THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

 'Tis here, m'dear, the weekend!

Not, I might point out, the Weeknd.

You people of the Canadian persuasion might be disappointed but them's the facts.

So, let us begin to lighten with levity, shall we?

Oh, stop with the booing.

Boo-hoo-ing is allowed though.

Listen, I only put out what you, my faithful followers and playful providers, send me.

All right?

So listen, take yourselves out for a walk (watching where you step, of course) and eat and drink well this fabulous weekend.

Come to think of it, have YOURSELVES a fabulous weekend.

And always, no matter how gross the humor, remember to keep laughing!

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

( . . and you thought it was bad up until now . .)

Oscar Peterson - Hymn To Freedom

I have said for years that the pianist with the fastest hands I've ever heard was the legendary Oscar Peterson.

I was reminded of that again this morning when a newsletter I receive from the Washington Post included a link to this extraordinary performance in Denmark in 1964.

It's just shy of 7 minutes long but hang with it.

Also featured are Ray Brown on bass and Ed Thigpen on drums.

For those of you concerned about the Crooks Fire burning in the Prescott National Forest south of here, it's grown to 2,000 acres and the firefighters are concerned about high winds again today and tomorrow.

Keep them in your thoughts.

There have been some evacuations but I don't believe any homes have been burned yet.

The Tunnel Fire near Flagstaff, about 80 miles north of here, however has claimed a number of homes outside of the city.

It is early with a long fire season ahead.

FIRE SEASON

 

This is the view this morning toward the Bradshaw Mountains from the end of my street.

(Sorry about the power lines.)

The Crooks Fire started about 14 miles south of Prescott sometime yesterday and was only 4 acres at mid-day.

But by this morning it had expanded to 750 acres and there is a Red Flag Warning for all day today because of high winds and low humidity.

The Weather Gods say winds could gust as high as 50 miles per hour.

And Arizona is in the midst of a multi-year drought.

So there you go.

It could be a long, hot summer with more of these fires happening.

If you're in a hazardous area, stay safe.

MONEY, MONEY, MONEY

 Yup, you guessed it.

It's TAX DAY!

It's that joyous time of the year when, unlike yesterday, we have to figure out how to pay for all our sins of the previous year.

It's a wonderful day for Certified Public Accountants.

Not so great for the laggards who have put off the pain until the last moment.

One of the wonderful advantages of being a very old man and of having very little income is that I filed, electronically, as soon as I received the necessary forms in the mail.

Back around February 1st.

And, while I neither have to pay the Feds or receive anything back from them, I do get a pittance from a couple of state returns.

So I'm done early and (moderately) happy with the results.

For the rest of you, Happy Tax Day!

Easter Dinner went (relatively) swimmingly yesterday with the addition to our table of The BRD.

SWMBO did her usual stellar performance in the kitchen and the table was creaking with delicious comestibles.

Your Catalyst, the congenial host, forgot (once again) to take any  pictures so you will just have to use your imaginations.

As part of my atonement however I will share with you a photo sent to SWMBO from Devastating Diane.

That is something over 100 cinnamon rolls she baked for a "mini" brunch after Easter morning services at her church!

Diane is just about a month from celebrating her 90th birthday!

Can someone please find this woman and get her out of the kitchen!

I'M READY

 It is the day of days.

The day when SWMBO takes over the kitchen and prepares a feast.

After the last such day she vowed she would never do that again.

She said at her age and with her decades of self-imposed kitchen slavery she was done with it.

And yet.

And yet.

Here we are again.

This one is a little different.

As I have related, I made a dessert cake and a batch of dinner rolls.

But still there is the ham, the scalloped potatoes, the sweet potatoes, the relish plate, the deviled eggs.

So while she goes at it I will try to serve as her sous chef and her dishwasher and her errand boy.

But mostly I'll just try to stay out of her way.

After all, I have to rest from my labors.

Actually, that's my daily bask in the sun as I try to replicate George Hamilton's tan.

And contrary to belief, those are not horns protruding from my temples. 

It's merely the back of the chair.

ONE MORE THING

 I have tried to take a teeny bit of the load off of SWMBO when cooking for "a holiday".

Granted.

It sometimes puts more of a load on her.

As I have pointed out many times, I am a very amateur cook.

And she's been cooking for over 60 years.

So mistakes happen on my ventures into the kitchen.

Like . . .

. . .well, let's not linger on that.

But I try.

And sometimes I succeed.

As in these dinner rolls I made for the Eater Extravaganza.

They're not bad but they look a lot better when I crop the photo, 

don't they?

Regardless.

We tried a couple of the lesser ones with a tad of margarine and 

they're pretty damned good.

I think they'll do.

CAKE

 Easter Sunday.

Or as I have renamed it, Eater Sunday.

I know, I know, I'm a heretic.

Be that as it may.

This heretic spent hours in the Taylor Family Bakery Kitchen Friday.

Most cooks would have spent about half an hour.

But I'm not most cooks.

I'm a beginner.

So it takes me a lot longer.

But here's the result of my labors.

Looks kinda unimaginative, doesn't it?

Here's a bit of a better look.

But for the big reveal, one I did not trust myself to do, I called in the

Master Chef, SWMBO, aka Judy.

And she, masterfully, did the honors.

Yes!

It's my very own (first) Pineapple Upside Down Cake!

Voila!

Happy Eater!

THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

I'm here, a little late, but here.

The sun is shining and for those of you marking Passover or Easter or both, the time is at hand.

Does this mean Spring is finally and truly here.

Let us hope so.

And now let's open the Humor Bank and see what's in there.

Now the time has come for you all to concentrate on having a marvelous weekend.

And always remember to keep laughing!

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

(ah, yes)

CATALYST-SPEAK

 

(Wacky Wally read my mind when he sent me this)

IT'S SO WHITE!

 Recently I was reading a blog I keep up on written by a youngish fellow (in his 60's) in Sheffield in the U.K. (England, actually).

He had a post about Lebanon, Kansas, which he identified as the geographical center of the contiguous United States.

I commented to him that if he had gone to the geographical center of North America he would have been around Rugby, North Dakota, which is about 120 miles straight east of the town where I grew up.

Today I was surprised to find that he had done a post on my home town, Stanley.

He learned and related that the town, with a population of something over 2,500 people, is a tad less than 99 percent white.

Well, I do remember that there was only one African-American man living there when I was a kid and the population was only around 11 hundred.

There were some Native Americans but I don't remember if any of them lived in Stanley.

I do remember, thinking back, that it was a pretty-much Opie-like existence (as in the old Andy Griffith television show).

All of which brings me to an email conversation I had the other day with another blogger friend in the Seattle, Washington area.

She (Margaret) was saying that the mountain passes in her state were getting hammered with a blizzard, meaning lots of snow.

Which brings me to a conversation I had this morning with a cousin in North Dakota (only about 60 miles from my home town).

She said they were expecting a blizzard to hit at any time and the forecast was for up to 30 INCHES OF SNOW!

Now that's white!

And may I remind everyone that this is nearly mid-April?

I told her I was very happy that I now live in Arizona.

This is about the only white I relate to these days.

That's an ornamental pear tree just a couple of blocks from where I now live.

LURKING IN LUCKENBACH

 A very good writer for the local newspaper, The Daily Courier, for many years also travels quite a bit and documents her travels on infrequent blog posts.

Cindy Barks' blog is called NearandFarAZ and she has a fresh post today, which can be found here about a number of towns she visited in Texas.

The last one, which she calls a bonus town, is the tiny spot called Luckenbach.

With a population listed as 3, it's more of a wide spot to go to for drinking and dancing than anything else.

There's a dance hall and one other main building which houses a souvenir shop and a working saloon.

One warm summer day back in the early 1990's when we were living in Austin we visited the town and partook of it's hospitality in the saloon.

Cindy mentions a song that made the burg famous, recorded by a couple of good old boys back in 1977.

Just for old time's sake, give a listen to Waylon Jennings and Willy Nelson (and friends).

WHO'S THERE?

 

(Thanks to Tommy Terrific for that one)

THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

 April is my favorite month.

It's the time when Spring really does burst forth.

Oh there may be the occasional snowstorm but we all know it won't last and the buds will soon be exploding into blossoms.

And it's the time for celebrations.

Anniversaries, like ours.

And I just learned that my great-great-grandparents got married on the 5th of April in 1826!

And it is a month of birthdays too.

The BRD's is in a few days and mine is in a couple of weeks and . . .

No, no, no, I'm just kidding about that.

Her birthday isn't until next month.

But speaking of kidding . . .

Pop goes the weasel!

Hahahahahahaha!

Oh, sometimes even I have to laugh.

What's that?

I'm alone?

Harrumph!

Well, y'old grouches, try to struggle through the next couple of days and have a good weekend.

And always remember to KEEP ON LAUGHING!

Awright?

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

ANOTHER CYCLE

 

It's been a long time since this photo was taken of Judy and Bruce, aka SWMBO and Catalyst.

It's on our doorstep at Governour's Square apartments in Indianapolis, Indiana.

We were newly married.

A lot of miles since then and, as the old saying goes, a lot of water over the dam.

Today marks our 51st wedding anniversary.

UH-OH

For a long time now I've been pooh-poohing people who complain about side effects from the Covid shots.

I never have side effects.

I never have had side effects from flu shots either.

At least not since I was a little kid, back in the Dark Ages.

One nearby friend beat me by a few days to getting his SECOND booster shot for Covid.

Then he described his side effects.

Neuropathy the first night, he said.

Ha!, I scoffed.

And Monday SWMBO and I got OUR second booster shots.

No problem, said I.

We did some shopping and some gardening afterwards.

That night the neuropathy began.

Now if you don't know what neuropathy is let me describe it to you.

It's a severe nerve pain that comes and goes in the sufferer's feet.

At least that's where I get it.

And, for some reason, it's usually worse after I go to bed, leading to prolonged moaning and occasional screaming and cursing.

This night, in spite of the medication I take for it at bedtime and the acetaminophen I took about 4 a.m., it did not go away all night.

And when I rose in the morning, not from sleep I might add, I was groggy enough to be walking into walls most of the day.

Judy kept telling me it would be better the next day and she helped it along with a dose of another, stronger medicine for last night.

It worked.

No neuropathy or at least very little.

I slept like a baby.

And I don't mean I cried and woke up to pee every hour.

That was the night before.

I slept well and woke feeling refreshed and today has been a different story, though I still have some fatigue.

More than usual, that is.

So to all of those people who have been insulted by my cocky comments along the lines of "I ain't got no side effects", I hereby offer my humble apologies.

Now I think I'll go lie down.

Again.

TASTY TUESDAY

 Several of my commenters yesterday prompted me to go to the Almighty Omniscient Google.

The commenters said they had never heard of rubber mulch.

Weakling that I am, I began to wonder if what was scattered around our yard WASN'T rubber mulch.

If, in fact, it never existed.

I am pleased as punch to find proof that rubber mulch does, indeed, exist.

When I related this to SWMBO, she said (wisely, as always) that I could just have gone to the back yard and looked at the bag.

With that gentle put-down I shall switch subjects.

Take a look at this:

My chef's delicious concoction of Spicy Paprika Shrimp, sizzling in the pan.

Now in my younger days I detested grits.

But I thought I'd try them again and Herself prepared some with a hefty dose of some White Sharp Cheddar Cheese I had purchased.

Shrimp and Grits.

Why has it taken me this long to taste, appreciate, love this classic Southern dish?

Looking at these photos makes my mouth water, even though we just had this a couple of days ago.

How about you?

MONDAY MEANDERINGS

 Interesting comments on my Masked Man post of yesterday.

At first the number of people still committed to wearing masks regardless of dropping of mask mandates was overwhelming.

But then late in the day it changed a little bit.

However I'm convinced and have gone back to wearing my mask in public places and continuing with caution.

Today we got our second booster shots.

That's four vaccinations we've now had for Covid and, so far, we've been fortunate.

Neither of us has succumbed to it.

And neither of us has had side effects, other than feeling a bit weary for a day after the shot.

Well, heck, I feel weary most of the time any way!

I had an interesting conversation about side effects with my pharmacist.

I told him that neither of us has had side effects and he said that's not unusual.

He said they seem to be dependent on the strength of one's immune system.

Younger people have a stronger immune system that tries to fight the foreign invader (the vaccine) while older folks like yours truly have a weaker immune system that doesn't try as hard.

Hence the side effects syndrome.

Meantime, Spring Fever has set in for SWMBO.

No, not the kind of Spring Fever that leaves one listlessly staring into space.

This is the kind that fires up her Project Mode.

The other day she went out to a couple of stores and came home with two 25 foot garden hoses to replace the old, heavy 50-footer, and three bags of rubber mulch.

She was disappointed to learn that one of the new hoses wouldn't reach the bird bath so the two were spliced together and, though lighter in weight, are just as long as the previous monster.

She's now talking about getting a six-foot hose to tack onto one of the 25 footers.

As for the old hose, several ten-foot-lengths have been cut out of it and wired together to be used as a sort of dam, the purpose of which is to keep dirt and eventually the rocks from washing down off the slope in the corner of the yard during our infrequent rainfalls here in Arizona.*

The rubber mulch is also designed to help.

How about that?

It looks pretty good, doesn't it?

Still some tinkering but Judy the Designer has got a nack.

And I only had to do a little scut work.

* You DID hear that Arizona is in the midst of a record drought, didn't you?

MASKED MAN

 Mask mandates are coming down all over the country and with two vaccines and a booster, with another one coming soon, I'm feeling more relaxed about not wearing a pandemic mask.

Actually where I live I'd say the majority, possibly the vast majority, of residents never have worn a mask.

The percentage of people who've been vaccinated just recently hit 70 after hovering at 69 percent for months.

But I have been faithful to the scientific guidelines and have been going into stores looking like a bandit for months.

Actually I guess I could say "for years".

And, actually, I guess I could say "an aging bandit".

But lately, with even the President frequently going out without a mask, I have doffed mine too.

Except at medical offices.

They still require them.

Even if you're just there to deliver or pick someone up.

Like I was the other day waiting for SWMBO at a medical lab.

It's not particularly flattering.

But some of my very near and dear relatives would say, "You ought to see him without it!"

Like the comedian Rodney Dangerfield used to say, "I don't get no respect!"