THROWBACK THURSDAY

I've been a baseball fan for as long as I can remember.

It started with my love for the Brooklyn Dodgers back in the 1940's.

Then after the team moved to Los Angeles, it was the Los Angeles Dodgers.

This, I might point out, was before the Arizona Diamondbacks came into existence.

I continued to follow the Dodgers even after we moved south of the border to Mexico.

I was able to follow the team there on television and a bookstore in Guadalajara even sold the Los Angeles Times.

So in 1988 when the team won the World Series I was following every play while wearing my Dodgers tee shirt.

And I sent this picture back to my friends in Phoenix who were supporting different teams.

That is the face of a happy baseball fan.

DECORATIONS. CHECK.

We have the house decorated for Christmas.

Well.

The front door, anyway.

The BRD presented the wreath to us when she came over for Thanksgiving.

Fortunately there was a nail in the front door.

So.

Decorating.

Done.

How's that for the old holiday spirit?

TUESDAY TRAVELS

As goofy as this picture is, on a day when the temperature here in Arizona is hovering at 19 degrees F. as I'm writing this . . . it feels good to look back to a time when I was in a t-shirt and shorts at an outside restaurant table in Puerto Vallarta.

And that bearded gent in the blue shirt in the background?

That's Baseball Steve, come down to pay me a visit.

Viva Mexico!

Winter Wonderland

The snow got a little lower during the night.

This is what I awoke to.

I took the picture through my den window and the glass reflected my lamp a bit.

Meanwhile, in front.

It's early but the dog-walkers and the car drivers have already been out messing with the street snowscape.

I love this view with the early morning sun casting a pinkish, orange-ish glow over the town.

Meantime, the Weather Gods say the temperature will only rise to 36 degrees here today.

In Arizona?

They've got to be kidding!

SNOW TIME

I had expected the ground to be white when I rose from the arms of Morpheus yesterday.

The Weather Gods had predicted snowfall during the night.

But lo and behold there was nought to be seen.

Until later, when I drove to the grocery store.

Against a murky gray sky, I noted the tops of the Bradshaw foothills just south of where I live were dusted with white.

Prescott, just about 8 miles away from Prescott Valley (where I live) is a couple of hundred feet higher in elevation.

And an old friend from my home town in North Dakota who lives there, Corky Jackson Hintz, posted this delightful picture on Facebook.

The beautiful photo from the Christmas-lit Courthouse Square shows that the increase in elevation was enough to create a bed of white.

STRIPPED DOWN FOR WINTER

It doesn't really make sense to me.

You would think as the weather gets colder the trees would want all of their leaves to surround them.

But instead they remove all of their protection from icy temperatures and snow.

For example, you remember that big red maple in our front yard?

Here's how it looked this morning.

I suppose the one advantage is it gives us a little easier view out toward the town and the mountains in the distance.

The sycamore with its huge leaves is nearly as equally bereft of foliage.

The ash tree is the last to release it's clutter.

And clutter it is.

In spite of raking up four big bags of leaves only a week ago it looks like another day of yard labor awaits us.

So it goes.

FRIDAY FUNNIES

You've done it!

You've struggled through another week!

Congratulations!

Here's your reward.

Feeling better?

Yeah. Lots of luck with that one.

And, of course, the cat.

Looks like kitty turned it into a Festivus holiday.

Hey, have a great weekend, friends, and always keep a grin on your kisser*.

*In honor of Mistletoe season.

THROWBACK THURSDAY

Smack that fish!

That Walleyed Pike was as big as I was.

My dad is showing off his prize catch from a fishing trip, probably to Carlyle Lake in Saskatchewan.

It was about 100 miles north of where we lived in North Dakota and was a favorite vacation spot during my childhood.

Pretty good fishing, too.

SEEKING THE SUN

Blackwell always find the sunbeam.

And the Arizona Diamondbacks face the 2016 season with a sunnier outlook, thanks to their new pitching ace.

216.5 million dollars brought Mr. Greinke to Arizona from the Los Angeles Dodgers for six years.

Now we'll see what happens.

TUESDAY TRAVELS

How can thirty years have gone by so quickly?

April, 1985. 

Hangin' with the rich folks.

Lots of nice "boats" here in the marina of Monte Carlo.

We also walked up to the casino and wasted a few francs trying to "break the bank".

Needless to say we didn't come close.

This was also where we had lunch and the first (and last) escargot of our month-long tour of Europe in 1985.

Before the trip, SWMBO had said she was going to have it every day of our four days in France.

We never found it on the menu there but we enjoyed it at a sidewalk bistro here in Monaco.

For those of you who don't like snails, it's the garlic butter, the garlic butter!

The snails are only the carrier!

MEOOOOOWWWW!!!

Are we "cat people"?

Why yes.

I believe we are.

CONTINUING ADVENTURES OF THE BRD

The BRD (Beautiful Rich Daughter), just returned from New Orleans, continued her glamorous, whirlwind trek through the hot spots of the world last night.

This time it found her on the streets of downtown Prescott, observing the annual Christmas lighting of the Courthouse Square.

She was joined by her coterie of gal pals and a few thousand other people jamming the streets (and saloons!)

Whew!  Not my kind of thing.

But, you go, girl!

SATURDAY..TAKE TWO..OR THREE

So my blogging day started off with confusion.

To explain:

I noticed a new bird at the bird bath this morning and originally thought it was a Gila Woodpecker.

Later, after consulting a bird book, I think it may have been a Flicker but I'm not sure.

I couldn't get a photo because of his nervousness.

But I set my camera up on a tripod, actually washed the window inside and out and filmed a video of various finches taking drinks.

But when I wrote and posted the blog and went to check on it I found that I had posted the wrong video.

So I dumped it and went back and tried loading the correct one.

But Blogger informed me that it was too large a file and it wouldn't accept it.

So I dumped the whole post.

Then I decided to drive into Prescott to take photos of the annual Christmas parade.

I noticed as I drove the 8 miles or so between my town and Prescott that the traffic was very heavy.

When I got to Prescott I found that there were no parking places anywhere near the center of town where the parade was scheduled.

Not only that but hundreds of other cars were circling the downtown area unsuccessfully searching for a space.

So after half an hour or so of that futile search I headed for home again.

I should have begun with this: the BRD's vacation in New Orleans.

She went there this past week for a getaway in one of her favorite cities.

Her room in her time-share looked beautiful even if there were a lot of mirrors.

Now, like her mother and step-father, the BRD has a vigorous interest in food and New Orleans is a great town for it.

Grilled oysters at The Corner Oyster House.

Oysters and crab claws at the Oyster House.

Barbecued oysters with blue cheese dressing and a splash of Tabasco.

(Are you getting the idea that she's fond of oysters?)

Andouille sausage, grilled shrimp and cheese grits.

She also enjoyed "Death by Gumbo", in which a quail is boned and served with gumbo in and around it.

But it wasn't all food and drink. (Though it seemed like it to me!)

There was music, too.

In case you didn't know, New Orleans (or more familiarly N'awlins) is famous for music.

She said there are street bands playing on every corner in the city.

And groups playing in a myriad of clubs, like this combo at the Funky Pirate.

She said she walked and walked and took a streetcar tour and a river cruise and . . . she even visited a church!

Well, she took a picture of the Catholic church on Jackson Square.

She didn't say she went inside.

It sounds like she had a great week in the Big Easy.

One she well deserved.

When she got home she found a container of home-made ham-and-beans and some Rice Krispie bars waiting for her, courtesy of her mother, the legendary SWMBO.

Not bad.

Not bad at all.

FRIDAY FUNNIES

It's been another rough week but let's put the days past aside for a brief moment and try to get our smiles back.

At least for awhile.

Signs of the times . . .

I think the people who posted those signs may reside here.

With that we turn our attention, very briefly, to the holiday season and an apparent relative of the Grumpy Cat.

Try to have a good weekend, Gentle Readers, and be of good cheer.

THROWBACK THURSDAY

"Let's go to the rodeo!"

Bronco Brucie and Old Paint

Jackson Hole, Wyoming

Some time back in the 1940's