CONTRAST

Just to make up for that somewhat ugly picture of my lunch that I posted yesterday, here's what my beloved Judy can do when she has a mind to.

In case you're wondering, it's breaded pork tenderloin on a bed of spinach and sliced strawberries.

(Some people can mash up a burrito and microwave it.  Other people are culinary artists.)

A SIMPLE LUNCH

A flour tortilla, enclosing some leftover taco meat and refried beans; microwaved for 30-40 seconds.

Not pretty but tasty and fast.

THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

It's nearing the end of the week and the Catalyst's idle mind encountered a question while thinking about The Friday Funnies.

Can he get a laugh without a picture?

As an experiment, let's see.

Okay, okay, I hear you so I'll bring back the cartoons.

Well maybe just one.

Brace yourselves.

With that, I will call a halt to this Friday Frivolity.

I leave you with my standard plea - enjoy yourselves, have a great weekend and always remember to keep laughing.

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

(oooooohhhhhhh)

ThrowBack Thursday

1971 - Indiana:  A smug Catalyst in his brand new MGB,

Less than a year later, the car was back with the dealer and I was on my way to Arizona.

The smug smile remains.

PUSHING THE SEASON

I took this photo in a local store yesterday . . .

. . . so now it's down to 42!

TUESDAY TRICKERY

Up at the pass between Woodchute and Mingus Mountains there is a very unique tree.

While towering over its neighbors it blends into the forest.

But a closer inspection found it to be fenced off. 

Surprise!

It's NOT a tree.

It's a cleverly disguised cell phone tower.

To quote a punch line from an old joke, "Are you going to believe me or your lyin' eyes?"

CHOCOLATE & BLOODY

I told you yesterday about the mini "road trip" SWMBO and I took to the Verde Valley and our viewing the golden colors of the Cottonwoods along the river.

But, as you might expect of us, there were other pleasures experienced on this trip.

On our drive through Cottonwood (the town) we were surprised by this sign.

Now it happens that Judy has a daughter named Gayle, spelled that way, also known here as The BRD, for Beautiful Rich Daughter.

And she loves chocolate so I had to whip out my camera.

And visit the tiny shop.

Where I purchased four chocolate truffles.

They are Lemon, Raspberry, Champagne and, the shop-owner's favorite, Michigan Cherry.

In spite of good intentions, though, the BRD never saw these, as we greedily gobbled them up after we got home that evening.

Oh, and there was one other thing.

We stopped at The Tavern Grille in Old Town Cottonwood for a wonderful lunch preceded by one of these for SWMBO.

That is a spectacularly garnished Bloody Mary.

She said it was made to her taste - very spicey!

She topped it off with a BLTA sandwich and I had a Bleu Cheeseburger, both of which were excellent.

I heartily recommend The Tavern Grille.

And Gayle's Chocolates.

GOLDEN COTTONWOODS

SWMBO and I took a little road trip a few days ago, replicating somewhat my solo visit to the Verde Valley recently.

We stopped on the lower edge of Jerome to snap a couple of photos of the color in the trees and brush.

But the real treat was when we got to the Valley itself and saw all the cottonwood trees along the river in their brilliant gold colors for Autumn.

It is simple to track the course of the river as it wends its way through the area.

The moisture loving cottonweed trees lead the way with their brilliance.

We used to live in an apartment on a bluff looking down on the river and enjoyed seeing the trees changing color as the temperatures dropped.

We were directly above a large open field that occasionally flooded in the spring and apparently held water through the summer because every year a huge throng of Canada geese would fly in and land there for a few days on their journey south.

But that's another story.

LEFT-OVERS

I know Halloween was almost ten days ago but I have a few items that didn't see the light so . . .

Some residents of Clarkdale go all out with their decorations.

There, all caught up.

THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

Yo!

Everyone doing okay out there?

Well, then let's get on to The Friday Funnies.

This is a special edition, brought to you by the Catalyst and his gaggle of Humor Fairies.

Some of you Gentle Readers occasionally express consternation over my constant love and affection for creatures of the feline persuasion.

So this week, we're goin' to the dogs.

So there, I acknowledge the point.

Dogs can be funny and adorable too.

Now all of you clearheaded canine keepers take your dog for a walk this weekend before he becomes claustrophobic and cantankerous.

Make it a SPECIAL weekend and always remember to keep laughing!

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

ThrowBack Thursday

One of our favorite get-aways when we lived in Phoenix in the 1970's.

The Lost Dutchman State Park near Apache Junction.

We hiked up into the Superstition Mountains (behind me) one Easter Sunday toting a picnic lunch and a bottle of wine.

We didn't find the Dutchman's mine.

Ominous clouds on this day way back then.

WEDNESDAY POTPOURRI

Know what this is?

Considering the wisdom of my readers, I suspect you will identify it.

But the answer is down below.

I went to the big mall over in Prescott a few days ago and spotted what I first thought was a tribute to the Washington Nationals for winning the World Series.

But it was just a kiddy play area.

My trip to the mall was prompted by finding a pair of reading glasses that had gone missing at least six months ago.

I had searched the house, the garage, the car and had inquired at a couple of stores I visit and at the public library.

No one had found them.

And I had finally given up.

Then they turned up on the floor beneath our recliner.

I thought at first they were a pair belonging to SWMBO.

But when she saw them she said they weren't hers and they appeared to be my reading glasses.

When I tried them on I was amazed to realize she was correct.

They apparently had gotten into the works of the recliner and stayed there until somehow they had finally worked themselves out.

But both of the lenses had a scuff on them and Judy said if I took them to the store where I bought them several years ago the optician could probably grind that off.

So that was why I went to the mall, arriving at 9 a.m.

Only to see signs on the eyeglass store and most of the others that they didn't open until 10 a.m.

So I walked around a bit and then sat in a comfortable chair and read my email, nodding to the occasional passers-by intent on fitness by walking, back and forth, from one end of the mall to the other and repeating.

Now I am of a certain age and that is way too much exercise for me.

But I applaud them.

Finally the clock reached 10 a.m. and I was the first (and only) customer to enter the eyeglass store.

I explained my problem, handed the man the glasses and was promptly told that he could spray clean them but my wife's solution of having the scuffs ground off wouldn't work because it would change the prescription.

Well!

This was a venture into futility.

But the scuffs are on the upper part of each lens and I've found that when I read I look through the bottom half, sort of like bifocals, so they work for me anyway.

Doing a quick segue to another topic, last night was sort of wakeful for me and I didn't rise from the Arms of Morpheus until after 7:30 this morning . . more than an hour after my usual time.

Judy was already up and she asked me if I had heard the hailstorm.

"What hailstorm?" asked I.

She said the ground had been covered with small hailstones about 7 o'clock this morning.

I had missed the whole thing.

We were planning a short road trip today but with the possibility of scattered thunderstorms we have postponed it until tomorrow.

I'm not sure why I have carried on so much here this morning but I did and there you are.

Oh, the picture at the top?

It's blue denim.

A close-up of my jeans-clad leg.

I'm a rock star.

A view from a scenic overlook just up from Jerome, Arizona.