HALLOWEEN COUNTDOWN

It's still a few days until Halloween but since it falls on a Tuesday this year there will be many festivities relating to the Hallowed Eve this weekend.

Curiously, the old Humor Bank (Humour Banque) is loaded up with wicked wit and frightful funnies.

So I'm going to devote the next four days to marking the Horrible Holiday.

Today, I'll show you why dogs hate Halloween.

Dog owners take heed.

I think I'd be careful if I lived with a dog and submitted him or her to that kind of treatment.

THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

Hey, it's Autumn and the frost is on the pumpkin!

So I snuggle in my cozy bed and sleep in a little, okay.

I know I'm late this week but I won't keep you waiting any longer.

The sun has risen on a pun-derful day!

I'll bet you thought it was going to be all-Halloween today, didn't you?

Well I like to pitch a curve once in awhile.

Speaking of which, don't forget the World Series begins tonight as MY Arizona Diamondbacks try to finish their season with another title.

The last one occurred in their fourth season as a team, 22 years ago.

So it's their turn again.

But whether you cheer for them or their lowly opponents, the Texas Rangers, have yourselves a wonderful (not pun-derful) weekend.

And always remember to keep laughing!

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

( . . uh oh, let's see, I've lost count . . )

GETTING READY

 As noted yesterday, Halloween is approaching.

I recall some years ago when I was working for a radio station in Prescott, I went up to Mt. Vernon a day or so before the big day and interviewed a number of people who lived in some of those grand houses.

I wanted to know what their Halloween night was like when police blocked off the street and turned it into a pedestrian wonderland of people in costumes with their hands or buckets out screaming "Trick or Treat", demanding candy.

I was invited into one house and shown literally barrels . . BARRELS . . of candy that the homeowner had stocked up for the onslaught.

I remember thinking "How does someone afford all that?" but then I remembered these marvelous old homes are not inexpensive living places themselves and anyone who could afford to buy one could afford the candy AND the decorations for Halloween.

As for Yorkshire Pudding's query yesterday about the Taylor Homestead, we haven't decorated our homes for many years and this year we have no candy to hand out and will keep the lights off except in our rooms.

Trick or Treating has just gotten to be too much for us this year.

We're not Grinches but with Judy's soon to be surgically repaired knee hampering her it's a hassle, not a fun event.

But just to get you in a bit of a mood for the witching night, sing along with me now.

(If you need a hint, it's a song from "The Wizard of Oz")

HALLOWEEN HORRORS!

 A good friend and former neighbor of ours, Crosstown Lori (as she's known here) sent me a handful of photos from a walk she and a friend took in Prescott.

Our neighboring city goes back many decades before ours ever came into existence.

Think Doc Holliday and the Earps, for example, along with a ton of other historic figures from the days of the real Old West.

Think Whiskey Row.

But today think of Mt. Vernon Avenue with it's block after block of historic homes.

It's a place that goes all out for Halloween and gets thousands of visitors from as far away as Phoenix on the Witching Night eager for the candy handed out by the homeowners.

And, courtesy of Lori's photos, have a look at their decorating enthusiasm.

'TIS THE SEASON

My latest issue of All Recipes magazine arrived in my mailbox today just as I was setting out on some errands so I handed it quickly over to She Who Must Be Obeyed, who would be happy to tell you that she's been cooking and baking for hundreds of years.

 

After all my running around I got home and excitedly asked her how it was.

She replied, tiredly I thought, with "Oh, you know. It's seasonal. Cookies, cookies, cookies."

Then I got a text from Baseball Steve, asking if I was watching "Our Boys".

I had forgotten that game 6 of the National League Championship Series between Our Diamondbacks and the Philadelphia Phillies had begun early.

So I haven't seen my "cookie" magazine yet.

But I did spot a couple of other signs of the season in a neighbor's yard.

'Tis the season, indeed.

IN A GALAXY FAR, FAR AWAY . . .

 

THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

It's been a bit of an up-and-down week around here but ending on a high note.

After our vaccinations the other day I began having a constantly recurring nerve pain in one side of one foot.

Come and go, like someone with a slow arm delivery holding a hammer in his fist.

Finally last night, I went to bed with a compression stocking on that foot, doped with Acetaminophen tablets and Lidocaine gel.

And this morning the pain is gone.

If it was, as I suspect, a reaction to one or more of those vaccines then time may have been as much of a curative as anything else.

But it's good not to be cringing every few seconds.

So what a way to start the Friday Funnies, right?

And here's another - it's time once again for just words, no pictures, as the Humor/Humour Bank/Banque has filled with them and it's time to weed some out.

So with no further ado (and a bit of a cheat) . . . tada!

I told you there'd be a bit of a cheat.

I just can't keep those guys out of here.

Well, Gentle Readers and Fine Friends, that's it for this week.

Now enjoy a great weekend ahead and always remember to keep laughing.

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

( . . . oh, YIKES! . . . )

LIFE AROUND OUR PLACE

 The best news I have to report is that SWMBO has her knee replacement surgery scheduled.

Less than 3 weeks away and when she got the call it was a big surprise.

She had been led to believe that it could be two or three months away.

She's in excruciating pain most of the time but now has a pre-op appointment for next week and soon the beginning of injections to lessen her pain.

So that's great news and she is very happy.

- - - - - - - - - -

Yesterday we got our annual flu shot and this time added injections for RSV and Covid-19.

Three sticks, one in one arm and two in the other.

Fortunately the young man administering the shots was very good and we barely felt them.

We still have a second Shingles vaccine to be administered but, since the first one gave us a day or two of discomfort, SWMBO has postponed it for now.

- - - - - - - - - -

I think it is proper for me to set the record straight regarding the recent death of my brother and my reaction (or non reaction) to the news.

I had not seen him for 35 years and I felt like I barely knew him.

My last trip to North Dakota was in 1988 and there were some problems.

He had only come to Arizona once, when our father died in 1980.

So, though we exchanged greetings on each other's birthdays through the years, he was pretty much a stranger to me, as I undoubtedly was to him.

Life takes some curious turns sometimes.

- - - - - - - - - -

Now, not to leave you with those dark-ish thoughts, let me show you what I created in the Taylor Family Bakery this morning.

That, my friends is a Pecan Coffee Cake and it tastes as good as it looks.

For those of you who will say "You two eat so well", or "I can't figure out why you both don't weigh 300 pounds", I can only respond "I'm trying, I'm trying."

I just told Judy last night, "At our age I think it's time to forget about the calories and to eat whatever we want."

She didn't respond but I did notice a thoughtful look pass over her face.

Have a great Thursday, Gentle Readers, and eat well!

ENIGMA(?)

 Wacky Wally gifted me this meme today.

But that food item looks like whatever it is has a salad and some French Fries in it.

And the drink looks like coffee.

Maybe this really is a Backward Cat.

SERENITY

 

A quiet day at the duck pond.

But not a duck in sight!

PASSAGES

 I've been taking pictures of the tree in front of our home for about a week as the leaves changed color so I thought I'd show them to you today.

On another note, my older brother passed away last night in Minot, North Dakota.

Wayne had turned 90 at the end of July but was suffering from congestive heart failure.

He died peacefully under hospice care in a hospital.