Is this the beginning?

Of the monsoon season, that is.

We've been teased this year with cool temperatures and quite a lot of rain in May, which is unusual.

But today, the sky was full of clouds in all directions. And it did rain a bit during the night.

So, maybe the rainy season is nearly here.

A Summer Saturday

SWMBO and I made a trip into Prescott today to have lunch with our friend Diane and to visit the Crafts Fair on the Square.

That's the two ladies, looking colorful.

Diane's daughter Linda, (above) and her friend Kay (below) had a booth at the fair to sell their wonderful wood products. (Which I neglected to photograph!)

Looking around the fair a bit I found a flutist selling CD's of his music.

There was a bluegrass group.

And, everywhere you looked, dogs! Like this teacup chihuahua, which I was told is fully grown but still only a handful.

She had plenty of company.

Last but not least was this fellow, who may have been the Top Salesdog but when we caught up with him he was just . . . . . dog tired!

Baseball Heroes

My buddy, Steve, whom (I hesitate to say but only for a second) I have known for 36 years, invited me down to Phoenix to go to a baseball game yesterday. Steve has become a fervent baseball fan and once again has season tickets for the Arizona Diamondbacks home games at Chase Field.

So, on occasion, I get to take in a game with him, courtesy of Steve's generosity.

Yesterday was such a day and it was a good day because the Diamondbacks scraped out a 2 to 1 victory.

But it gets better!

As we were making our way out of the stadium, a Diamondbacks employee at the top of the escalator said "Hey, if you guys go down to gate 110, you can stroll the bases."

Now, obviously he had noticed the white hair on both of us because this was especially for "seniors" on this day and he didn't ask for any i.d. for either of us. Also, you will note, he didn't say "run the bases", he said "stroll the bases."

Anyway Steve said "C'mon, let's do it!"

He didn't mention until we were too far along that gate 110 was approximately five miles from where we started out. No problem for Steve but he's ten years younger (and nearly as tall) as I am.

Eventually we reached the gate and joined a throng of seniors waiting to be allowed onto the field.

Here we are, in line.

And finally, here we are right on the field. That's third base between us.

I have to admit, after the forced march that got us to the field itself, I was a little worried . . . remembering that each base is 90 feet apart. That's 360 feet total and we stepped onto the field in fairly deep right field. But once on the field, those 90 foot distances didn't seem that far after all. And I was wondering - how come the Diamondbacks don't steal more often.

Anyway, it was fun. Thanks Steve . . especially for remembering to bring your camera along!

A litany

Just thought you all would like something (quite a few things, actually) to think about. So, here you go.

Weather it's hot or Whether it's cold . .

This has been a strange year so far.

We've had quite a bit of rain in May, when it's not supposed to rain hardly at all.

And here it is the 8th of June and it's cool!

It's not supposed to be cool now. This is nearly the middle of summer, by Arizona standards, and it should be blisteringly hot with people praying for the monsoon season to start.

I was driving to Prescott today and heard the radio announcer say, "It's 89 in Phoenix." Now 89 might be hot where you live but it's nothing in Phoenix.

After all, as any native or tourist knows, it may be hot . . .

You betcha! I mean, 89 in the middle of the day in the middle of summer? Most locals would be out looking for an outdoor basketball game!

I'm not complaining, mind you. While the days and nights have seemed cool this spring and summer, we all know the devastating Global Warmy is out there, waiting.

One of these fine days, the weather will change and we'll all be saying "Oh, helpmegod! Have mercy on us! Bring on the autumn breezes!"

Dry heat or not.

Full Moon Memories

There's a full moon out there tonight - - a good night to remember one of the greatest of the Sherlock Holmes portrayers -- Jeremy Brett.

The Wild Blue Yonder

There are four institutions of higher learning in our area: Prescott College, Yavapai College (whose name comes from the Yavapai Apaches who have, among other things, a small reservation housing two casinos), North Central University (an Internet school), and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (one of two campuses, the other being in Florida.) This last school trains pilots, aeronautical engineers, and many other specialties related to flying. Their school mascot is the screaming eagle.

All of which is to say that I took a drive around the backside of the Prescott Airport (Love Field) today and stumbled across the Embry-Riddle "air force".

I assume these airplanes are used for training flights by the students. There are also many, many buildings housing various aspects of the University. (The main campus is a few miles away.)

My favorite building is this one:

I thought the hanging propellor perfectly matched the sign in the lower right.

Meantime, as I was driving around taking pictures, I couldn't help but wonder if someone in this tower was keeping an eye on me!

Feeling somewhat conspicuous, if not amused at the thought of some unsmiling guy in a security vehicle pulling me over to inquire just what I thought I was doing (evidence of reading too many James Bond novels!), I continued on down the road until I entered an area called the Prescott Air Park. It's actually an industrial park with many different businesses having buildings there.

Already feeling some trepidation at my previous imaginings, I was startled when I encountered this beast in front of one of the office buildings.

A closer look at this grizzly's countenance could give a person bad dreams.

As for me, looking at those teeth, I was taken back to my recent contretemps with Smoke!