HEY, SHRIMP!

Springtime is a great time for these.

Sauteed shrimp.

Actually, any time is a good time for shrimp.

We had these for our anniversary dinner at home a couple of weeks ago.

They are Smoked Paprika Shrimp and they were served over creamy Parmesan couscous.

For some reason the couscous were rather bland.

SWMBO said they could have been "kicked up a notch", as Emeril would say.

But the shrimp were delicious.

We'll try this dish again.

TUESDAY TRAVELS

Me and my buddy, Captain Jack Sparrow.

In reality, the pirates are only cardboard cutouts in a shop in the Pike Place Market in Seattle.

I find it hard to believe but our visit there to spend some time with our friend, Lori, and her husband, Dick, was 10 years ago!

By the way, I WAS in a movie with Johnny Depp back in the early 1990's but it was long before Captain Jack.

It was "What's Eating Gilbert Grape" and it was filmed around Austin, Texas, where I was living then and I got a chance to be an extra.

This year's Oscar winner for best actor, Leonardo DiCaprio, also was in that film.

But getting back to Seattle, who doesn't love the Pike Place Market.

Lots of good eating there.

Speaking of which, we had drinks and lunch one day at the ultimate Seattle tourist destination, high atop the Space Needle.

Nice view.

And Lori and Dick have a nice view from the balcony of their condominium, too.

Sometimes it looks like everyone in town owns a boat.

Even though it's relatively close, there is one sight that is rarely seen in Seattle because of the frequent cloudy days.

It's Mount Rainier.

But we were lucky with sunshine when we were there and one day we caught sight of it.

We met Lori when we lived in Mexico and have remained friends with her ever since.

Regular readers of this blog should know that she supplies lots of the material for my Friday Funnies postings.

And she was a great hostess for our trip to the Pacific Northwest in 2006.

HOT TIP

It's not really a hot tip. 

I just wrote that to get you to look at this.

It is one of the Red Tip Photinia trees in our yard.

They are in full bloom right now.

The tiny white flowers look kind of like snowballs on the trees from a distance.

Up close you can see how delicate they are.

The flowers appear in early Spring and will last until late Spring or early Summer.

One of my neighbors has a variety that is kept well-trimmed for a hedge.

You can see from it why the plant is called the Red Tip Photinia.

The red of the plant provides a nice contrast to the green leafed tree behind it.

Kind of like Christmas in April, isn't it?

MORE MUSIC!

My childhood friend, Dr. Jim, commented on my blog post yesterday that Pokey LaFarge was coming to the Tractor Tavern in Seattle in early May and he was going to take a couple of his offspring and their beaus.

I went to the Tractor's website and found that the band would be joined by the country blues band Cactus Blossoms.

Here's a taste of them for those of you who can't make it to the show.

"Crazy Arms" became a number one hit for Ray Price back in 1956.

It's since been covered by performers as varied in style as Bing Crosby, Chuck Berry, Willy Nelson, Jerry Lee Lewis and Linda Ronstadt.

I think the Cactus Blossoms harmony evokes the sound of the Everly Brothers on this tune and several others I listened to.

Enjoy the show, Dr. Jim, I wish I could be there.

MUSIC, MAESTRO, PLEASE

Here's someone I discovered recently, Pokey LaFarge of St. Louis, Missouri.

I like his whimsical style as displayed in this video from his new album "Something in the Water".

As of this year, his band is known as Pokey LaFarge since he expanded it to six players.

Previously it was just three and was known as the South City Three.

I'm a fan of a good harp (harmonica) player and Ryan Koenig, who dominates the next video, is a master.

Ladies and Gentlement, the La La Blues.

Enjoy your weekend, music fans.

FRIDAY FUNNIES

This week it's all about the miracle of the modern age that has made life so much more interesting and simple for everyone.

No, it's not booze.

It's the computer!

All right, fellow residents of the Brave New World, don't you feel better now?

All tuned up and logged in for a wonderful weekend?

Have a great one, turn around now and then and look at your housemate, your dogs and cats, your garden and always remember to keep laughing.

Here, kitty-kitty.

THROWBACK THURSDAY

Two generations of Taylors pose with a sign at their home town of Stanley, North Dakota, in the very early 1950's.

(L to R) Franklin Bruce (Catalyst) Taylor, Franklin Berry Taylor and Wayne Howland Taylor.

The photo was sent to us by a Minnesota-based cousin who noted a long-running joke about the two state's natural flora.

My grandfather, on a visit to Minnesota once, was being driven through the countryside and my uncle said to him "Look at all this scenery, isn't it beautiful?"

His response? 

"I can't tell. There's too damned many trees in the way!"

My cousin wrote in sending this picture "When I was in North Dakota I could see what the prairie looks like, but a few trees here and there might help the view."

SLIGHT CHANCE OF RAIN

As I watch the stories on television about tornadoes, floods, hail storms, lightning strikes, snowstorms, icy roads and whatever, I am glad I live in Arizona.

The winters where I live are never very cold.

For long.

The summers are never very hot.

For long.

Phoenix, Tucson, Yuma, the Colorado River valley which forms the western boundary of the state; they all get very hot in the summers.

Flagstaff and the White Mountains can get a lot of snow and stay cold for a long time in the winters.

But where I live, at an elevation of 5,131 feet, the weather is much milder.

Nevertheless, from time to time, the sky does cloud up.

This was our sky yesterday afternoon.

It looks dangerous but SWMBO was doing some yard work and cut and pulled weeds right through it.

And the clear blue sky surrounded the clouds and occasionally broke through.

I know it rained somewhere but here there was just a light sprinkle, enough to make the street out front wet.

And the clouds eventually moved away and more blue sky took over.

We'll have some slight cooling over the weekend, down to the 60's and perhaps some light showers.

But the forecast says a week from today the mercury will climb once again into the low 80's.

Perfect weather for an aging Huckleberry Finn.

TUESDAY TRAVELS

Back in my youth . . way, way back in the 1940's I was captivated by the tales of the gigantic lumberjack Paul Bunyan and his great blue ox, Babe.

He was a product of oral folklore that later found his way into print.

Supposedly Bunyan had logged millions of trees in North Dakota (my childhood home) which accounted for the miles of treeless prairie land.

The stories of his exploits are legendary but I know that the gigantic Bunyan was REAL because I met him once and he called me by name.

I am in the lower left of the photo, standing next to one of Paul's big dogs and in front of the man himself.

Paul would turn his head, raise one arm and greet visitors by name and perhaps the town they came from.

At this time he was located in the Paul Bunyan Amusement Park near Brainerd, Minnesota.

Later the park closed but Paul and Babe were relocated to what is now Paul Bunyan Land, a few miles east of Brainerd.

When I visited Paul back in the day I was also photographed with a chipmunk from his tales.

Everything was outsize in the park, including my long legs.

An uncle of mine owned a cabin on Camp Lake, which was only about 20 miles away so my visit to the mighty woodsman was a natural stop on our way back to North Dakota.

TOWHEE(s)

I wrote the other day about a visitor to our bird bath, the Rufous Sided Towhee.

This morning he/she was back again.

Since I don't know whether it's a male or a female, I'm going to refer to it from now on as "it".

Sorry, pal.

It was enjoying the cold water, splashing and ducking it's head.

And then, suddenly, a SECOND Towhee arrived.

The first one checked out the second one but it soon became clear they were acquainted and it went back to its bathing.

The late arrival seemed content to just sit in the cold bath water but the constant splashing of the other one showering water on it finally caused it to depart.

The first bird continued violently splashing and throwing water over itself for some time.

Finally it was apparently satisfied and departed as well.

And so, once again, the bath is quiet.

I can only wonder what will come next.

PINWHEELS FOR KIDS

People driving by the Prescott Valley Civic Center recently may have wondered about a field of  blue and silver pinwheels.

The grassy area is occasionally used for displays of this type to commemorate something.

This field of pinwheels . . 3,000 of them . . was recently "planted" to mark Child Abuse Prevention Month.

The number represents the approximate number of children under age six who live in Prescott Valley.

HEY RED!

What to my wondering eye did I see when I opened the blinds this morning?

Why I believe it's my old pal, the Rufous Sided Towhee, who summers in these parts.

With the mercury in the low 40's it seemed a little early for a bath in that cold water.

But sure enough he spent quite a time there enjoying a vigorous dousing in the birdbath.

I don't know how long he'd been there but I managed to get a couple of pictures before he flew off.