THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

SWMBO and I went grocery shopping yesterday.

Trader Joe's was a madhouse.

Costco was a madhouse.

Fry's was a madhouse.

Somehow, amazingly, our marriage of 48+ years  survived.

I might add that two old geezers struck up uninvited conversations with the lovely lady I live with.

And that's only the two I caught!

But the larder is stocked once again and the holidays are staring us in the face.

So what better time than right now for turning the key and opening the door on the humor vault.

All in the spirit of the season.

Whew!

Do you think the holidays can survive all that?

Seems like Frosty got the worst of the deal though.

Well at any rate, you rascals had better rendezvous recklessly with the rhythms of the season rocking radically away while you enjoy a rapprochement with the romance of your life, keeping an eye out for Rudolf, that red-nosed reindeer.

Have a great weekend!

And always remember to keep laughing.

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

(uh-oh)

OLD BLUE IS NOT AMUSED

WTF!!!

COLD

Winter doesn't officially begin for 5 more days but the frigid weather has already descended on us.

Now I know that a low temperature overnight in the 20's (Fahrenheit) may not seem "cold" to many of you in other parts of the world.

But here in Arizona I can feel it in my bones.

Those chunks of ice the cat is surrounded by came out of the birdbath yesterday morning.

And as I gaze out the window this morning, 24 hours later, they're still lying there, unmelted.

The metal container I put on the ground with water for visiting cats (and skunks and whatever else stops by in the dark of night) suffered the same fate.

The mercury will be steadily rising throughout the week to reach a high of near 60 by the weekend but then comes another slide into the icy depths.

The furnace ran several times during the night, according to SWMBO, and that or some other irritant kept me awake most of the darkness hours.

Like Ebenezer Scrooge I say, "Bah! Humbug!"

PUTTING ON THE POUNDS

I'm not sure why "the holidays" compels the home baker to produce items that are guaranteed to show up on the scale.

Some of it is baking for friends and neighbors.

But a lot of it is just consumed at home.

It may be the influence of television shows and commercials and magazines and newspapers with their sugarplum fairy habit of showing cookies and cakes and candies that you, too, can make.

At any rate I'm no exception to the rule and the immediate result is this Lemony Turmeric Tea Cake that came first from the New York Times and second out of my oven.

It was very tasty even though I am paying for it in increasing poundage.

SUNDAY MORNING COMING DOWN

Sunday morning in my town.

And in the imagination of a master songwriter.

THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

The end of another frightful week has come and we can now turn to the joyful side.

Oh, no, it's Friday the 13th.

Did we ever need the funnies more?

Well maybe last week and the week before and . . .

Okay, let us begin.

There now, feeling better?

Time to get back to trimming the tree, baking cookies and candy and other stuff you'd never eat, finishing the Christmas cards, attending the kids' and grandkids' holiday extravaganzas, last minute shopping, and wrapping presents.

Meanwhile, I'll just lean back in my recliner and watch "It's A Wonderful Life" for the umpteenth time.

Whatever is your wont, have a wonderfully warm weekend.

And always remember to keep laughing!

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

(awwwww . .)

A SECOND LOOK

I keep having these weird feelings that someone is watching me.

ThrowBack Thursday

SWMBO saying good night to Carol Burnett's grandmother.

IN LIEU OF WISDOM . . .

BLEAK SATURDAY

Well the Big Garage Sale is finally over.

Saturday dawned grey and chilly but the gals put out their signs and filled the driveway and the garage with bargain-priced goodies.

After about 4 hours they had collected around 70 dollars divided just about evenly between them.

Even the "Lookie Loos" had died down to a few.

So they packed it in.

We think the big Christmas parade in nearby Prescott probably hurt.

At any rate SWMBO said this is *definitely* her last garage sale.

Gayle says she'll sell some of the stuff on-line, which is a heck of a lot easier.

So, lesson learned and we move on.

There are other things to attend to.

THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

Tomorrow is the day for Judy's garage sale, or as Zhoen would call it her GROJ sale.

(Getting Rid Of Junk)

SWMBO asked me if I had anything to put in the sale and I offered a couple of things and she hasn't spoken to me since.

Women.  What are ya' goin' to do with 'em, right guys?

Well, anyway, it's time for the Friday Funnies.

Let's see what we can find in the Humor Bank.

This next one is especially for my friend Tom from California who visited and fell in love with Scotland this year.

And finally, (as the first t.v. anchorman I worked with in Phoenix used to say at the end of each newscast), you knew I had to include one of these.

That's it, Gentle Readers.

Now let's get going, galloping and gallivanting gaily through a gaudy gargantuan ginormous weekend.

And always remember to keep laughing!

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

(uh-oh)

ThrowBack Thursday

1985 - Smoking and drinking through Europe.

Some LARGE beer steins at the Munich Hofbräuhaus.

A very liquid evening when we joined a bunch of locals at a tavern in Innsbruck, Austria.

Judy was charmed by "Beautiful Bruno".

One of the many train rides we took.

It was a great month of exploration.

(We were so young!)

WET WEDNESDAY

It may surprise those of you who think all of Arizona is a hot, dry desert.

But we do occasionally get rain here.

Today is one of those days.

Glassford Hill has disappeared into the low-lying rain cloud.

And my poor car is forced to sit outside while the garage fills for Judy's sale.

Do those look like tears to you?

But there is joy connected to a rainy day for someone.

You guessed it.

When I opened the garage door Matty, our rental cat, came hurrying in.

And after his snack and some water he got CATNIP!

Some cats eat it, some get stoned and sit with a glassy stare.

But Matty rolls in it.

Obviously too fast for my camera to catch him without the flash.

After totally absorbing all of the herbal thrills he settles down in his accustomed place on the couch.

Now, he says, it's time for my nap.

There's nothing like a rainy day if you've got friends who will let you into their house.

CATALYST, SWMBO, AND CATS

When I chose my avatar for this blog I was not thinking of cats.

I, in fact, chose "Catalyst" as a name for someone who stirs things up; who cultivates thought; who causes events to occur, as it were.

But, as has often been pointed out in these musings since Oddball was brought back to life in March of 2008, cats play a large part in the lives of both SWMBO and myself.

So, how did that all begin?

With the two who traveled with us to Arizona from Indianapolis in 1972.

They were named Primo and Pax.

Regrettably I have no photos of them.

But as proof of our affection for the felines and of they for us, I offer this favorite photo of Judy on a Christmas visit back to Mexico a year after we had ended our residence there.

That animal wasn't even one of ours, it was a pet of our friends.

Still it gravitated to Judy within minutes of our arrival.

We believe his name was Bustipher.

And then there's me and a couple sharing my cocktail hour many years ago.

That's Jazz, on the left, and Muggles, on the right.

So yes, we do love cats and even though we have decided not to live with one in these days of our senescense, we're still buying kitty treats and welcoming the neighbors' cat Matty in for a snack, some catnip, and a snooze.

And you can still call me "Cat".

KITCHEN ADVENTURES

The second half of a loaf of no-knead bread, made start to finish yesterday in about two hours.

This one was a success.

On the other hand . . .

As Judy was working in a frigid garage this morning getting her sale organized for the weekend, I was rampaging through the pantry looking for ingredients for a pot of soup.

I originally had a hearty potato soup in mind but didn't find the proper ingredients.

Then I was examining a quart of miso broth we've had forever.

Then as I was fondling a package of beans for 15-bean soup, SWMBO came in and began offering instructions.

After boiling and draining the beans and throwing them in the slow cooker with a chopped up onion and some celery and some pieces left over from a ham awhile back I topped them all with water.

Too much water, according to Judy.

There are beans down there, underneath all that floating onion and celery and ham.

They'll cook, as Judy put it, "forever" and maybe eventually, some day, we'll have bean soup.

So it goes.

I try.

God knows, I try.

AGING

An old, and long-time, friend of mine sent me a picture of his growling self the other day.

I replied jocularly, "Where's that Easy Ed smile I used to be used to from you?"

So he sent me one of him with a goofy grin on his kisser.

(Ed, you can rest easy now - I'm not going to post it!)

A little later I was trying to figure out how to start a new picture file for this new month of December and I reasoned that the easiest way was to snap a picture of something and upload it to the computer.

The "magic box" takes care of the rest, opens a new file and names it for the current month.

So what photo do you think I took?

Yup, a selfie.

Now, my wife, SWMBO of fame, would never willingly have a current picture of herself put out into cyberspace.

But me?

I have no shame.

So there it is - the Catalyst nearing the downslide to 80 years of age.

(That occurs next April 24th, if I make it.)

I sent the photo to Ed and commented that smiling is not one of my big traits these days.

And I noted that while I have more hair than he does, he is older than me.

And my hairline is receding.

And receding.

And receding.

After reading what I've just written, I don't feel so well.

I think I need to lie down for awhile.