IS IT OVER?

Maybe.

Maybe not.

Fooled you, didn't I?

Just a little mid-day nap.

THE LOOKOUT

Quoth the raven "Nevermore".

A RETURN TO RO HO EN

As I mentioned yesterday my wife and I paid a visit to the Japanese Friendship Garden, known in Japanese as Ro Ho En, on Thursday as we marked 46 years together.

The garden is designed as a place of serenity in the heart of a bustling major city.

An interstate freeway travels through a tunnel below Margaret Hance Park, named for a former mayor, just to the north of it but the quiet in the park would never let you know that.

On most days.

During our visit the serenity of the park was disturbed by a constantly circling police helicopter just above us.

Just before the chopper left the area SWMBO heard an annoucement from it stating that they had spotted some miscreant below and a canine unit was now pursuing him.

Life in the city.

But back to the garden.

The enterpiece is a huge pond shared by hundreds of koi fish and ducks.

At the top of the above photo you may be able to spot some tiny ducklings that appeared to be quite newly hatched.

I had noticed a pair of white swans swimming together but it was Judy's sharp eyes that noted they were not real.

They were styrofoam!

Nice touch, though, as they are quite well done.

There is a waterfall, surrounded by carefully handpicked boulders from near Congress, Arizona.

The largest, I believe just to the left of the falls, weighs 25 tons.

This huge tree started out as a humble ficus plant.

Another water feature is designed to resemble a burbling mountain stream.

A representation of a pagoda with its 13 levels which in Japan were a storage place for Buddhist relics.

And Shachi, a mythical fish with the face of a tiger (or dragon), which is used as a talisman against fire in his native Japan.

Here he has become the symbol of the garden.

Without police helicopters circling overhead, the Japanese Friendship Garden is a welcome place to escape the stress of the city for awhile.

FRIDAY FUNNIES

Gentle Readers, have you noticed that the older one becomes the faster time passes?

It seems like only a week ago I was formulating some Friday Funnies and here I am again.

Oh.

Never mind.

O.K., Faithful Followers, before I say TTFN (ta-ta-for-now) a word or two about that new banner photo above.

Those are some very insistent Koi at the Japanese Friendship Garden in Phoenix, which Judy, aka SWMBO,  and I visited yesterday as part of a minor celebration of our 46th wedding anniversary.

The "big" day is actually today and, in our celebratory mood,  so far I have hauled a broken recliner out to the alley hoping the trash truck will take it while Judy is busily packing boxes for our move next month.

Because today is Friday and traffic in and around Phoenix becomes even more nutzo at the end of the week, we moved our anniversary fete up a day.

So if the spirit moves me I may have more photos of the Garden tomorrow.

In the meantime, whether or not you have any important dates to remember I want you to have a gay (in the old sense of the word) (or the new) weekend and always, always remember to keep laughing.

With that . . . here, kitty-kitty.

(Awwww, he toasted us.)

MY FAITHFUL COMPANION

The Almighty Blackwell

VOICES OF THE PEOPLE

I had to make an errand run into the little town on the hill that refers to itself as Everybody's Home Town.

I'm talking about Prescott, Arizona.

I was surprised to see six street corners in the heart of town with sign-waving protesters.

Five of the six groups looked like these.

The anti-Trump sign wavers had a variety of concerns.

But they were unanimous in their disregard for the Trump presidency.

As I said there were demonstrators on six corners.

The sixth were a small group of flag-waving Trump supporters.

Fortunately, I think, the two opposing groups were staying on opposite sides of the street.

SIGNS OF THE TIMES (LONG GONE)

Do any of you Gentle Readers remember this bit of ungrammatical doggerel?

Spring has sprung

The grass has riz

Where last year's

careless drivers is

If you are of a certain age, you might recall that "verse" was posted on consecutive roadside signs and was followed by one more.

It was an advertising campaign for a brushless shaving cream back in the day and the rhyming signs were a delight to drivers and their passengers plying the roads around the nation.

You can find the whole story here.

For some reason that particular rhyme has always stuck in my mind and pops up every spring.

Kind of like these blossoms that popped up on trees in the neighborhood, perhaps too early and ended up scattered in the streets when the temperatures cooled and the winds came back.