Grillin' 'n' Chillin'

Oh, yeah. It's time to fire up the grill.

What we have here is some asparagus, several boneless skinless chicken breasts and a half a hunk of Artisan bread wrapped in foil.

SWMBO fires up the gas.

This is not time-lapse photography but the first side of that chicken is done. The bread is heating on an upper rack.

The asparagus is in the grill basket. Oh, yeahhhhhh!

Can you smell that chicken?

Can you taste that asparagus and chicken?

Oh, yeah. Fill my plate. Add some brown rice. And my salad: grated carrots and apple, some poached raisins and toasted slivered almonds.

Let's see. Anything else? Oh, yeah, a glass of red wine.

I'm in heaven!

Progress(?)

The local newspaper was full of letters from outraged citizens for months about the damage the construction of a new Lowe's store was doing to a hillside in Prescott. Before that it was more of the same for another hillside for a Wal-Mart construction. Before that it was the "leveling" of Bullwhacker Hill as the Gateway Mall was being built.

But I haven't seen a single comment about the ugly hillside drivers are confronted with as they enter Prescott from the east. As graders and bulldozers have carved away at another hillside to make way for the long awaited highway intersection improvements, they have draped the top of the remaining dirt with some strange type of netting. This has offered (from my car) the rather odd two-toned view as one enters the town. Certainly distracting and definitely not a pretty entrance to the city.

Where are the letters? Or have their authors just given up?

Note: Clicking on the photo will make it even uglier.

More flowers - more snow!

I wonder if this is what is called a rose arbor.

Some different colored neighbors.

But . . . what's that in the distance? We had rain here last night but up on Mingus Mountain, it was what an old disc jockey friend of mine used to call Celestial Dandruff.

Flowers again

Wouldn't that beauty look good in a lapel of one of Tom Wolfe's white suits?

Smoke likes nothing better than to share the patio with us. Especially after he has taken a dirt bath!

The prince of the manor!

Through the lens, blurrily!

It's the front patio flowers bursting into bloom. That time of year. First, the pink roses.

And my favorite, the firecracker rose.

And the pinwheel.

Wait a minute . . . how did that get in here?

Oh, yeah, pansies. That's what I meant.

A mix of geraniums and marigolds.

The marigolds of peace. (Oh, realllllyyy, Catalyst!)

The ever-present Vinca.

Now, I think you can see what I mean. Some of these pictures are a little blurry. Had nothing to do with me holding the camera in one hand and my drink in the other. Just inexperience with this damned camera. One of these days, I'm gonna read the manual. If I can find it.

Cinco de Meowww!

Chalupas!!!

I was down in Phoenix today to attend an Arizona Diamondbacks game with Steve. The D-backs took on and handily dispatched the New York Mets by a score of 10 to 4.

And as we left the stadium, every attendee was given a small paper coupon like this:
To those of you not familiar with that delicacy, it is a Chalupa. Every time the Diamondbacks score 8 or more runs in a home game, everyone in the stadium gets a coupon for a free Chalupa at any Taco Bell in the state.

I am happy to say that I have claimed several of these coupons on the occasion of games I have attended. The Chalupas are good and they usually represent a Diamondbacks victory.

Our team is now 21 and 9 for the year with the best record in the Major Leagues by nearly 100 points. Brandon Webb, who got the win today, is the top pitcher in the game with a 7 and 0 start. If you want to read more about the game and today's star - Augie Ojeda - go here.

Slouching into May Day

Ah, May Day!

A day of revolution.

Of parades.

Of spring!

And of spring flowers!

Unfortunately, in Denver, Colorado, the tulips were coated with snow today as a storm moved across the state.

(Pictures courtesy . . . oh, o.k., they were swiped . . . from the KUSA-TV web site. Thanks guys.)

Out come the plants!

As the BRD says every 12 months at about this time: "This is my favorite time of the year. Greening up the patio."

She was out for 3 hours before we were aware of it this morning, planting, bringing big plants out of their winter quarters in her sun porch, watering. By the time I noticed it, she was back in her recliner, panting. So, what has she done? Well . . .

The hibiscus plants below are ours and they're showing the signs of their winter neglect. But as they were dry, they were a lot easier to bring out of the house. And with some watering, they'll soon be putting out daily red blossoms.

One of the guardians of the patio was purchased a few years ago in Mexico. He weighs a "ton".

In case he's not enough to scare away pests, there's a ferocious though colorful gila monster close at hand.

He and the turtle are pals.

While they guard our entrance, Saint Francis is nestled among the plants guarding the BRD's.

Right now. It's mostly green. But a lot more color will come in the days ahead. I'll keep you posted.

A new day - a new year

The BRD took me (the birthday boy), SWMBO and the Normster out for dinner last night. Each of the couples shared a pound of mussels in a Dijon and Chardonnay sauce.

Yum!

Then I had a New York strip steak and a baked potato.

The Normster and the gals all were more sensible - they had fish.

Oh, and as I told Mike over at his blog, I decided to pay tribute to him. I had several of these:

Yeah. That's a gin and tonic. Mike's favorite drink back before he became a one-kidney superstar. He does not seem to appreciate my nod to him, though. He's not only quit drinking alcohol he has kicked the cigarette habit as well. I dropped cigarettes back in 1991 when we returned from Mexico and confronted the high price of tobacco.

So, in all seriousness, I say congratulations, Mike. Eventually you will not miss either of these bad habits and you'll feel a heck of a lot better.

In the meantime, to another blogger pal . . . Tombo who likes to cook and photograph his dishes, I'll say "Look at those pictures above, Tombo, and eat your heart out!!!"

For the sake of honesty: I swiped all those pictures off the Internet but they are a good representation of what was on our table.

Flowering

Neither I nor SWMBO can remember what these things are called. They look like tiny roses so this year we're calling it the rosette plant. But, with the exception of the Vinca, it's usually the first thing that shows blossoms in our front garden. And it just seems to explode from nothing to fully covered with blossoms overnight.

It makes old sunny face (on the left) smile a bit.

The end of 67!

Tomorrow will mark the end of my 67th year.

Hard to believe.

This is a picture of me from 38 or so years ago. A young stud. Cleft chin and all. I don't remember that. But the glasses on top of the head? Typical. Even now.

What have I learned in all these years?

What have we all learned?

First of all, not to eat so much. That sculptured chin looked pretty good!

Happy B-earth-day!

I'm Still Here

A friend e-mailed me today and asked where my blog postings had gone. (I hadn't posted since the 15th, which was Tuesday.) I told him that sometimes one just has to take a break.

Another reason is just not having anything to say. I read a number of blogs and have noted that this reason does not stop some others from blogging.

But, be that as it may.

You may note that I have not posted anything on politics for quite awhile. That is because I just grew (as Barry Goldwater used to say) "sick and tired" of this year's campaign and the way the television media has reported and misrepresented it. In spite of being a political junkie for decades I have quit watching most television coverage of the campaign. This bothers the hell out of SWMBO, also a political junkie. She thinks I'm just bitter because my candidate isn't winning.

So, who is my candidate? Well, I may have a new one. Former representative Bob Barr is the new favorite for the presidential nomination of the Libertarian Party. After reading a column by George Will saying that Barr could be to John McCain what Ralph Nader was to Al Gore and John Kerry, I began thinking that a vote for Barr might not be a bad idea.

To another subject. I have several friends living in Juneau, Alaska. A recent avalanche about 40 miles from Juneau wiped out several transmission towers linking a hydoelectric plant to the capitol. Emergency generators have been thrown into use to keep power coming to Juneau. But the electricity generated is vastly more expensive to produce. That means Juneau residents may see an increase in their electric rates of 500 to 600 percent. Imagine. Your monthly bill has been $200. Suddenly it's $1,000 or higher. Residents are looking for state or federal help.

I guess that's about it for today.

Number 42

Jackie Robinson was a great athlete who broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball when he was hired to play for the Brooklyn Dodgers 61 years ago today. After a successful 10 year career, he retired.

His uniform number 42 was retired by the Dodgers in 1972 and in 1997 all of Major League baseball retired the number. A waiver allows the number to be worn by players on this date in honor of Robinson.

I was a Dodger fan for many years including Jackie's playing days.

He was a great man.

Get well, Mike!

Sorry, guys. I started early.

RENEWAL!!!

I think I've mentioned our poor worn front patio before. The one where the stain has worn off the concrete.


SWMBO and I cleaned it a few days ago. Today, the BRD painted it.

I had to take this close-up to show you how stylish our painter is.

The entire patio was painted, thanks to a roller, in a little over an hour.

Bravo! A new patio!

Meantime, some spring flowers are waiting patiently to be planted.