TBT - MY BRANCH OF THE TREE

Well, I must say I expected you Gentle Readers to say nice things about the beautiful women in the family I married into.

And of course notice was given of the handsome great-grandson (thanks, John Gray).

But I was taken aback by Jager's comment about my Stanley (North Dakota) genes.

How, you might ask, could an upstanding young man (never mind that nickname: Cougar) turn . . . in a few short years into this dissipated wreck of a human.

Part of the transformation may be attributed to that cursed affinity he developed for the fumes of rubber cement.

But wait!

The story takes a turn and, in spite of the drinks on the table, he produces a pretty darned good looking son.

Here's a slightly better (and earlier in time) picture of the Terrible Twosome.

Allow me to introduce my son, Scott, handsome like his proud papa.

So those genes weren't so bad after all, were they Jager!

One more picture, for Montana Mike (aka Should Fish More) who made a snarky comment referencing my dandy legs.

(And, of course, for Val, who also likes the pictures of me in my short shorts.)

In TV days, not dressed for the camera, but slaving away over a hot typewriter.

Gentle Readers, enjoy!

MODELING

This is a picture of our gorgeous granddaughter, Lesly, and her son, Donovan, goofing recently up where they live in Colorado.

I can take no credit for the looks on this branch of our family.

But to see where it came from, take a look at these two pictures of the grandmother (and great-grandmother of Donovan).

This is the legendary SWMBO.

Yep.

I married into a family with lots of beauty.

(Lucky me.)

CATCHING UP

I know, I know, I haven't been blogging much lately, other than posting the dubious Friday Funnies.

Well, that's something, isn't it?

Okay, update.

Judy, aka SWMBO, is making great progress in her recovery from her femur fracture in mid June.

She's still using the walker but she said the other evening to me "I have had several instances lately where I suddenly found myself a couple of steps away from the walker with no other support."

She made the mistake of mentioning that to her PT guy today and he said "Thursday bring your cane."

Uh-oh.

But her mood is good, most of the time, and I think she's looking at each of these developments, small as they may seem to the rest of us, as challenges to surmount.

And surmount them she shall.

After the hurricane . . .

The BRD's Beau Jack has a son who has lived in Key West for years and he and his lady evacuated a couple of days before Irma blasted across the keys maybe 25 or 30 miles from their home.

They came to Arizona to take temporary refuge with Jack and Gayle and have been anxiously scanning the internet trying to find out how their home fared.

From what they could tell today it looks like their house escaped wind damage.

Next is to find out about water.

So this terrible tragedy has come closer to home for us.

Some tidbits . . .

A very good friend who suffered a fall recently learned that she fractured a couple of vertebrae in her spine, is wearing a brace and is not-too-patiently waiting to meet with a neurosurgeon.

But she'll be okay . . she's only 85.

Another friend, Lori who lives Down the Street from our previous home, emailed that she had made a quiche and a pumpkin pie this morning.

Nothing, she said, spells autumn like quiche and pumpkin pie.

And our weather is about to break, with high temperatures dropping into the 70's later this week.

Me?

I'm doing fine.

First check of my new Pacemaker tomorrow.

The photos were taken from my front and back yards this evening.

I like the last one.

FRIDAY FUNNIES

It is a little difficult to be cheerful as this weekend approaches, Gentle Readers.

Southeast Texas is struggling to pull itself out from under the disaster that was Hurricane Harvey.

The Caribbean has been devastated by Hurricane Irma, which is now headed for Florida, and Hurricane Jose is following right behind.

And last night the largest earthquake to hit Mexico in a century shook Chiapas, Oaxaca and even Mexico City with many people lost and severe damage in some areas.

So all in all while it may be hard to smile, my job is to try to lighten the mood somewhat so let us make an effort.

Like many of you, no doubt, I've got water on my mind this Friday so that will be our theme.

And . . . for good measure . . .

To all of the folks in the paths of hurricanes or earthquakes, be smart and stay safe this weekend and laugh when you can.

I'm thinking about you.

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

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.

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

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?

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

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 . . .