WISPS

That's what I saw in my sky last night.

Wisps.

Of clouds.

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Back down here on terra firma, I received a couple of pictures by email from the BRD.

They show some spectacular blooms on a flowering cactus.

It's amazing that a plant this prickly could produce such beautiful blossoms.

How's your imagination?

Is that a face peeking out from behind that center flower?

If so, what does it mean?

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MY Arizona Diamondbacks completed a three-game sweep of the Colorado Rockies this afternoon.

That follows a sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Which followed a sweep of the San Francisco Giants.

The Diamondbacks have now won 10 games in a row for the first time since 2003.

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The numbers keep rising from that tragic flood in Texas and Louisiana.

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It's looking more and more like we may get involved in another war with North Korea.

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Sometimes it's just better to watch the wisps of cloud in the sky.

RIVALS

My friend the Ladder-Backed Woodpecker was back at the tree in my backyard again last evening and this time I got some pictures of him.

They're a little grainy but he's identifiable.

As he was working over the tree, seeking bugs for his dinner, he seemed distracted by something at the nearby bird bath.

I wondered if he would go down and get a drink.

But no!

As I widened my vision I saw what had the woodpecker concerned.

A large mourning dove had zoomed in for his taste.

Though much larger than the woodpecker, he's probably much less brave.

But he didn't pay the slightest attention, just got his drink, turned his back and then flew off, frightening the woodpecker away with his flapping wings.

And so ends this episode of Life at the Avian Crossroads.

FRIDAY FUNNIES

The play "Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus" is being performed in Prescott right now.

Which, since today is FRIDAY(!!!!!) prompts me to show you the difference between how women and men celebrate this great day.

First . . women:

And then . . men:

All right, Gentle Readers, with that explained let's get on with the Friday Funnies.

On that happy note, your Joy Boy will bring this edition to a close.

Now I want you to have an embarrassingly spectacular weekend, Gentle Readers, and always remember to keep laughing!

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

(oh boy . . .)

POLITICS AND BLUE BIRDS

Y'all may have noticed that I haven't commented on Hurricane Harvey.

Well, now I will.

It's a terrible, hideous disaster brought on in part because of climate change.

The waters in the Gulf of Mexico are warmer than they have been in years past and that contributes to the unrelenting rainfall that has accompanied this storm.

No matter how much blather the deniers put out, climate change brought on and intensified this storm.

And then I saw that our President made a trip to Texas this week without meeting any of the survivors of the storm and made some self-serving statements before jetting back to the Beltway.

Vice-president Pence came to Texas today and met and hugged and prayed with survivors and even got his hands dirty carrying some broken tree branches away from the front of a building.

But, then, we all know he's running for President, don't we?

Do I sound a bit cynical?

Oh, yes, the President said today he's giving a million dollars of his own money to the relief effort.

Someone I know very well commented that money will probably come from the Trump Foundation that he doesn't contribute to.

But be that as it may.

I had a visitor this afternoon.

What my friend Mike in Montana will quickly identify as a "camp robber".

Down here in Arizona we call him a Mountain Jay.

He just stopped by for a drink.

Speaking of which . . . . . . .

ONE WEEK LATER

Some of you have expressed interest in my recent Pacemaker/Defibrillator replacement surgery.

I'm going to show you where it is, complete with the scar from the cutting, so if you're queasy you might want to go someplace else right now.

But for those of you who watch medical shows on television (SWMBO) and are still curious, here you go.

That thin red line is where the surgeon opened the skin over my chest a week ago yesterday and tugged and pushed to get the old pacemaker out and the new one inserted.

That bulge isn't swelling as much as it is the actual shape of the pacemaker beneath my skin.

The original leads (wires) that go from the device into my heart have been there since the first installation ten years ago.

They get checked from time to time but so far they're holding up just fine.

I don't think the yellowish color on the left is bruising as much as it is of some of the chemicals that were brushed onto the skin for cleaning.

I was out of the hospital only a couple of hours after the surgery and with an ice-pack on my chest, asleep for about an hour and a half.

After that no more ice and never any pain pills, not even aspirin.

'Course, they gave me quite a cocktail of drugs in the hospital which probably had a day's worth or so of time to wear off.

But, as the old expression goes, "no pain, no strain" and, since this was my fourth pacemaker "surgery", no worries either.

As I say (ad infinitum), "this ain't my first rodeo."

BREAKING NEWS!!!

Light sprinkle dampens windows in Arizona!

(With apologies to residents of Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas)

FRIDAY FUNNIES

This is not the best day to be finding humor in our daily lives with Hurricane Harvey bearing down on the Texas coast.

But I'm going to try to bring some cheer, even if for just a short time.

Today (once again), Gentle Readers, we're going to examine the role of the computer in our lives.

So that's it for another week of toil and trouble, Gentle Readers.

Have yourselves a merry little weekend and keep your spirits bright.

(hmmm, that kinda sounds like a song.)

And always remember, even and especially in the face of bad stuff, to keep laughing.

Here, kitty-kitty . . .