Oddball Observations

Wednesday, July 7, 2021

TOMATO, TAMAHTOE

Scanning some of my blog colleagues work today I decided it was time for a little update on our gardening efforts.

So we examine the back patio tomato barrel.

It's looking a bit sun-withered but what are you going to do?

We live in Arizona, which is a notably sunny place, and our rainfall this year so far is even below normal.

But the hose is there and there are signs that something is working.

There are two different plants in there this year and these are products of an alleged Cherry Tomato plant.

Getting down and peering into the interior we can see signs of progress on the other plant too, which promises larger tomatoes.

So we keep on with judicious watering and waiting to see what will develop.

As the Guy Clark song says, there ain't nuthin' in the world like Home Grown Tomatoes.

Tuesday, July 6, 2021

ELEMENTARY, WATSON

Get the bird books!

We've got a new species!

It resembles the Cowbirds that frequent our back yard but this one appears to have a blindingly white beak.

I've never seen one like that so it must be something new.

Let's blow this photo up a bit and get a better look.

About that time SWMBO, watching from the other room, said "It doesn't have a white beak, it's carrying something around in its mouth."

She said she'd been observing it and watched it even wash the object off in the lower water container before hopping around the yard with it.

I hate it when she's right so quickly but at least she *couldn't* identify what it was carrying.

The Cowbirds (if that's what they are) are a delight to watch as they usually fly up to the wall and strut along it's length.

Monday, July 5, 2021

FUTURE AND PAST

I know I'm growing old.

After all, I was born in 1940.

But apparently that word has gotten out.

I received what I would call a "spam" email this morning from an entity inviting me to take a virtual tour of what they call "11 Beautiful Cemeteries" around the world.

Now I have no fear of my onrushing demise but I'm not encouraging it either.

So I declined the invitation to visit famous resting places.

I have been to the gravesites of my parents and my grandparents and I have seen a photograph of my great-grandparents tombstone.

But there's one place I probably will never visit but would like to.

It's now called the Taylor-Bray Farm and it's on the original site in what is now Yarmouth Port, Massachusetts where my 7th great-grandfather, Richard Taylor, settled after arriving from England in 1639.

He built his home near a large rock and became known as Richard "Rock" Taylor to distinguish himself from another Richard Taylor who had come over the pond at the same time.

The farm stayed in the Taylor family until the late 1800's when it was sold to George and William Bray, who farmed there for another 50 years.

They had a stone plaque installed commemorating the first Taylor's founding of the site.

I know, I can't read much of it either.

Now, in the way of the Bible, Richard begat Richard Jr, who begat Jasher, who begat Isaac, who begat Stephen, who begat Ansel, who begat Emmons, who begat Berthold, who begat Franklin, who was my father.

Of course there were many other children "begatted" through the centuries.

I remember once coming into a genealogy of our family and was being pretty impressed with myself until I read that Taylor was about the sixth most common name in the country.

But back to the Taylor-Bray Farm.

It's a National Historic Site now and a preservation website claims it was inhabited by Native Americans for some 10,000 years!

So there's a lot of history there.

But I bet Richard "Rock" Taylor would never have imagined that a very distant relative of his would someday make his living for a time as a "rock and roll" disc jockey.