ThrowBack Thursday

Who would have thought that this refugee from a "hair band" . . .

(uh . . the guy on the right.  That's John Wayne he's chatting up)

. . . the pensive photographer on a picnic in the 1970's . . .

. . . would some day years later become this . . .

Yes, back in the day, Timmer was my television news photographer in Phoenix.

But a move to Denver, some 40 years of aging, a necktie and a haircut turned him into a respected vice-president on the verge of retirement.

I look at him now and marvel at what the years have done.

(p.s. He's a grandfather, too, but he's still one of my old pals.)

A GIFT

One of our neighbors offered us some veg from their garden recently.

The eggplants became Eggplant Parmesan ala Judy for dinner last night.

That golden flying saucer is a Pattypan squash.

Unless you're a native of the Poughkeepsie, New York area, where it is known as "Schwoughksie Squash."

I owe that last little fact to The Great Google, which also tells me the first word in that name is pronounced as "shwooxie".

The things I learn.

SO LONG, SUMMER

WHAT! ANOTHER HOLIDAY?

SILENT SATURDAY

Except . . .

THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

OMG.

OMG.

I knew it was Friday but I forgot all about the Friday Funnies.

Fortunately my long-time pal, Easy Ed, alerted me, asking if I was O.K.

Ed, that may be debateable.

But at any rate, I'm up to date in Kansas City now and here you go.

Okay, Gentle Readers, I gave you a few extra ones this week.

I hope that makes up for my tardiness.

Now, please do your absolute best to have an exceptionally excellent weekend.

And always remember to keep laughing!

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

(ooooooohhhh)

A BIT OF SKY PIX

We've had some amazing "dark and stormy" skies lately but not a lot of rain.

Except for that one day when it rained for something over an hour and our amateurish rain gauge measured 1-1/4 inches.

Anyway, here's a couple of sky pictures, most favoring the top of a neighbor's house.

And, as a special treat prompted by LL (Lori Across Town) who mentioned Nehru jackets along with Madras yesterday . . . watch out!

Yes, that's me.

51 years ago when I was a 28 year old stripling covering the Republican National Convention of 1968 in Miami Beach.

As I told Lori in an email, I had a brown Nehru jacket also.

They bring to mind an old saying, "there's no accounting for bad taste."

And yes, I regret to say, I smoked cigarettes for way too many years before renouncing that evil habit in 1991.

ThrowBackThursday

Close your eyes, relax, let your breathing slow down.

We're going back, back and further back into the distant past.

Back into the mid-1970's.

Yes, 40 or 45 years ago.

To the era of brightly colored clothing.

To the days of . . . . . . . MADRAS!

Featuring, from left to right, my dear wife Judy (aka SWMBO for She Who Must Be Obeyed), my ownself, and our friends, Tom and Lana Cochrun.

Doesn't it look like either I've swiped Tom's pants or he's swiped my jacket?

And that is NOT a gigantic spiff that Lana is holding.

It's Pampas Grass, wrapped and sealed in paper for her to carry onto the airplane ferrying them back to their home in Indiana.

It should make her the object of attention to her fellow travelers.

They've been vacationing in California and then visiting us in Phoenix.

Oh, those hazy, crazy days of summer many years ago.

RAIN

Rain, rain, come and stay

Rain, rain, don't go away.

Finally!

We had a pretty good monsoon rain today.

For about an hour or more we had rain, thunder, lightning, wind and hail.

It's late this year.

It normally arrives on July 4th.

Late it may be but after week after week of temperatures climbing into the 90's, it's certainly welcome.

On our first evening in Phoenix, back in 1972, it rained for the first time in over 100 days (I believe) and everyone in the convenience store I was patronizing ran outside to stand and get wet.

Now I understand.

CHEF JUDY

Her latest creation.

Cold sliced breaded fried chicken over a spinach and strawberry salad.

Do you think she chose that red plate to highlight this dish?

A hot-dog-chef would probably say "nicely plated."

AVIAN ADVENTURES

Our two birdbaths, the blue one and the metal one down below that we put there to keep the neighborhood cats from drinking out of the blue one and tipping it over, are especially popular right after we have filled them with fresh water.

Of late we have been discovered by some common sparrows.

SWMBO tells me they come in flocks.

And the little flockers dominate the baths when they arrive, whether to bathe or to drink.

I would prefer that we could have a more colorful bird but I guess the sparrows need a cooling drink or bath too.

Meantime, high in a neighboring tree, a different bird . . . a Phoebe perhaps . . . maintains a lookout.

THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

HEY!

HAPPY FRIDAY!

Sorry, I was just shouting to wake you up.

Tell me, and be honest now, do you ever get tired of these weekly perambulations through Humorland?

'Cuz I could stop doing them.

But not *this* Friday.

There!

Now you'll have that song stuck in your head all day.

But singing a happy tune could not be a better way to slide into a great weekend.

Have fun, Gentle Readers, and always remember to keep laughing!

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

(he said, groaning in pain.)

RED ALERT

The sky was full of smoke from the Sheridan Fire burning in the Camp Wood area northwest of Prescott last night.

It made for an impressive sunset.

Unfortunately either my little point-and-click camera or the photographer manning it made a blurry picture.

But you get the idea.

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

RE-BIRTH (sort of)

When Mother Nature performed an execution on our poor sick elm tree recently, we received a number of expressions of sorrow and condolence.

But wait!

The ever-concerned-about-beauty SWMBO came up with a solution when it became apparent that our landlord was not going to replace said tree.

She found a Fake Ficus at a thrift store and we dug a hole and planted it in the same approximate place that the elm had occupied.

It's not near as big but it does wonders for the appearance of the yard.

That's Japanese Honeysuckle in the background.

It's *not* a fake and she's trying to train it to thrive and bush out and grow to the top of the wall.  

If this blasted weather would break she may have a chance.

Meantime there's this.

We're hoping the Fake Ficus doesn't shed any more of it's leaves.

SUMMER SALAD

Judy says our tomato plants are into their final days of this long hot summer.

But there are still enough popping to create these delicious salads, complemented with some cucumber.

PEACHES

SWMBO made a peach cobbler yesterday.

Doing it the "modern" way, she found a recipe on the Internet.

She said it was different from the way her mother used to make them but it came out beautifully.

Paired with some vanilla ice cream last night, it was delicious.

I may have to have some for breakfast today.

SULTRY SATURDAY

Day after day the mercury climbs into the 90's and what clouds we get don't contain any rain.

They are picturesque though.

And at least it cools off enough at night to open the house and turn off the air conditioning.

Good sleeping weather, my Dad used to say.

THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

As you have have guessed by now, this is my favorite day of the week.

Yes, it is time once again to celebrate . . . to whoop and cheer and dance and, above all, to smile!

So shall we begin?

(And once again, let me give credit to The Humorist From Harlingen, who keeps my comedy bank well-filled.)

All right you graduates and grandfathers, let's get out there and gracefully germinate a guiltless, garrulous, glamorous, gorgeous, generous, greathearted WEEKEND!

And never forget to keep laughing.

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

(Oh, if you keep doing that your face is going to stay that way!)