UNTITLED FUN

 

SWMBO ROASTS!

 It occurred to me that every time (rarely) I bake or cook something I have to post on this blog bragging about it.

Regardless of the fact that I have oft boasted about my wife's abilities in the kitchen, I rarely have shown the results of her work.

So I won't do that today either.

But what I will show you is a sheet pan recipe that she prepared.

The photo is as it was ABOUT to go into the oven.

Left to right what you see here are some mini potatoes, quartered white onions, carrots, red peppers, yellow peppers, chicken breast pieces marinated in an Oriental sauce, and slices of red onion.

And wonderful reporter that I am, I didn't get a photo as it came out of the oven and before I pounced on and devoured most of it.

Will it suffice for me to say it was delicious?

A SIGN OF SPRING?

 The temperature has risen around these parts into the 50's and low 60's for several days now and I just spotted this rascal in my driveway.

He was very still.

He didn't even move as I bent over to photograph him.

I'm not sure whether he's frozen solid or just enjoying the sunshine-heated pavement for awhile.

But when I blew up the photo he looked positively prehistoric.

Behold!  The mighty grasshopper!

If he be here can Spring be far behind?

THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

 Oh, man, I just checked and learned that today is National Carrot Cake Day!

What could be better than that?

Well, I suppose the fact that it's also Friday.

Okay Trekkies, you got your wish once again.

Now not just you guys but EVERYONE, here's your mission:

Enjoy yourselves and have an absolutely artfully accident-free weekend!

And always remember to keep laughing!

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

(awww, I don't think you're trying . .)

ADDENDUM

 I just had to add this late arrival to the previous post.

I think Elvis would have liked it.

THE SECOND OF FEBRUARY

 

Yes, it is Groundhog Day!

The day we find out whether we will have another six weeks of winter or an early spring.

To those of you who don't know it dates back to the 19th Century when a group of Pennsylvania Dutch immigrants in Punxsutawney celebrated their superstition with a groundhog named Punxsutawney Phil.

As the superstition goes, if it's a sunny day and the groundhog thus sees its shadow it retreats to its den for another six weeks of winter.

If he doesn't see his shadow there will be an early spring.

This year Phil saw his shadow.

So does the superstition hold?

We could ask the groundhog.

Meantime, another tradition of this day has locked in.

Watching the Bill Murray movie "Groundhog Day", in which he is fated to reliving February 2nd over and over again.

So enjoy your day, your predictions, your weather, your early or late spring and whatever else comes your way.

ROBINS!

We got a tremendous surprise yesterday.

I opened the door to see the two huge trees in our front yard were absolutely filled with robins!

On January 31st!

I figured there were at least 50 of them and Judy said they apparently were migrating, though she said it seemed early for that.

They were very bold.

Quite a few danced around on the roof right over my head and were not scared off by my presence.

And when I went to the mailbox out by the street one flew off the roof, underneath the mailbox only about a foot from the ground and closer than that to me and up to another tree across the street.

I found a website this morning and read a lot about them and a flock like this is not unusual during migrations.

They can cover up to 300 miles in a day before stopping for the night.

We had not seen the birdlife we were accustomed to at our previous home and were despairing.

But earlier in the week when I opened the blind a tiny bird landed on the patio and walked almost up to the glass door where I was standing.

I think it was a goldfinch but I couldn't be sure.

Now, with this huge group of robins passing through, can Spring be far away?

I hope so and I hope the birds will be back to entertain us.

For those of you who don't know, that song was performed by a man born in Lithuania as Asa Joelson.

But after he came to the United States, he entered the world of entertainment as Al Jolson and had a legendary career before his death in 1950.

Hopefully, his song will lure some more robins to our area.

AM I PARANOID?

 

A POEM

 A good friend who supplies much of the comic material on these posts sent me a poem this morning.

It was a poem that he wrote was "just for me".

But knowing the meaning of poetry as defined by the Mighty Google: "It can . . . allow writers to express their emotions and allow readers to connect to those emotions . . ." I thought I could and even should share the poem with all of you.

I hope you can appreciate the angst that brought forth this poem from a troubled (and anonymous) soul.

So I shall share it with you now.

It is titled "A Winter Poem".

AN OLD FAVORITE

 

The clafoutis!

Fresh from the oven.

I hate it when they cool because they sink.

But SWMBO says they taste just as good.

I made this one with blueberries.

I've made the same recipe with cherries and with plums.

Any fruit seems to work well.

And SWMBO is right.

Of course.

They all taste wonderful.

Thank you, France.

THE VALLEY

Today's lesson about my state is about what we here call "The Valley", more formally "The Valley of the Sun".

The facts are thanks to a posting by my old employer, KPNX-TV, on its website 12 News today.

 

What is the Valley?

“The Valley” is what locals call the Phoenix Metropolitan Area. It is considered the largest metropolitan area in the Southwest. 

The Valley is made up of various major cities other than Phoenix, including:

• Mesa
• Chandler
• Scottsdale
• Tempe
• Glendale
• Surprise
• Peoria
• Gilbert
• El Mirage
• Avondale
• Litchfield Park
• Goodyear
• Buckeye

Whether a city is in the “East Valley” or “West Valley” depends on where it is in relation to Phoenix.

The cities of the Valley have a combined population of 4,845,832 people, according to the 2020 United States Census. This makes it the 11th largest metropolitan area in the country right behind the Boston and Atlanta areas.

How big is Maricopa County?

Maricopa County is the United States’ 4th largest county in terms of population with 4,485,414 people, according to the 2020 Census.

The county contains around 63% of Arizona’s population and is 9,224 square miles. That makes the county larger than seven U.S. states (Rhode Island, Delaware, Connecticut, Hawaii, New Jersey, Massachusetts and New Hampshire).

One of the largest park systems in the nation is also located in Maricopa County. The county has an estimated 120,000 acres of open space parks that includes hundreds of miles of trails, nature centers and campgrounds.

The county’s seat is located in Phoenix, which is also the state capital and the census-designated 5th most populous city in the United States.

By the way, where I live is another valley - Prescott Valley.

It's population is 48,188 at last count.

Prescott, about 8 miles to the west of us, has a current population of 46,833.

Prescott Valley used to be considered a suburb of Prescott.

Who's the suburb now!!!

THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

 Me: "Gadfrey, is it ever going to warm up?"

SWMBO: "It's only January, you idiot!"

Me: "I know. Isn't it ever going to warm up?"

It seems like we've had an interminably long cold winter so far and I know it's not going to be over until late March but jeeze!

Isn't it ever going to warm up?

Well, as we sit huddled around the fire in the living room (and we don't even have a fireplace!) about all we can do is exert ourselves to get the blood flowing.

Like try laughing maybe.

Just think about it for awhile, it'll come to you.

As for the rest of you, let's go out there . . . no, wait, let's stay inside where it's warm . . . but endeavor to have yourselves an enthrallingly exciting and entertaining weekend!

And always remember to keep laughing!

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

(. . . oh yeah . . .)

SUNNY ARIZONA

 

It may be sunny but it's only 37 chilly degrees!

SNOWY ARIZONA

 At the risk of beating a dead horse (sorry PETA), I feel compelled to tell you that Flagstaff, Arizona has recorded just shy of 58 inches of snow this month.

That's only 23 days into the New Year and it's already the fourth most snow ever recorded in a January and third place is within reach.

I was provoked by opening the blinds this morning and discovering that there was a fresh dusting, and it was only a dusting, of snow on the ground around my home.

Now we don't get anywhere near the snowfall that Flagstaff does because the elevation here is right around 5,000 feet and Flagstaff is almost 2,000 feet higher.

It is considered a mountain town but it's only about 140 miles north of Phoenix, which is considered to be in the desert.

And Phoenix is where one finds the cactus and the extremely high temperatures of summer through several months of the year.

Now I live in Prescott Valley about halfway between the two cities, even though our elevation is closer to Flagstaff than it is to Phoenix.

So we get views like this from the edge of town.

Those are the snow-topped Black Hills and not the ones that house Mount Rushmore.

Those are in South Dakota, well to the north of here.

The two highest peaks are Woodchute Mountain and Mingus Mountain.

For whatever reason, most people just refer to the whole range as Mingus Mountain.

As you can see from these pictures, the snow stops accumulating about halfway down the mountains.

I took these photos this morning and, as you can see, the sky to the north is looking dark and stormy so Flagstaff could get more snow today and tonight.

And so ends our climatology report for today.

SAT'R'DAY

 To those of you who expressed concern about my eye surgery yesterday, rest assured that I am, indeed, alive and well after the grueling episode.

Actually I exaggerate.

It wasn't grueling at all except for a few seconds when the fancy, dancy laser beam was repairing one end of my retinal tear and came close to a nerve.

But the rest of the roughly 10 minute procedure was a breeze.

I don't think my vision is quite as good as indicated by this piece of office decor at the clinic where my "work" was done but then I've used it (my vision)  for many, many years.

Now, on another note, I knew the "Alice Kramden" reference in one of yesterday's cartoons would go over the heads of any young readers I might have but I had forgotten that it might also evade the understanding of my visitors from outside of the United States.

So let me explain.

Back in the early days of television here in the United States, there was a comedy show called "The Honeymooners", which starred Jackie Gleason.

Gleason played a bus driver in Brooklyn named Ralph Kramden who had a volatile but comic temper.

On many episodes he would blow up during arguments with his wife Alice, played by Audrey Meadows, and making a fist he would mime a punch and bellow at her something like "One of these days, Alice, POW! Right in the kisser!"

One of his favorite lines was "To the moon, Alice, to the moon!", implying that he would hit her hard enough to send her to the moon.

She was never alarmed by these threats and would usually respond with "Aw, shaddup," i.e. "shut up".

Anyway that's how, in the cartoon yesterday, Alice Kramden beat the U.S. astronauts to the moon.

Sorry for the confusion, Gentle Readers.

Oh, and if you're so inclined, you can find a short video clip of Ralph and Alice by Googling: "to the moon, Alice".

THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

 Isn't this fun?

Just living through the week, counting the seconds, minutes, hours, days and nights until you can open up my blog and learn that IT'S FRIDAY AGAIN!!!

Well, it sure is for me.

Fun, that is.

As well as Friday.

I suppose I could begin each one of these weekly forays into funniness by just saying TGIF and launching the cartoons.

But that's not my way.

I like to amble aimlessly into the arcade of amusement.

Keeping you all in suspense for a bit

Before I say the magic words.

No, not "Shazam" or "Abracadabra" or "Presto".

No, the words "HIT IT!"

Awwwww-right!

Now you're feelin' better, aren't ya'?

I'm off to the eye surgeon who's going to blast my right eye with the killer laser ray to repair (he says) a horseshoe-shaped tear in my retina.

I'll be seeing you (he said pluckily).

But whatever, have yourselves an absolutely extravagantly sensational weekend.

And always remember to keep laughing!

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

(aw, c'mon . . .)