WIND

The famed Prescott Valley wind is blowing like a wild beast tangled in a net today.

(I found that simile on the World Wide Web . . I'm not nearly that poetical.)

I had read yesterday that it was coming but this is the strongest it has blown since we have lived here.

When I woke this morning I first heard it.

Then a bit later as I chatted up SWMBO she told me to look out at the patio.

This is what I saw.

Yes, the wind had picked up one corner of that outdoor astroturf and flipped it along with a metal bowl of rocks that were meant to hold it down.

So, yes, the wind is blowing and it's forecast to continue all day until around 5 this afternoon.

I have since picked up all the spilled stones, replaced them in the bowl and parked it on one of the patio chairs at the corner of the carpet.

We'll see how long that lasts.

Meantime, the whirligig is getting a workout.

THE FRIDAY FUNNIES!

Here I was, Gentle Readers, sitting at my desk, in front of my computer keyboard, trying fiercely to think of something to blog about today when suddenly (!!!!!) I remembered what day it is.

Saved by the . . . . bear!

So let us join hands, form a circle, look each other in the eye . . . and laugh a little!

First, there's the inevitable pie chart.

Then a message from our friends to the North.

And finally, an old favorite.

I know I've used it before but it still makes me laugh.

How about you?

All right, Gentle Readers, let those wonderful heartfelt thoughts lead you into a jolly weekend, filled with all that makes you happy and helps you to KEEP LAUGHING!

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

(oh, no . . .)

THROWBACK THURSDAY - THAT PESKY CAT!

Gentle Readers and others have read of my big black cat and how he follows me around the house like a puppydog.

I was just surfing through my photofiles and found this short video from 2010, which shows that he apparently bonded with me from the beginning.

That's my Blackwell.

CHET

Happy Valentine's Day, Gentle Readers.

I can't get through this day every year without bringing up the memory of a gentle genius who could not resist the lure of heroin.

In the end it killed him.

But before he left us he made Valentine's Day his.

Chet Baker.

GOAL SETTING

Day 12.

Down 10 pounds.

My goal . . .

(Don't hold your breath, ladies.)

TIMES CHANGE . . SO DO PEOPLE

Speaking of getting old and sensible . . .

A NEW HEALTH REGIMEN

Lo and behold, I discovered that I had been putting on weight over the holidays, what with cakes and pies and cookies and candy.

So on Super Bowl Sunday I stopped drinking alcohol and cut down on my other caloric intake.

I've lost a little over 6 pounds in the week but I'm down about 9 pounds from my heaviest weight.

I've been too heavy for years.

When we lived in Mexico back in the 1980's and 90's, I lost a lot of weight when we first went there due largely to a severe case of Montezuma's Revenge.

Then as I got used to a different type of food, I gradually gained back some of it.

But I maintained a weight which was good for me, maybe a trifle thin but perfectly healthy, for the rest of our years south of the border.

That may be somewhat curious, considering the amount of beer and full sugar Mexican coca cola I drank while there.

Rarely was I seen without a glass or a bottle in my hand.

When we returned to the U.S.A., with all of those tempting fast food outlets, I soon gained back what I had lost and more.

I'm nearing 78 years of age now and I figure it was finally time to settle down and lose some weight.

For years I've said "Oh, what's the difference, I haven't got all that much time left anyway."

But, you know, however much time there is, I might as well enjoy it.

Better weight and health would go a long way towards that.

Wish me luck.