ON THE RIVER

Today brings us another thrilling episode in the Exciting and Fabulous Adventures of the BRD (Beautiful Rich Daughter).

This time it's kayaking on the Verde River in Central Arizona.

Yes the BRD (center above) and a gang of her pals actually did get those watercraft into the water.

It was all to mark a birthday of one of her cohorts, the indefatigable Susie.

The BRD said it was a five mile excursion marked by a high wind.

That was NOT evident in the pictures I saw.

It looks pretty placid to me.

Of course, maybe the hurricane force winds and rushing rapids prevented the photographer from taking pictures during those rough times.

The BRD said if she hadn't been working out prior to the tour she might not have been able to get back and would have died on a sandbar . . . not the kind of bar she would like to die at.

So paddle fiercely, Gayle, show us your best stuff!

TOM MIX COUNTRY

Tom Mix, a cowboy movie star in the early third of the 20th Century, has quite a history with the area where I live in Arizona.

But let me tell you a little of Mr. Mix's history.

He was born in Pennsylvania, enlisted in the army during the Spanish-American War but never went overseas and was declared AWOL after failing to return from a furlough, during which he married his first of five wives.

He went to Oklahoma and kicked around as a bartender and other odd jobs before finding employment with a huge ranch that had its own touring Wild West show.

Mix performed as a horseman and expert shot and won rodeo competitions in (surprise!) Prescott, Arizona, just beyond Glassford Hill from where I live.

Mix launched his movie career in 1909 and appeared in nearly 300 movies in his lifetime, all except nine silent films.

In his off-screen appearances, Mix was a dapper dresser, usually seen wearing a huge white ten gallon hat.

Mix bought a ranch in Prescott and competed frequently in what is known locally as "the world's oldest rodeo", winning a bull riding competition when he was 40 years old.

A number of his films were shot in the Prescott area.

It is said that along with the ladies, Tom Mix was fond of drink and that may have led to his demise.

After spending time visiting a friend in Tucson, Mix was speeding north toward Phoenix in his 1937 Cord automobile.

He was unable to stop when he encountered a barricade where a bridge had been washed out by a flash flood and when his car flipped over, a suitcase full of money and jewelry struck and killed him.

There's a plaque and monument at the site.

He was 60 years old.

The area where his ranch was is now part of a planned community where the BRD's Beau Jack lived for many years.

(Much of the history in this post is courtesy of Wikipedia.)

FRIDAY FUNNIES

Is it really that time again?

Why yes, I believe it is.

Wow!  Does that make your head hurt too?

Let's dance quickly and blithely along then and get away from it.

I think it's time once again, Gentle Readers, for some more signs of the times.

Brace yourselves.

Just remember these wise words from someone who has made mistakes in the past.

All right Gentle Readers and aficionados of Internet humor (or humour) everywhere, let us all go out into the world and have a fahntahsticly fine weekend.

And always remember to keep laughing!

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

THURSDAY NIGHT DINNER

Oddly enough, no photos exist of tonight's meal.

I prepared about half of it.

Pepper Steak (steak au poivre) that I grew to love at a French restaurant (Restaurante Pierre) when we lived in Guadalajara, Mexico.

I learned to make it at home.

Tonight's meal was accompanied by a baked Russet potato topped with butter and sour cream and salt and pepper, asparagus, and a wonderful mixed salad, courtesy SWMBO.

She doesn't love steak like I do (though she does love this preparation) so it's a rare treat.

A little red wine, after aperitifs of whiskey and water and vodka and water, and (for me) an after touch of Sambucca straight up.

She topped her meal off with a bit of Death by Chocolate ice cream.

Do we dine well?

Yes, I think we do.

(Sorry for the absence of pictures.)

AN UPDATE

It's been awhile since I have updated y'all on my wife's progress since she broke her femur (thighbone).

Monday marked the four-month anniversary of the fall on our (new) back patio.

Tuesday was the anniversary of the surgery that implanted a titanium rod from her hip to her knee of her right leg.

It's been a long haul but today I can report that she went to a doctor appointment, then we went to lunch and then to a lengthy grocery shopping excursion.

Judy/SWMBO left her walker at home for the first time and used only a cane and occasionally my arm to ambulate.

She did use an electric cart in the grocery store but that has predated her fall and even I have occasionally used one.

These old bodies sometimes aren't made for walking.

Then I told Judy about a young mother I had seen in the grocery store.

She was slim and lithe and at one point noticed the laces on her high-top sneaker were loose.

She didn't bend over . . she raised that leg and calmly tied the laces while standing like a flamingo and carrying on a conversation with a store employee.

Some days the amazing wonders of youth are just a bit much to take.

FRIDAY FUNNIES

All right, Gentle Readers, once again it is Friday and having recovered from my Computer Disaster Week, let's see if we can find something to smile about.

Granted, with disasters coming day by day it isn't easy but let us charge into the breach, flags flying and courage foremost.

That's it, Gentle Readers.

Now let's all make a decision to get outside this weekend and have a(n) hilariously fine time (leaving desktop computers, laptops, tablets and smartphones behind.)

And always remember to keep laughing.

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

LAZARUS RISING

Once again I surface.

It must have been all those kind thoughts expressed by y'all.

Just when I was about to give up computering for good an old friend, Lori Down the Block, revealed that she and her husband Rick had a computer for sale.

I bought it.

I'm using it now though I have a lot to learn.

Cross your fingers that I may get the Friday Funnies published this week though it IS Friday the 13th!