JUST A THOUGHT

Mar-a-Lago, President Donald Trump's Florida "club",  is perched on Palm Beach, a long, skinny barrier island adjacent to the Atlantic Ocean, about 70 miles north of Miami.

I wonder if he has flood insurance.

Like I said, just a thought.

WISPS

That's what I saw in my sky last night.

Wisps.

Of clouds.

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Back down here on terra firma, I received a couple of pictures by email from the BRD.

They show some spectacular blooms on a flowering cactus.

It's amazing that a plant this prickly could produce such beautiful blossoms.

How's your imagination?

Is that a face peeking out from behind that center flower?

If so, what does it mean?

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MY Arizona Diamondbacks completed a three-game sweep of the Colorado Rockies this afternoon.

That follows a sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Which followed a sweep of the San Francisco Giants.

The Diamondbacks have now won 10 games in a row for the first time since 2003.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The numbers keep rising from that tragic flood in Texas and Louisiana.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

It's looking more and more like we may get involved in another war with North Korea.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Sometimes it's just better to watch the wisps of cloud in the sky.

RIVALS

My friend the Ladder-Backed Woodpecker was back at the tree in my backyard again last evening and this time I got some pictures of him.

They're a little grainy but he's identifiable.

As he was working over the tree, seeking bugs for his dinner, he seemed distracted by something at the nearby bird bath.

I wondered if he would go down and get a drink.

But no!

As I widened my vision I saw what had the woodpecker concerned.

A large mourning dove had zoomed in for his taste.

Though much larger than the woodpecker, he's probably much less brave.

But he didn't pay the slightest attention, just got his drink, turned his back and then flew off, frightening the woodpecker away with his flapping wings.

And so ends this episode of Life at the Avian Crossroads.

FRIDAY FUNNIES

The play "Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus" is being performed in Prescott right now.

Which, since today is FRIDAY(!!!!!) prompts me to show you the difference between how women and men celebrate this great day.

First . . women:

And then . . men:

All right, Gentle Readers, with that explained let's get on with the Friday Funnies.

On that happy note, your Joy Boy will bring this edition to a close.

Now I want you to have an embarrassingly spectacular weekend, Gentle Readers, and always remember to keep laughing!

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

(oh boy . . .)

POLITICS AND BLUE BIRDS

Y'all may have noticed that I haven't commented on Hurricane Harvey.

Well, now I will.

It's a terrible, hideous disaster brought on in part because of climate change.

The waters in the Gulf of Mexico are warmer than they have been in years past and that contributes to the unrelenting rainfall that has accompanied this storm.

No matter how much blather the deniers put out, climate change brought on and intensified this storm.

And then I saw that our President made a trip to Texas this week without meeting any of the survivors of the storm and made some self-serving statements before jetting back to the Beltway.

Vice-president Pence came to Texas today and met and hugged and prayed with survivors and even got his hands dirty carrying some broken tree branches away from the front of a building.

But, then, we all know he's running for President, don't we?

Do I sound a bit cynical?

Oh, yes, the President said today he's giving a million dollars of his own money to the relief effort.

Someone I know very well commented that money will probably come from the Trump Foundation that he doesn't contribute to.

But be that as it may.

I had a visitor this afternoon.

What my friend Mike in Montana will quickly identify as a "camp robber".

Down here in Arizona we call him a Mountain Jay.

He just stopped by for a drink.

Speaking of which . . . . . . .

ONE WEEK LATER

Some of you have expressed interest in my recent Pacemaker/Defibrillator replacement surgery.

I'm going to show you where it is, complete with the scar from the cutting, so if you're queasy you might want to go someplace else right now.

But for those of you who watch medical shows on television (SWMBO) and are still curious, here you go.

That thin red line is where the surgeon opened the skin over my chest a week ago yesterday and tugged and pushed to get the old pacemaker out and the new one inserted.

That bulge isn't swelling as much as it is the actual shape of the pacemaker beneath my skin.

The original leads (wires) that go from the device into my heart have been there since the first installation ten years ago.

They get checked from time to time but so far they're holding up just fine.

I don't think the yellowish color on the left is bruising as much as it is of some of the chemicals that were brushed onto the skin for cleaning.

I was out of the hospital only a couple of hours after the surgery and with an ice-pack on my chest, asleep for about an hour and a half.

After that no more ice and never any pain pills, not even aspirin.

'Course, they gave me quite a cocktail of drugs in the hospital which probably had a day's worth or so of time to wear off.

But, as the old expression goes, "no pain, no strain" and, since this was my fourth pacemaker "surgery", no worries either.

As I say (ad infinitum), "this ain't my first rodeo."

BREAKING NEWS!!!

Light sprinkle dampens windows in Arizona!

(With apologies to residents of Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas)

FRIDAY FUNNIES

This is not the best day to be finding humor in our daily lives with Hurricane Harvey bearing down on the Texas coast.

But I'm going to try to bring some cheer, even if for just a short time.

Today (once again), Gentle Readers, we're going to examine the role of the computer in our lives.

So that's it for another week of toil and trouble, Gentle Readers.

Have yourselves a merry little weekend and keep your spirits bright.

(hmmm, that kinda sounds like a song.)

And always remember, even and especially in the face of bad stuff, to keep laughing.

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

TBT

I have just finished reading a book titled "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay", by Michael Chabon.

It won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2001.

I used to see it when Judy and I ran our bookstore but only very recently got around to it.

At just over 650 pages, it is a bit of a challenge.

And it's subject matter may challenge some.

It varies between a young Jewish man making an escape from Prague just prior to the beginning of World War Two, magic tricks and escape stunts, comic book art, the unfairness of the business world, romance, homosexuality, life and death.

But I found it a spellbinder.

And mixing in familiar names like Morton Gould, Milton Caniff, Stan Lee, Harry Houdini, Scarne, Orson Welles, Dolores Del Rio and many more brought memories back to me.

I, too, grew up on comic books and magic.

With my mother's help at costumery, I sported a black cape and (cardboard) top hat as a lad to perform shows for a few friends as The Great Taylor.

I had quite a library of books by the aforementioned Scarne, Houdini, Harry Blackstone and others.

But while I did know a few card tricks, unlike the great Scarne I could never master the art of unerringly producing four aces from a deck on command.

In other words, that picture is as fake as it is fuzzy.

GET OVER IT

WOW!

Although I certainly didn't think so yesterday it appears my little visit with the heart surgeon took more than I thought out of me.

(That's sort of a play on words . . . I'm only talking about energy.)

I came home and took a nap that lasted about an hour and a half, then went to bed again at 7:30 last night and didn't get up until 7 this morning.

And I've had a mid-morning snooze, as well.

Now that I've had a little lunch I think I'm about ready for another nap.

It's probably due to all the "dope" they shot into me yesterday.

Valium, lipoderm to ease the pain of the I.V. shot, then who knows what during my actual procedure, one dose of which put me totally to sleep because once the pacemaker was installed they activate it to shock me to make sure it works and I have no memory of that.

 

(the evidence)

So, I guess I'm just sleeping off all the "silly juice" they used on me.

I'll talk to you later cuz right now . . .zzzzzzzzzzzzz.

IT'S OVER!

I am very pleased to report that my pacemaker/defibrillator replacement went well today.

It began at 12:35 and I was out well before 3 p.m. and home by 4 p.m.

It is amazing to me to see the differences in the procedure.

And I am especially grateful to my surgeon, Dr. George Rizk and the team that assisted him.

There's just one problem.

He said this device is good for 7 to 10 years and I'm not sure I can live that long.

Also, I am very happy to hear that DanaBug had her hip surgery today and it went well and the results look good.

Oh, and I hear there was an eclipse.

FRIDAY FUNNIES

It's the end of another week and only three days until the big eclipse here in the U.S. of A.

And only three days until my pacemaker replacement.

Let's put up a monument!

Oh, on second thought maybe we better not.

Monuments aren't faring too well these days.

O.K. let's get on to the real reason you've gathered here on this bright sunny morning, Gentle Readers, the Funnies.

All right, enough.

Whether vicariously or in your very own action movie have yourselves a terrifically splendid weekend, Gentle Readers.

And never ever forget to keep laughing.

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

(uh-oh)

THROWBACK THURSDAY

The beautiful young woman in this photograph is Jan D'Atri, a Phoenix television personality, at the 1981 Rocky Mountain Emmy Awards.

The leering lout with her is me, I'm only slightly embarrassed to say.

She was stopped by a couple of fans to pose for the photograph with her trophy and I, drink in hand and quite possibly three sheets to the wind, wandering by couldn't resist crowding into the picture.

I must add that unlike the Denver disc jockey who got into trouble with Taylor Swift, I did not have my hand on Ms. D'Atri's derrierre.

A SHORT ROAD TRIP

While SWMBO* was having a visit from the BRD* today I took a little drive up over the mountain, down through Jerome and Clarkdale to Old Cottonwood.

(*She Who Must Be Obeyed/Judy and the Beautiful Rich Daughter/Gayle)

As I told them when I returned, everywhere I went today it had rained yet I got only a light sprinkle on my windshield.

But here is why the Verde Valley is especially green this time of year.

A view from below of the Black Hills of Arizona, which house Mingus and Woodchute Mountains.

And a familiar sight from our years living in Arizona and particularly during the two years or so that we lived in Clarkdale: the road to Jerome.

That road which continues onward and upward over the Mingus Summit Rest Area and down the southwest side back to Prescott Valley is one of my favorite drives . . switchbacks, gawking slow-driving tourists and all.

FRIDAY FUNNIES

Oh boy.

Oh joy.

It's FRIDAY!

This week seemed to just race by but I'm glad it's over.

Of course, that means I'm one week older.

Ah well, it also means I've survived one more week in order to bring you a wee tad of hilarity.

Hmmmmm, okay.

Well Gentle Readers the weekend is upon us so let's get at it. 

Have a fantabulous time, enjoy your days off and you retirees, try to avoid saying "days off from what?"

Here, kitty-kitty . . .