THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

I know, I know, it's been a rough week.

But I am here to give you solace.

And HUMOR!

Thanks to a new contributor, Rollicking Robin, for this next one.

All right, already, I'll stop.

While ceasing can cancel the cacophony, please seek out caprice, comedy, camaraderie and constant cackling this last weekend in August.

And always remember to keep laughing!

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

(oh, yeah . . .)

UPDATE - THROWBACK THURSDAY

I just ran across another photo from our day atop Squaw Peak (Piestewa Peak) and had to add it.

Judy's younger daughter, Caryn, also climbed to the top that day and was exultant.

M-I-C-K-E-Y . . . .

THROWBACK THURSDAY

Back in 1972 our family of young renegades moved from Indiana to Phoenix, Arizona and one of the primary challenges was to climb to the top of this mountain in the city.

Back then, and since at least 1910, it was known as Squaw Peak.

Later it was renamed Piestewa Peak after Lori Ann Piestewa, the first Native American woman to die from combat in the U.S. Military and the first woman to die in action in the Iraq War.

The mountain is a little over 2,600 feet high and sited in a park in the city.

It is a popular hiking spot so we decided to scale it one weekend.

We began clambering over rocks straight up the north side and near the top we stumbled across a trail.

Then Judy and I suddenly began being pelted with pebbles from above.

Looking up we saw this rascal.

That's Judy's son Scott, whom we had lost track of during our rugged ascent.

He had found the trail to the top much earlier and was waiting at the summit for us to appear.

Well, we finally made it.

As his mother and I panted and sat enjoying the view of the Valley of the Sun below us, Scott had to show off his daredevil tendancy.

I did refrain from shoving him but just to get even here's his picture from an earlier time in his life.

He was a newborn then and SWMBO has threatened me with my life if I say when it was taken.

(By the way, the much-more-fit-than-we-were run all the way to the summit and make it in about 20 minutes or less.)

WAYBACK WEDNESDAY

A few years ago, the BRD proudly graduated from high school in Indianapolis, Indiana.

She wasn't always rich but she's always been beautiful.

ROBIN INVASION

It started with the arrival of this one at dusk yesterday.

With the lighter color on its breast and the sort of disheveled look of its hair, I assumed it was a fledgling.

But it had "robin attitude" already.

After a couple of sips of water, it got down on the ground and began pecking its way through the bark, apparently feeding on the ants I've seen there.

That attracted more robins who joined in the feeding frenzy.

Then one of them jumped up on the edge of the water tank and dominated it.

When another bird would hop up for a drink the first one would chase it off.

It took a few cautious dips in the water but realized it was too deep for a proper bath.

For some reason it totally ignored the bird bath up above, which being shallower would have allowed for more relaxed bathing.

But who can understand the minds of birds?

Just now I've had a dove invasion - six at once in the yard with three sharing the bird bath.

MONDAY MUSINGS

SATURDAY SUPPER

Judy created it last night.

Caprese Bruschetta with a Balsamic reduction glaze.

Toasted French bread topped with mozzarella cheese, sliced tomatoes and fresh basil.

It was fantastic.

SUNNY SATURDAY

Marigolds - protecting the tomato pot

THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

My calendar informed me that today is the third anniversary of the day my fourth Pacemaker was installed in my chest.

Since it and I are still "ticking" I guess I owe it a happy birthday wish.

The first one went in on Cinco de Mayo (May 5th) of 2007 so I've been living on borrowed time with a mechanically stimulated heartbeat for a little over 13-and-a-third years.

What better time for The Friday Funnies, right?

And with that we bid a fond adieu to another humorous week.

Now Gentle Readers, Cartoon Lovers and Fellow Zanies, let's all have a fabulous effing weekend.

And always remember to keep laughing!

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

Oh, he/she is hiding but he/she left a note . . .

CHIVE BLOSSOMS

Our very healthy Chive plant has been putting out towering flower stalks recently.

Judy trimmed them off, brought them inside and put them in a vase.

So I've been trying, unsuccessfully, to take a decent photo of them.

I've played around with my photo editing software and what I've come up with are some sorta interesting images.

See what you think.

At least it kept me from totally wasting a couple of hours.

BREADED

Tuesday morning production.

The big one is a Bread Machine loaf of Whole Wheat, studded with Craisins (dried cranberries).

The other two are English Muffin bread.

MAMA TURNS THE TIDE

As you've no doubt heard, today is the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, giving women the right to vote.

It came when a 24 year old State Representative in the Tennessee legislature changed his vote and broke a tie.

Harry T. Burn was the youngest member of the body and had voted against ratification several times.

But then, shortly before the decisive vote he received a note from his mother, which read in part:
 
        "Hurrah and vote for Suffrage and don't keep them in doubt.

           With lots of love, Mama"

Burn later inserted a statement in the House Journal: "I knew that a mother's advice is always safest for a boy to follow, and my mother wanted me to vote for ratification."

So let's issue a thank you to Febb Burn of Niota, Tennessee.

Mama's advice prompted a momentous event in American history.

RAIN!!!!!

See!

I bitched and it rained.

Tonight, at about 6:30, as our television was telling us that Joe Biden would make things better, we received the first real rainfall of this year's Monsoon (nonsoon) Season.

But I give full credit to my whining, complaining and . . yes . . bitching.

SPIDEY SENSE

We had a couple of fledgling robins in the bird bath this morning, splashing and soaking.

For long periods they just sat there in the water, seeming to be trying to figure out how they had become so lucky on another hot day in Arizona.

(It's 88 degrees at 9:30 a.m. as I'm typing this.)

I have thought a lot about hot weather and lack of rain since I wrote yesterday's post.

A different Robin commented that she didn't think it should ever get above 70 degrees.

While I insist that I don't mind the heat, I'd conjecture that the ideal day would be one where the temperature hovered at about 75.

I seem to be troubled recently by biting insects of some type or another which have prompted me to put my shorts away for awhile and go back to jeans.

Judy has long told me, and I fully agree, that I seem to attract mosquitoes while she repels them.

I haven't seen any skeeters and have been of the opinion that my itching comes from spiders nipping me while I'm asleep.

(Like someone more well-known than me, I make this statement with no proof or evidence.)

Like the hot weather, I am not alarmed by spiders while SWMBO reacts violently.

Well I suspect I've gotten myself into more trouble than I wanted now so I think I'll close this stream of consciousness soliloquy for the day.

Stay safe.