A CHRISTMAS STORY

Once again, the holiday season is upon us.

Oh, pardon me, I mean the Christmas season.

There have been some Yule shouters around these parts in recent years angry that the town fathers put up decorations and words saying "Happy Holidays!"

"It's Christmas, for cryin' out loud," these malcontents howled, "not 'the holidays'."

I'm not going to get into the midst of that argument, at least not today.

No, what I want to talk about is the Christmas tree, specifically the FLOCKED Christmas tree.

You remember them.

They looked like something from either Currier and Ives or a disco bar.

Puffy.

Apparently they were supposed to look like they were covered in snow.

I saw a headline in a newspaper the other day that said flocked Christmas trees are back.

Which reminded me of a late friend of mine, the irreverent Chuck Riley.

When I worked, ate and drank with him, Chuck was a disc jockey at WIBC radio in Indianapolis, Indiana.

He was a short, rotund, irascible guy with a terrific voice and a marvelous laugh.

He later moved to Los Angeles and had a great career as a voice actor whom anybody who lived in the United States has probably heard.

His voice told us about hundreds of movies, in their promotional trailers . . such as those for "Titanic" and "The Godfather".

But back to Indianapolis and Christmas one year.

A year of flocked trees.

Chuck told his fellow radio workers one day that he had a Christmas tree up at his house, which surprised us a bit as Chuck wasn't known for being a sentimental, holiday-celebrating kind of guy.

"Yeah," said Chuck, "it's one of those flocked ones."

"We put it up yesterday.  We're not going to decorate it or anything."

"It's a little short.  And it's black!"

"What?" we all exclaimed.

Chuck went on, "Yeah, it's just over in the corner.  It looks like it's crouching."

Then came his roaring laughter.

Chuck died a little over 10 years ago at the age of 66.

But he left behind a ton of memories, including his black, flocked, crouching Christmas tree.

😁 THE FRIDAY FUNNIES 😁

Gentle Readers, I hope you noticed the two grinning emojis I added to the title today.

Here at Oddball we are nothing if not technologically correct.

I hope your T-day was as good as mine.

The BRD lived up to her family reputation and provided us with a great meal.

But now let's get on to the serious(?) business of the day.

Let's take a little journey on Noah's Ark today.

Two at a time, please.

And since we're in a Biblical mood . . .

Those wintertime colds can be a real bear.

Now, if you're really insistent on hitting the stores this weekend, do it with a smile on your face and patience in your heart.

Or shop online.

Whatever, always remember to keep laughing!

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

SOME MUSIC FOR COOKING

Don't be a cold fish . . . get yourself some Hot Tuna!

Thanksgiving Day

THE MENU

Judy and I have been invited to the BRD's and Beau Jack's home for a "non-traditional" Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow.

After teasing me for several days Gayle has finally released the menu.

Phyllo Brie & Cranberry bites & Shrimp

Caesar Salad

Slow Cooked Braised Short Ribs

Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Asparagus

Chocolate and Plain Cream Puff Pastries

Yes, there is no roast turkey and stuffing but doesn't that menu sound delicious?

I can't wait.

(Doesn't really look like I need it, does it?)

VISITORS

The bird bath just outside my window gets a wide variety of visitors.

The other day SWMBO said she watched a woodpecker cling to the tree next to it and lean over to drink.

But more often it's house finches and the likes of these.

This one was perched on the edge while his or her mate patrolled the grounds below for edible bugs.

My apologies for the quality of the photos above.

Part of it is spots and smears left on the glass by Blackwell's explorations.

Speaking of which, take a look at this beauty.

That's a big fluffy visitor I call Old Yellow.

She stands on the blue cat's back to reach the water and sometimes drinks long and longer

When she gets down, if I tap on the window, she turns and stares at me.

The other day I decided to see if she'd run if I stepped outside.

In fact she stayed, let me pet her and rolled and rolled, exposing her furry white belly for a tentative scratch.

She is definitely a domesticated cat.

If I get another chance I'll have to take my camera with me.

A NEW CREATION

SWMBO got creative in the kitchen yesterday.

Never mind that Thanksgiving is only a few days away.

She had scored some Meyer lemons and decided to invent a new way to bake sweet potatoes.

So she diced up a couple of the potatoes and an equal amount of fresh pineapple and sliced several of the lemons and some tangerines and studded the slices with whole cloves.

She made a sauce of brown sugar, cinnamon, butter, the juice of a couple of the lemons and a dash of water.

This she cooked until it caramelized and then combined it with the sweet potatoes and pineapple, spread them out in a baking dish and topped them with the clove-studded fruits.

It looked like this before going into the oven to be baked for a couple of hours.

When it was done she served it with some of our favorite Mandarin Orange Chicken from Trader Joe's.

There was a mix of quinoa and brown rice to balance the sweetness.

When I tasted this dinner I was One Happy Camper!

NOW STARRING . . .

As I was scanning through the Prescott Daily Courier recently I saw a link to a photo from this year's Tuxedos and Tool Belts gala.

I remembered that the BRD and her Beau Jack had been to a number of them and checked the photo.

And lo and behold, there they were!

I cropped the photo to give you a better view of the glorious couple.

The BRD is looking particularly beautiful these days with her new bangs, which a number of people have complimented her on, saying they make her look much younger.

She was concerned about her posture in the photo above until she realized her jacket was draped over the chair back behind her and she was indeed sitting up straight.

Update: Gayle says Jack bid on a trip to Greece at the gala and won it!  They have to go sometime within the next year.  After their trip to Costa Rica next month!

Patterns

Sharon has some interesting photographs on one of her blogs today and it made me think of this photograph I took in our front yard a couple of days ago.

Apparently it is uninteresting, though, as evidenced by SWMBO's shrug reaction to it when I showed it to her.

Perhaps this picture, taken instead of pointing the camera down but up, is more interesting.

I wanted to photograph the gray, cloudy sky and was luck enough to have a couple of big black ravens fly over as I clicked the shutter.

I cropped the picture down later to better show the birds.

Quite obviously they don't flap their wings in a coordinated manner even though they were flying side by side.

The first picture fills one's spirit with a sense of impending gloom or doom against that slate grey sky, though.

(Today it's blue with lots of sunshine.)

THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

Well, here we are once again.

The end of the week and nothing to show for it except a few extra pounds (of pie).

But it's time to look the ogre dead in the eyes and amp it up, Gentle Readers.

Time to get . . .

Hey, was that the phone?

So that's it, Gentle Readers, progress in the technological era.

Here's an idea for a great weekend: turn your phone OFF for a couple of days and look around you.

You might be surprised.

But whatever, always remember to keep laughing!

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

(Oh, no, you too?)

FIVE AMIGOS

The years keep piling up but the Rock Springs Cafe gatherings live on.

Today was another such lunch at the Palace of Pie by these five survivors of the media wars at KPNX-TV in Phoenix.

Steve Torbeck, Wally Athey, Lew Ruggiero, Karl Kindberg and Bruce Taylor.

All a bit grayer, certainly more rotund.

As for the pies, you think I lie?

These are just some of the pies being readied for the big Thanksgiving rush.

I had a slice of Chocolate Cream today while the other lads, (huh-huh-huh), watched their waistlines.

VIEWS AROUND THE CASA

A colorful early morning sky through the leaves at dawn.

My constant companion keeps an eye out for birds and wandering cats.

And one of our favorite repeating dinners Judy discovered a recipe for recently.

Smoked paprika shrimp with scallions and garlic.

How's life around your house?

AVIAN ANTICS

I had just finished filling the bird bath with fresh water this morning when this rascal showed up.

He looked to his right.

He looked to his left.

He looked straight at where Blackwell and I were watching him through the window.

What was he so cautious about?

Aha!

Bath day.

Some birds are more modest than others, I guess.

MY GIRLS

The BRD has been experimenting with her hair-do's recently.

This is the latest: bangs!

As I told her, I've always loved bangs.

Know why?

Like daughter, like mother.

THIS WILL FOOL YOU

Click on the link:

ARE THEY WET YET?

I'd seen this before but when my friend, Lori Across Town (formerly Down the Block) sent it to me today I thought maybe some of you Gentle Readers hadn't seen it yet.

As the email said:  

This is a holographic projection of a Whale. It is a photographic process that produces images thanks to the differences between 2 laser beams. These images are projected into a gym using a special camera. There is not a drop of water in this room, let alone a whale.

Spooky what science can do, isn't it?

THE SEASON OF FOOD

Regulars at this blog (Gentle Readers) know that I love food.

I love to read about it.

I love to occasionally try new recipes.

I especially love to eat SWMBO's cooking.

So if you're warming up your kitchens for the holidays, let me show you some throwback pictures from our various kitchens over the years.

Some recipes call for Julia Child's favorite ingredient: but-tah!

The big eating day of the year is Thanksgiving, just down the road a bit and in most homes that means turkey.

Years ago we came to an understanding that roasting a whole turkey is more work than it's worth and turkey breast became our holiday meal.

But not everyone likes turkey (like my wife) so maybe throw tradition to the wind and go with boneless orange pork chops.

Or maybe some grilled fish and asparagus.

Fresh-baked bread is always a treat.

And, of course, veggies are a must no matter how they're part of your meal.

Of course, at Thanksgiving there's only one way to end the meal . . . with PIE!

It might be the traditional pumpkin pie.

Or a Key Lime Pie.

Or you may want to go way out in left field and make a Chocolate Truffle Pie!

Let me tell you, couple a slice of that with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of chocolate sauce and you will remember it in your dreams.

I don't know about you but I'm hungry!