A BIT OF SKY PIX

We've had some amazing "dark and stormy" skies lately but not a lot of rain.

Except for that one day when it rained for something over an hour and our amateurish rain gauge measured 1-1/4 inches.

Anyway, here's a couple of sky pictures, most favoring the top of a neighbor's house.

And, as a special treat prompted by LL (Lori Across Town) who mentioned Nehru jackets along with Madras yesterday . . . watch out!

Yes, that's me.

51 years ago when I was a 28 year old stripling covering the Republican National Convention of 1968 in Miami Beach.

As I told Lori in an email, I had a brown Nehru jacket also.

They bring to mind an old saying, "there's no accounting for bad taste."

And yes, I regret to say, I smoked cigarettes for way too many years before renouncing that evil habit in 1991.

ThrowBackThursday

Close your eyes, relax, let your breathing slow down.

We're going back, back and further back into the distant past.

Back into the mid-1970's.

Yes, 40 or 45 years ago.

To the era of brightly colored clothing.

To the days of . . . . . . . MADRAS!

Featuring, from left to right, my dear wife Judy (aka SWMBO for She Who Must Be Obeyed), my ownself, and our friends, Tom and Lana Cochrun.

Doesn't it look like either I've swiped Tom's pants or he's swiped my jacket?

And that is NOT a gigantic spiff that Lana is holding.

It's Pampas Grass, wrapped and sealed in paper for her to carry onto the airplane ferrying them back to their home in Indiana.

It should make her the object of attention to her fellow travelers.

They've been vacationing in California and then visiting us in Phoenix.

Oh, those hazy, crazy days of summer many years ago.

RAIN

Rain, rain, come and stay

Rain, rain, don't go away.

Finally!

We had a pretty good monsoon rain today.

For about an hour or more we had rain, thunder, lightning, wind and hail.

It's late this year.

It normally arrives on July 4th.

Late it may be but after week after week of temperatures climbing into the 90's, it's certainly welcome.

On our first evening in Phoenix, back in 1972, it rained for the first time in over 100 days (I believe) and everyone in the convenience store I was patronizing ran outside to stand and get wet.

Now I understand.

CHEF JUDY

Her latest creation.

Cold sliced breaded fried chicken over a spinach and strawberry salad.

Do you think she chose that red plate to highlight this dish?

A hot-dog-chef would probably say "nicely plated."

AVIAN ADVENTURES

Our two birdbaths, the blue one and the metal one down below that we put there to keep the neighborhood cats from drinking out of the blue one and tipping it over, are especially popular right after we have filled them with fresh water.

Of late we have been discovered by some common sparrows.

SWMBO tells me they come in flocks.

And the little flockers dominate the baths when they arrive, whether to bathe or to drink.

I would prefer that we could have a more colorful bird but I guess the sparrows need a cooling drink or bath too.

Meantime, high in a neighboring tree, a different bird . . . a Phoebe perhaps . . . maintains a lookout.

THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

HEY!

HAPPY FRIDAY!

Sorry, I was just shouting to wake you up.

Tell me, and be honest now, do you ever get tired of these weekly perambulations through Humorland?

'Cuz I could stop doing them.

But not *this* Friday.

There!

Now you'll have that song stuck in your head all day.

But singing a happy tune could not be a better way to slide into a great weekend.

Have fun, Gentle Readers, and always remember to keep laughing!

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

(he said, groaning in pain.)

RED ALERT

The sky was full of smoke from the Sheridan Fire burning in the Camp Wood area northwest of Prescott last night.

It made for an impressive sunset.

Unfortunately either my little point-and-click camera or the photographer manning it made a blurry picture.

But you get the idea.