we selected was quiet and very tastefully decorated. It sort of gave me the feeling of being in a Dutch Master painting, not what I would have expected in a western town that is not only on Route 66 but also bills itself as "the Gateway to the Grand Canyon", about an hour to the north. I'm not sure which came first, the restaurant or the iconic bird it's named for.

Nevertheless the food and service was wonderful and the Bourbon Ale draught beer wasn't bad either. ☺

After lunch we decided to head east to the outskirts of Flagstaff and then take the highway down through Oak Creek Canyon to Sedona. On the way we encountered more snow as we climbed ever higher.

Yes, folks, that IS Arizona you're looking at . . not Michigan or Minnesota. But never fear. Dropping down through the canyon the temperature rose 10 degrees and the snow quickly disappeared as we entered the Red Rocks region.

(By the way, just to allay the fears of Nervous Nellies, SWMBO in the co-pilot's seat was the on-the-road photographer.)

World-famous Sedona was, as usual, hopping. It never ceases to amaze me that what was once a tiny isolated village has become a tourist mecca, 12 months a year. 

I spoke to one visitor who said he was from Pennsylvania. I asked him, good-naturedly,  "don't any of you tourists know it's February?"

He responded, "it's a lot better than the 17 degrees back home!"

He probably could have said "what are you talking about?", as I licked my ice cream cone. (It was delicious, by the way.)

But it was getting late in the day so we bid Sedona and the road a fond farewell.

An hour later we were back in our warm home. A good day.

Vandalism & Throwback Thursday

I, and most of northern Arizona, was without my usual Internet service for around 6 hours yesterday due to a fiber optic cable being cut by vandals.  They must have had a pretty good size cutter, too, because in the video I saw on television the cable looked to be about 8 inches or so in diameter. At any rate, much of my area had no telephone or Internet service, which also affected banks and quite a few stores that have digital card readers or cash registers or telephones. While my desktop computer was one of those affected I did have the Internet via my smartphone and, of course, I had phone service. But I hope they catch the bad guys. It does make us realize how dependent we are on technology in these modern days.

But enough about modern days.  Let's go back, back, back to the much simpler and sillier days of the 1980's and Christmas Eve in Guadalajara, Mexico, shall we?

Yes, it's SWMBO and your serious scribe at a holiday fiesta, along with perhaps a few too many margaritas.

Ole!

Backyard Jungle

 I have a hedge plant in my backyard. It's very dense.

It's called a Red-Tip Photinia and properly growned and cultivated, it could resemble this.

But whoever developed my plot of land just let it grow as a tree.  A somewhat lazy tree, as you can see.

Actually, I rather like it. It seems to typify my attitude toward life these days. Relax. Rest. Take it easy.

But in amongst those leaves it's a more frantic time as new growth is put forth.

It looks a bit cannibalistic, don't you think?

Tendrils, groping, seeking the light. Letting nothing stand in their way.

This one looks like my face this morning. Needing a shave. Guess I'd better quit fooling around and get to it.

SUNSET(s)

40 degrees outside. Sun is shining but it's a lying sun. It doesn't have any heat reaching the Earth. It's one of those winter suns that seems to shine brightly but leaves the air crystalline. I think it was warmer yesterday. I know the rain clouds blowing through left us with a moderately nice sunset. I have evidence.

Of course we're proud of our Arizona sunsets. But you know what? So is everyone else everywhere. Some places like Hawaii and along the California coast and, of course, on my beloved Pacific coast of Mexico, have nice ones every day.  Even without clouds the sight of the sun seemingly sinking into the ocean far away is a sight to behold. 

I can remember the first time we were at the beach in Mexico . . Mazatlan probably. We were having a drink at one of those beach bars when suddenly it got very quiet. The musicians stopped playing. The bartenders stopped mixing. The customers stopped drinking and talking. And everyone was staring out to sea. We turned and looked too. It was the sun, still blazing but sinking slowly . . well, no, actually rather quickly . . lower and lower into the sea.  Or so it seemed. The scientist in me knew it was the rotation of the earth and our spot in paradise turning gradually away from the sun. Anyway finally the sun blinked out. No, I didn't see the green flash of light that people say occurs. But it was quite a sight. And all over the beach people had gone silent as if in some chapel to mark this everyday end of the day.

Then everyone turned around and ordered another drink as the music and raucous conversation picked up again.

It was a nice moment.

The silent part, I mean.

One of those Mexican beach sunsets

Barra de Navidad, Jalisco

Sometime in the 1980's

RAIN AND NEW BUDS

I'm sure most of you will be happy to learn that my weather has changed.  The thermometer is riding in the 50's and it rained (lightly) last night and this morning. It wasn't enough to wake me. It came like Sandburg's fog.

The fog comes

on little cat feet.

It sits looking

over harbor and city

on silent haunches

and then moves on.

 Actually after the Oscars finally ended last night I slept better and longer than ever. But the rain left its tracks.

So I wore my gloves for my morning walk but made the mistake of wearing a big black cowboy hat instead of my Greek fisherman's cap. With the breeze blowing it was a struggle to keep it on.

But my al fresco visit was not without reward.  Our redbud tree is all budded out.

It's still pretty early but it won't be long (he said) before these many buds will turn into red blossoms.

And then they will disappear and the tree will be covered with green leaves providing a safe lurking space for the finches and other birds directly above our bird bath.

But right now they look nearly good enough to eat, don't they?

. . . AND APPLE BLOSSOM WHITE

As I told you yesterday, there are trees with white blossoms coming out too. They're not apple trees, though, but flowering cherry trees.

Regrettably it's all for show. No edible cherries appear on these showy specimens.  They're just bragging.

The blossoms are delicate, much more so when viewed close-up, rather than in those sprays seen from a distance.  But like the flowering plum blossoms I showed you yesterday, they are a Trojan Horse.  When I went on my walk this morning the temperature was in the low 50's and a brisk breeze left my bare hands cold and red. Oh I know what you're thinking, those of you in the snow and ice belts: "I could STAND some temperatures in the 50's!"

But here in the Banana Belt of Arizona, the 50's with a stiff breeze is downright frigid.  And the forecast says there's more on the way.

The weatherman says it won't get out of the 50's for at least the next ten days. And those clouds to the north are said to be bringing rain and snow to Flagstaff today. So bundle up, weather woosies, we're not out of the wintry woods yet.

BECKONING TO SPRING

I always think the wild plum trees are rushing the season but here they are . . .

It's February but it looks like April.  SWMBO and I were talking about them yesterday and noting that the blossoms seem to come out all at once just overnight.  We agreed that they just seem to POP into life and color.

The branches fill with clusters of the beautiful flowers and all of the trees seem to bloom at once, as if on some secret signal.  There are flowering cherry trees full of snow white blossoms, too, but these with their radiant red and pink glory are my favorites.

We've been enjoying teasingly Spring weather while most of the rest of the country is still dealing with winter.  But we stand warned by experience.  Brief snow storms in late March are not unknown here.

But for now we'll enjoy sunny days and the clouds of plum blossoms.

FRIDAY FUNNIES - S'NO FUN

This is a special edition of the Friday Funnies, dedicated to you folks in the 90 percent of the U.S. and elsewhere around the globe who have been experiencing way too much snow and cold weather this winter.  Here in Arizona it was 71 yesterday and that's in the mile-high-lands. Which may explain this teensy bit of gloating.

O.K.  Gloating over.  Now let me pay tribute to the amazing sculptural talent of those of you in "snow country".

That one is fantastic but I think this next one is my favorite.

And, of course, the Catalyst would be remiss if he didn't include a cat!

I commend all of the snow sculptors for showing a sense of humor in the midst of a terribly snowy winter season.  Special thanks to my East Coast correspondent for sending me the pictures.  And to the rest of you - - let these folks be your inspiration and, like them, keep on laughing!

TBT - PLAY BALL!

Hey fans!  It's BASEBALL SEASON!

Pitchers and catchers report today for the first day of Spring Training!  C'mon D-backs!

And speaking of baseball and the beloved Arizona Diamondbacks, here's a Throwback Thursday picture from only a few years ago of my good buddy, Baseball Steve, and I at the ball park in Phoenix, getting ready to run (walk) the bases.

In spite of our advanced years, we did make it all the way around.

(No contracts were offered.)

DAY TRIP AND LENT

I made the drive down to Mesa yesterday to attend the annual Stanley picnic.  It's a reunion of people who grew up in Stanley, North Dakota.  You wouldn't think there would be that many people from a town nobody's ever heard of to hold a picnic but it is a pretty good sized gathering.  I'd guess somewhere between 50 and a hundred folk were there. I linked up with my old buddy from kid-hood, Jim Burbidge.  

Jim is a retired (I assume) dentist who celebrated his 75th birthday a short time back and I have mine in sight.  As I told several people yesterday, every time I write that I can't believe it.  What happened to the years?

I also met one of my classmates that I haven't seen since we both graduated from high school way back in 1958.  And a number of other people I hadn't seen in years, no, decades.  When I called my brother up in North Dakota last night to tell him about all of HIS classmates I had met up with yesterday . . I said these gatherings are a good thing because people are dropping off this mortal coil at an increasingly alarming rate so it's good to see them while they're still alive and kicking.  And he told me about yet another funeral he had attended recently for one of our contemporaries.

By the way, I should thank Jim.  He's become a big fan of Oddball and was promoting it to some of our fellows yesterday.  At my age I can use all the fans I can get.

So, down and back and today it's off to visit a new doctor for a first visit.  No problems, just getting established.  After all, it's a good time of year to take stock.

MARKERS

Today, some photos to mark a few things.

First, the Westminster Dog Show.

Oh, yeah, and all that snow back in the East.

There are some creative folks sculpting their own versions of "snow men".

But for real creativity . . in the costume department . . one has to head down South, to N'awlins, where today is Fat Tuesday.  Happy Mardi Gras, everyone.

It won't be sober but at least have a safe day, revelers.

PRESIDENTS' DAY

Happy Presidents' Day!