ThrowBack Thursday

It's time once again to jump into the Wayback Machine and see what we can find.

This time it took me back to the 1980's when Judy and I were living in Guadalajara, Mexico.

We had gone down to the Pacific Coast, to La Manzanilla on Tenacatita Bay, for a few days at a beach cottage.

At that time, the town was a v-e-r-y sleepy little fishing village.

One day as I was strolling on the beach I noticed a huge flock of birds over the water not far from shore.

Then I saw the fishing boats in a half circle and then saw the big net they were hauling through the water beneath the birds and heading for shore.

They had caught up with a school of fish and were slowly bringing it in.

When they got close to the beach everyone from the town . . young and old men and women and small children . . waded into the water and began grabbing the fish and throwing them into a panga (a rudimentary fishing boat).

In moments, the boat was filled to overflowing with fish.

I had never seen anything like this and was amazed.

There was a big icehouse a bit away from the beach and it would soon be full of fish waiting for the buyer, who would probably come from Manzanillo, about an hour further south.

But for the time, everyone in town would share in this motherlode for their meals.

Even I was allowed to buy a fine red snapper from one of the young men who filleted it for me right there on the beach.

That was a mighty tasty fish, grilled that very day.

It is one of many happy memories culled from our Mexico Days.

WARMING

Finally the heat is on.

Well not the heat but the mercury is rising and we may hit 70 today.

It's 63 just before noon and the skies are blue and the sun is shining brightly.

And that makes me happy.

You may not be able to tell it from this picture I snapped while sitting at our patio table but trust me, I am happy.

Judy sprayed the weeds in both the front and the rear yards this morning while I assisted by pulling, winding and unwinding the hose.

And I saw a couple of large ants crawling up on the patio.

Judy said they were fleeing the weed killer.

It should also kill any Covid-19 bugs in the immediate area.

But enough about death.

Wacky Wally sent me this cartoon yesterday which he designated for next Easter.

But I couldn't wait that long.

I hope you all had a nice Easter, even with self-isolation going on.

Stay well, stay home and wash your hands.

GROWTH

I don't know why I do this but whenever I decide to grow a full beard it's usually at the beginning of the hottest time of year.

So, here goes.

By the way, do you Gentle Readers find yourselves examining and grading the bookshelves you're seeing on t.v. newscasts as people are quarantining themselves at home?

We do.

And this (photo above) is not a good representation of mine.

Here's a better view.

That bottom shelf is (part of) our cookbook collection.

And I still look for recipes on the Internets.

That makes about as much sense as growing a beard for summer.

Go figure.

MUSIC YOU'LL LOVE

Sometimes you stumble across a new musical group that simply knocks your socks off.

Such was the case for me a few minutes ago when I read a blog post on Robin Andrea and Roger's blog.

Four kids sitting around in a motel room play some of the sweetest sounds you've ever heard.

Their harmony is amazing.

Check it out.

Right now!

BLUE RIDGE MOUNTAINS

HAPP-YEASTER

Rain was promised and rain came yesterday.

You can see it falling from the sky over towards the center of the town.

But all we got here at the Bat-Cave were a few drops.

In spite of a threatening sky.

As for how SWMBO and I are doing during these self quarantine days of the pandemic, it's not a whole lot different from our normal lives.

We both tend to be hermits anyway.

So, as I emailed the BRD on her (cough, cough, ahem, er, uh)-th birthday yesterday, we had our pizza, postponed from Friday night, watched Wheel of Fortune, and Jeopardy, and Death in Paradise and then went to bed.

Just a couple of old folks.

I hope you're all staying healthy, well and sane in your own self confinements.

And happy religious-event-of-your-choice.

THE BAKERY

In these days of quarantine in my neighborhood (Prescott Valley, Arizona, U.S.A.) the oven has been fired up more than usual.

I baked a loaf of pumpkin bread the other day.

It came from a recipe on the Smitten Kitchen website, presided over by a New Yorker named Deb Perlman.

As you may be able to tell, the loaf is topped with a copius amount of cinnamon sugar and the ingredient list includes sugar, ground ginger, ground cinnamon, ground cloves and freshly grated nutmeg.

So it has a double payoff.

As one commenter said, it makes the house smell wonderful while baking.

SWMBO said it is so sweet it should be called pumpkin cake but I didn't think it was all that sweet.

Different strokes for different folks.

Or two people with perhaps different taste senses.

I took a picture once I had sliced off one end so you could view the interior.

But I'm not the only baker in this household.

Judy has baked several dozen cookies of various recipes so we are well stocked.

After I baked the bread/cake she told me to slack off awhile as we have too many calorie-laden goodies in the house and we may gain back some of the weight we've both lost over the last year.

Maybe I could avoid scarfing them down by wearing my Covoid "mask" in the house.

What do you think?

THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

It's the Stay the **** at Home version of the weekly humor roundup.

I hope you're all well and safe and, as Joe says, washing your fekkin hands.

Let's see what's turned up, shall we?

Feeling a bit better now, Gentle Readers and Fellow Quarantiners?

I hope so and I wish for you all to have a sweet and peaceful weekend.

Take care of yourselves, stay well and always remember to keep laughing.

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

(awww, would you look at the puss on that puss...)