THROWBACK THURSDAY

The early 1970's, when KPNX was still KTAR-TV. Producing a weekend newscast. I dressed better during the week.

Quit concentrating on the legs! Dig the pageboy haircut and the love beads. 

Ah, those were the days.

SKY SHOW

After yesterday's rain and hail storm the clouds were forming all around us yesterday evening.

In spite of these threatening clouds, we got no more rain from them. Somewhere I can imagine there was moisture but not where we live. Just an awesome performance by the clouds.

I get the same feeling from watching these immense cloud buildups as I do when seeing photos of our earth taken from space.

Tiny and insignificant.

A HARD RAIN'S A-GONNA FALL

Here we go again. Torrential rain and hail at midday in StoneRidge, Prescott Valley, today.

Must be monsoon season.

All pictures free to anyone who can use them. Please credit Bruce Taylor.

TUESDAY TRAVELS

Now where's that Cheney character??!!!

BIRTHDAYS AND EVICTION

There's an interesting collection of birthdays today. 

Nancy Reagan is 94. 

Della Reese is 84.

The Dalai Lama is 80. 

George W. Bush and Sylvester Stallone are 69. 

And, speaking of birthdays, the second trio of young warblers have finally left our front porch. Their parents built a nest atop one of the roof pillars.

Stupidly, when the first batch hatched and fledged, I didn't take the nest down.  So the mama bird, figuring she was popular, came back and laid three more eggs. Eventually the babies were born.

I said "stupidly" a few sentences back because while there are birds about, SWMBO refuses us to use the front patio, which has a table and a couple of chairs and is a thoroughly nice place to enjoy a cocktail in the evening.

These new chicks seemed to hang around the nest for an interminably long time before venturing out into the world.

So we hovered around the front windows watching for progress. When they finally fledged (one at a time) Blackwell joined us at the window staring intently at what he probably considered a tasty snack.

Their first day or two of freedom from their brothers and sisters is spent on our table or chairs, testing their wings and examining the world around them. For a short while they remain to be fed by their parents, as you can see in this short video.

Once they were all three fledged, I pulled the nest down and placed a brass vase in the spot to discourage further nest building.

But there are two more protected niches atop pillars so I took a couple of items from my brass Buddha collection and placed them on the other pillars.

As I told our friends, Rick and Lori from down the block, the porch is starting to resemble a temple! But as long as it keeps the birds from nesting. 

And, after three months of occupation by the warblers, I finally have my front porch back! Happy birthday, indeed.

RAINY WEEKEND

The monsoon has been good to us, rainwise, this year. It's been pouring here during the last hour. I would imagine there will be some flash flooding in the area but if people drive sensibly that shouldn't be a problem. And as the other day, here's what we'll have to look forward to once the rain stops and the sun peaks through the clouds once again.

I took this picture in our alley on Friday, which is garbage collection day, hence the rubber dumpsters cluttering up the view.

It's always nice to see a rainbow, even though that old Irish myth about a pot of gold at the end of one hasn't come true for me yet.

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!