THROWBACK THURSDAY

I've been a baseball fan for as long as I can remember.

It started with my love for the Brooklyn Dodgers back in the 1940's.

Then after the team moved to Los Angeles, it was the Los Angeles Dodgers.

This, I might point out, was before the Arizona Diamondbacks came into existence.

I continued to follow the Dodgers even after we moved south of the border to Mexico.

I was able to follow the team there on television and a bookstore in Guadalajara even sold the Los Angeles Times.

So in 1988 when the team won the World Series I was following every play while wearing my Dodgers tee shirt.

And I sent this picture back to my friends in Phoenix who were supporting different teams.

That is the face of a happy baseball fan.

DECORATIONS. CHECK.

We have the house decorated for Christmas.

Well.

The front door, anyway.

The BRD presented the wreath to us when she came over for Thanksgiving.

Fortunately there was a nail in the front door.

So.

Decorating.

Done.

How's that for the old holiday spirit?

TUESDAY TRAVELS

As goofy as this picture is, on a day when the temperature here in Arizona is hovering at 19 degrees F. as I'm writing this . . . it feels good to look back to a time when I was in a t-shirt and shorts at an outside restaurant table in Puerto Vallarta.

And that bearded gent in the blue shirt in the background?

That's Baseball Steve, come down to pay me a visit.

Viva Mexico!

Winter Wonderland

The snow got a little lower during the night.

This is what I awoke to.

I took the picture through my den window and the glass reflected my lamp a bit.

Meanwhile, in front.

It's early but the dog-walkers and the car drivers have already been out messing with the street snowscape.

I love this view with the early morning sun casting a pinkish, orange-ish glow over the town.

Meantime, the Weather Gods say the temperature will only rise to 36 degrees here today.

In Arizona?

They've got to be kidding!

SNOW TIME

I had expected the ground to be white when I rose from the arms of Morpheus yesterday.

The Weather Gods had predicted snowfall during the night.

But lo and behold there was nought to be seen.

Until later, when I drove to the grocery store.

Against a murky gray sky, I noted the tops of the Bradshaw foothills just south of where I live were dusted with white.

Prescott, just about 8 miles away from Prescott Valley (where I live) is a couple of hundred feet higher in elevation.

And an old friend from my home town in North Dakota who lives there, Corky Jackson Hintz, posted this delightful picture on Facebook.

The beautiful photo from the Christmas-lit Courthouse Square shows that the increase in elevation was enough to create a bed of white.

STRIPPED DOWN FOR WINTER

It doesn't really make sense to me.

You would think as the weather gets colder the trees would want all of their leaves to surround them.

But instead they remove all of their protection from icy temperatures and snow.

For example, you remember that big red maple in our front yard?

Here's how it looked this morning.

I suppose the one advantage is it gives us a little easier view out toward the town and the mountains in the distance.

The sycamore with its huge leaves is nearly as equally bereft of foliage.

The ash tree is the last to release it's clutter.

And clutter it is.

In spite of raking up four big bags of leaves only a week ago it looks like another day of yard labor awaits us.

So it goes.

FRIDAY FUNNIES

You've done it!

You've struggled through another week!

Congratulations!

Here's your reward.

Feeling better?

Yeah. Lots of luck with that one.

And, of course, the cat.

Looks like kitty turned it into a Festivus holiday.

Hey, have a great weekend, friends, and always keep a grin on your kisser*.

*In honor of Mistletoe season.