ROAD TRIP

 The legendary She Who Must Be Obeyed and I took a little tour to one of our favorite spots yesterday, just a little over an hour away.

Our destination was the Red Rock Country and what was only a village when we first discovered it some 49 years ago . . Sedona.

It has grown since then.

The Village of Oak Creek, south of Sedona proper, has grown by leaps and bounds like Sedona itself and is encroaching on the red rocks themselves.

But one can still crop the photos taken at various viewpoints along the road to show only the strange rock formations.

Curiously, examining closely, one can see that small trees have sprouted in cracks in the red rocks  and are fighting for survival in a very dry world.

Arriving at the shopping mecca called Tlaquepaque, named after a suburban town of Guadalajara, Mexico, we find some visitors have found a way to escape the heat.

As for us, we repair to the Rene Restaurant for our coolers.

I know what you're thinking but remember, it's always 5 o'clock somewhere and we are celebrating a special day.

Judy, aka SWMBO, has reached a marker date, her 85th birthday!

And wonder of wonders, I can still get her to smile.

Or maybe she's thinking of that martini!

(. . . to be continued . . .)

OLD & NEW(ish)

 Well, of course, the Master Gardener from London recognized yesterday's mystery alien plant as a dandelion.

The photo was a macro shot of a dead one in our neighbor's yard.

Even I was surprised by how it looked like some kind of evil space invader.

But on to today.

Here's a plant on one side of our backyard arbor.

It's a potted Honeysuckle striving desperately to live up to it's ground-planted brother against the wall.

This one suffered from neglect on our part and under-watering.

But it is surviving this Spring and putting out some of the fragrant blossoms that SWMBO wanted when she planted it.

On the other side of the arbor from the weak Honeysuckle is a Wisteria vine also pot-planted, last year.

Both of the vines died off over the winter but came back to life with warmer weather and watering.

We're still waiting for blossoms and aroma on that one.

Tomorrow (maybe) I'll give you a look at the herbs we've planted.

DANGER

 

Can anyone identify this dangerous looking plant?

MOTHERS' DAY

 Best wishes to all the moms being remembered and celebrated today.

SATURDAY

 A lazy Saturday and time for a new header photo.

It's the north shore of Waialua and the image was captured by someone from Portland, Oregon who goes by the name Sean O.

I don't have much else this morning.

No pictures of note.

My latest experiences in the kitchen have yielded Friday night pizza (frozen, from the supermarket, with a little doctoring) and an old-fashioned Tuna Noodle Casserole.

My family wasn't French-ified.

We called it a "hotdish".

At any rate I decided you didn't want to see either one of those so no photos exist.

Got a load of laundry going this morning, have to run to the pharmacy to pick up a prescription and with that I'll probably have worn myself out.

Just a typical Saturday.

Enjoy the header.

THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

Sorry, I'm late, I had computer problems this morning.

But they're fixed now and we can resume our traditional travel away from our travails.

Yes, it's time for some HUMOR!

(That's HUMOUR to those of you who speak the King's English.)

Whatever.

Think about it.

Okay, while you're doing that, let me importune you all to have a remarkable weekend.

And always remember to keep laughing!

Here, kitty-kitty . .

THE HEAT IS ON

The nearest official thermometer is at the airport in Prescott, a few miles away and a couple of hundred feet higher than here in Prescott Valley.

It says the temperature at 4 p.m. as I'm writing this is clocking in at 83 degrees.

I was just talking to my neighbor and he said the thermometer measuring the outside temperature on his truck said it was 86.

But the real heat today came in around 100 miles to the south of us, at the airport in Phoenix.

Hey, that's nothin'.

Back in 1988 the first triple digit day occurred on March 26th!

And as we Arizonans are fond of saying . .

I have lived and visited in other parts of the country, where the humidity can match the temperature, and I can testify that the heat is much less tolerable there.

But what the heck, the first day we hit the century mark this year happens to fall on Cinco de Mayo.

Not that we need it but what two better excuses to crack one of these . .

TENACITY

 You have to give plants, and WEEDS, a lot of credit.

They can grow into trees sometimes through a crack in a sidewalk.

Nothing seems to stop them if they are left alone.

Kudzu came from nowhere and took over the southland of the United States.

Out where I live cacti grow in a land seemingly devoid of water.

Or tumbleweed.

Who can overlook tumbleweed?

Then there are these small, delicate white blossoms that crop up everywhere during the Spring of the year.

I don't know their proper name.

I suppose someone who reads this will identify them.

But look at that rocky, weedy soil they've come out of - right at the side of a busy street.

I never cease to be amazed.

Especially when flowering plants that I've carefully planted, watered and tended wither and die on the vine.

SATURDAY NIGHT SUPPER

 

Sometimes the best supper is breakfast.

MAY DAY

 There can now be no doubt - Spring is here.

I know that first by observing the temperatures rise into the 80's here the past couple of days but second and more important by May 1st arriving.

That is traditionally a holiday to celebrate another Spring season.

When I was a kid, we used to exchange May Baskets, usually containing small hard candies.

I understand adults sometimes gave baskets filled with flowers.

Some Socialists and Communists chose the date as International Workers' Day and held parades.

Now, in my senescent years, I might prefer to mark the day the way our neighbors' cat Matty did on our couch yesterday.

He actually looked like he was sleeping off a May Day party hangover.

Speaking of that, one of my commenters on Thursday's post about the Terrible Trio wondered if we'd see those lads in their present day incarnation.

The last time we all got together was 6 years ago when they came to help me celebrate my 75th birthday.

That's Timmer, Taylor, Tom and a 4th former conspirator, Torbeck.

The Four T's.

All still perambulating, I might add.

Maybe we should form a singing group.

THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

 If you thought *yesterday's* post was funny you probably also thought yesterday was Friday.

Ha!

Gotcha again!

Because, Gentle Readers and Humor Seekers, *today* is Friday.

I know this because the Comedy Cartel is calling to me, shrieking "let me out, let me out!"

And so I shall.

Now if you think this week's edition went to the dogs you might be right.

At any rate I hope you have a wonderful weekend, full of yucks, fine dining, some outside activities and don't forget to pet your puppy.

Oh and one other thing.

Always remember to keep laughing!

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

THIS IS TROUBLE

 One of my longtime friends, identified on this blog only as Timmer, is a recently-retired vice-president of a television station in Denver.

But many, many, many years ago, he and I worked together in his first job out of college, at a different television station in Phoenix.

Timmer was a photographer then and I was a reporter, both for the news side of the station.

Before my time in Phoenix, I had worked for a radio station in Indianapolis and there met Tommy Terrific.

Tom had a long and successful career in radio and television in that city before retiring some years ago to a coastal village in California where he created his own blog, Light Breezes.

There is a story that Timmer and I went to Kansas City to a Democratic mini-convention when the late Arizona Congressman Mo Udall was running for President.

Tom reportedly came from Indianapolis to cover the same convention.

The stories that have emanated about these three youngish men wreaking havoc there have never been confirmed by anyone of respectable reputation.

But the reports were enough to prompt She Who Must Be Obeyed to dub the three innocents The Terrible Trio when she saw this photo, taken in front of the vaunted palm tree in our Phoenix backyard.

That's Tom, Taylor and Timmer, left to right.

I got the picture in a mailing from Timmer today.

I believe it was taken sometime in 1976 but I can't be sure.

All I know is that each of these three lads has put on considerable poundage since that day.

And that all of us are innocent of any criminal charges from that alleged Kansas City meeting.

The Statute of Limitations has long since passed anyway.

HEADING EAST

 When I was out this afternoon running some errands (masked) I found myself behind a vehicle with this statement in it's rear window:

Unmasked

Unmuzzled

Unvaccinated

Unafraid

I was having one of my imaginary conversations in my head, thinking I'll pull up alongside them and tell them I have another couple of U words for their sign:

Uninformed

Un-American

But you know, I don't like confrontations and those kind of people are usually armed so I just shook my head and let it go.

While I was out, I also encountered several rain showers and one sort of a hailstorm so I scurried home rather quickly.

This evening, some great sky shots in my neighborhood.

Tomorrow, the Weather Gods inform us, all of this will be moving on to the east of us and our mercury, which topped out today in the 50's, will be about 10 degrees higher.

And by Friday and Saturday, it will get into the mid 80's.

Arizona.

What a crazy place.

PINK

 Pink sky at night - - a (???????) delight!

I couldn't find a finish for that bit of doggerel.

I know "Red sky at night, a sailor's delight" but nothing about a pink sky.

Actually I'm not sure that tonight's sky is actually going to be pink.

But the mighty Google tells me that there's a full moon scheduled tonight and it's known as a Pink Moon, named after phlox, the pink flowers that bloom in the Spring.

Well, regardless, a glance at our sky a bit ago told me that we probably won't see it anyway.

Pretty darned cloudy out there.

But fear not, sky watchers.

I snapped a photo of that same sky a couple of nights ago so here's a preview.

That's an indication of what you may see tonight if the skies are clear where you are.

You're welcome.

HERE WE GO AGAIN

 As the header says, Begin.

Begin another year though it's becoming more and more difficult. 

But yesterday was a pretty good day.

We made only our second trip to a restaurant in over a year, this time to the Red Lobster for, of course, a lobster gorging.

Well, that's what I did, on the orders of my wife and, you know, I don't call her She Who Must Be Obeyed for nothing.

She, on the other hand, had Coconut Shrimp, an old favorite of hers there, and it was such an ample serving that she brought half of it home for dining today.

Along with two take-out bowls of Lobster Bisque.

I think after today we will have had our seafood fix for awhile.

Of course, there's always . . .

. . my favorite birthday treat, carrot cake with cream cheese frosting and SPRINKLES!

I put that photo out one more time just for the Beautiful Rich Daughter who on her recent birthday was gifted with a box of 15 designer chocolates from one of Prescott's finest chocolatiers.

So was she grateful?

Hah!

She has whined that my Number One Chef made a cake for her partner a month ago, she made one for me, but did SHE get a Mommy Made Cake?

Darling daughter, we'll save you a slice.

And to those who sent greetings yesterday, thenkyew, thenkyew, thenkyew.

ONE MORE YEAR

 And another trip around the sun.

And to answer the oft-asked question, I'm 81 today.