IT'S SO WHITE!

 Recently I was reading a blog I keep up on written by a youngish fellow (in his 60's) in Sheffield in the U.K. (England, actually).

He had a post about Lebanon, Kansas, which he identified as the geographical center of the contiguous United States.

I commented to him that if he had gone to the geographical center of North America he would have been around Rugby, North Dakota, which is about 120 miles straight east of the town where I grew up.

Today I was surprised to find that he had done a post on my home town, Stanley.

He learned and related that the town, with a population of something over 2,500 people, is a tad less than 99 percent white.

Well, I do remember that there was only one African-American man living there when I was a kid and the population was only around 11 hundred.

There were some Native Americans but I don't remember if any of them lived in Stanley.

I do remember, thinking back, that it was a pretty-much Opie-like existence (as in the old Andy Griffith television show).

All of which brings me to an email conversation I had the other day with another blogger friend in the Seattle, Washington area.

She (Margaret) was saying that the mountain passes in her state were getting hammered with a blizzard, meaning lots of snow.

Which brings me to a conversation I had this morning with a cousin in North Dakota (only about 60 miles from my home town).

She said they were expecting a blizzard to hit at any time and the forecast was for up to 30 INCHES OF SNOW!

Now that's white!

And may I remind everyone that this is nearly mid-April?

I told her I was very happy that I now live in Arizona.

This is about the only white I relate to these days.

That's an ornamental pear tree just a couple of blocks from where I now live.

LURKING IN LUCKENBACH

 A very good writer for the local newspaper, The Daily Courier, for many years also travels quite a bit and documents her travels on infrequent blog posts.

Cindy Barks' blog is called NearandFarAZ and she has a fresh post today, which can be found here about a number of towns she visited in Texas.

The last one, which she calls a bonus town, is the tiny spot called Luckenbach.

With a population listed as 3, it's more of a wide spot to go to for drinking and dancing than anything else.

There's a dance hall and one other main building which houses a souvenir shop and a working saloon.

One warm summer day back in the early 1990's when we were living in Austin we visited the town and partook of it's hospitality in the saloon.

Cindy mentions a song that made the burg famous, recorded by a couple of good old boys back in 1977.

Just for old time's sake, give a listen to Waylon Jennings and Willy Nelson (and friends).

WHO'S THERE?

 

(Thanks to Tommy Terrific for that one)

THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

 April is my favorite month.

It's the time when Spring really does burst forth.

Oh there may be the occasional snowstorm but we all know it won't last and the buds will soon be exploding into blossoms.

And it's the time for celebrations.

Anniversaries, like ours.

And I just learned that my great-great-grandparents got married on the 5th of April in 1826!

And it is a month of birthdays too.

The BRD's is in a few days and mine is in a couple of weeks and . . .

No, no, no, I'm just kidding about that.

Her birthday isn't until next month.

But speaking of kidding . . .

Pop goes the weasel!

Hahahahahahaha!

Oh, sometimes even I have to laugh.

What's that?

I'm alone?

Harrumph!

Well, y'old grouches, try to struggle through the next couple of days and have a good weekend.

And always remember to KEEP ON LAUGHING!

Awright?

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

ANOTHER CYCLE

 

It's been a long time since this photo was taken of Judy and Bruce, aka SWMBO and Catalyst.

It's on our doorstep at Governour's Square apartments in Indianapolis, Indiana.

We were newly married.

A lot of miles since then and, as the old saying goes, a lot of water over the dam.

Today marks our 51st wedding anniversary.

UH-OH

For a long time now I've been pooh-poohing people who complain about side effects from the Covid shots.

I never have side effects.

I never have had side effects from flu shots either.

At least not since I was a little kid, back in the Dark Ages.

One nearby friend beat me by a few days to getting his SECOND booster shot for Covid.

Then he described his side effects.

Neuropathy the first night, he said.

Ha!, I scoffed.

And Monday SWMBO and I got OUR second booster shots.

No problem, said I.

We did some shopping and some gardening afterwards.

That night the neuropathy began.

Now if you don't know what neuropathy is let me describe it to you.

It's a severe nerve pain that comes and goes in the sufferer's feet.

At least that's where I get it.

And, for some reason, it's usually worse after I go to bed, leading to prolonged moaning and occasional screaming and cursing.

This night, in spite of the medication I take for it at bedtime and the acetaminophen I took about 4 a.m., it did not go away all night.

And when I rose in the morning, not from sleep I might add, I was groggy enough to be walking into walls most of the day.

Judy kept telling me it would be better the next day and she helped it along with a dose of another, stronger medicine for last night.

It worked.

No neuropathy or at least very little.

I slept like a baby.

And I don't mean I cried and woke up to pee every hour.

That was the night before.

I slept well and woke feeling refreshed and today has been a different story, though I still have some fatigue.

More than usual, that is.

So to all of those people who have been insulted by my cocky comments along the lines of "I ain't got no side effects", I hereby offer my humble apologies.

Now I think I'll go lie down.

Again.

TASTY TUESDAY

 Several of my commenters yesterday prompted me to go to the Almighty Omniscient Google.

The commenters said they had never heard of rubber mulch.

Weakling that I am, I began to wonder if what was scattered around our yard WASN'T rubber mulch.

If, in fact, it never existed.

I am pleased as punch to find proof that rubber mulch does, indeed, exist.

When I related this to SWMBO, she said (wisely, as always) that I could just have gone to the back yard and looked at the bag.

With that gentle put-down I shall switch subjects.

Take a look at this:

My chef's delicious concoction of Spicy Paprika Shrimp, sizzling in the pan.

Now in my younger days I detested grits.

But I thought I'd try them again and Herself prepared some with a hefty dose of some White Sharp Cheddar Cheese I had purchased.

Shrimp and Grits.

Why has it taken me this long to taste, appreciate, love this classic Southern dish?

Looking at these photos makes my mouth water, even though we just had this a couple of days ago.

How about you?