THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

 So this was the week the Sun went "out".

Well, just for a few minutes.

And just for part of the world.

But if you were where the total eclipse was visible, it was quite a show.

Oh and yesterday the Beautiful Artistic Daughter had a birthday.

A BIG one.

I'm not revealing any secrets here.

She turned 70!

And she's not hiding it.

Well, except for her appearance as she looks much, much younger.

Maybe 70 is the new 40.

I saw a new cardiologist a couple of days ago and I must be doing okay because we laughed and laughed through the appointment.

And that's what I hope you all will do as I launch us into a new fit of frivolity to finalize the week.

The first one is for Gayle and anyone who had a birthday this week.

Seems like there was a lot of food fetishness going on this week.

I guess that might tell you something about me.

Well at any rate, eat and drink well this weekend and make it a fine fete-filled feast for the senses.

And ALWAYS remember to keep laughing!

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

( . . oh, and she's brought a friend . . )

CHO-CO-LATE

The Taylor Family Bakery was humming yesterday.

This could be SWMBO.

AN EARLIER ECLIPSE

Judy and I watched the total solar eclipse on television.

It was only supposed to be about 60 percent where we live and the day was partly cloudy so not much to see.

But seeing the light go out of the sky across the country and the excitement of people in all those locations was fun to see.

And the first place to have the thrill in North America was Mazatlan, Mexico.

That was the first place we visited in our neighbor to the south, 45 years ago in 1979.

But some time later, in 1991, we were living in San Antonio Tlayacapan, on the shore of Lake Chapala south of Guadalajara.

And on July 11th of that year the last total solar eclipse to be seen in Mexico occurred.

This is a photo of me with one of our fellow expatriates at the time, Hugh.

Following instructions, we were safely viewing the reflected eclipse in a bowl of water.

You can see how dark it is around us as the birds roosted in trees, thinking it was nighttime.

Here is our dear friend Lori, who was married to Hugh at the time.

We have our home-made safety glasses in our hands and it's a bit lighter either before or after totality.

We came back to the Estados Unidos the next year.

Hugh has passed on now and Lori lives in Seattle.

We have many memories of our years living in Mexico.

I recall our yard boy coming the day before the eclipse to tie red cloths to all of our fruit trees.

He said it was to prevent the fruit from falling during the eclipse.

We laughed and called it superstition but I had to admit, not one piece of fruit fell.

BEWARE

 

Uh . . .

 

53!

That number up there signifies the number of years that Judy (aka SWMBO) and I (aka some names you don't want to see) have been married.

Yes, today is our 53rd wedding anniversary.

Back in those early days we looked like this.

It seems like only yesterday that we were celebrating our 20th anniversary in our home in San Antonio Tlayacapan, Mexico.

But time marches on and now we look like this.

So 53 years have passed and we're still in love with each other.

We will celebrate the day quietly.

APRIL FOOL . . . . AGAIN!

 Today is April 6th.

This was what greeted me this morning.

Bright, sunny, clear blue skies shining above a neighbor's white roof.

Wait a minute!

That roof isn't white.

Unless it's covered in SNOW!

It's another joke played on us by the Weather Gods.

La Monja and the Blue Cat echo each other's thoughts: Will this madness never end?

THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

 I've been doing a lot of thinking this week about how much longer I can or want to do this.

This blogging.

These Friday Funnies.

All of it.

After all I've been blogging since early March of 2008.

That means I've gone over 16 years.

I can't even remember when I started with The Friday Funnies but looking back randomly that seems like years too.

So as I lie in my bed sometimes letting these thoughts run through my mind, I wonder about ending it all.

No, no, not my life!

I meant this blogging life.

I mean y'all must know about everything about me by now since I rarely keep anything secret.

So perhaps it's getting to be time to pull the plug on it.

Maybe on my next birthday in a few weeks.

My 84th!!!

But then I thought, well, maybe on my 85th birthday.

That's a nice round number.

But then, oh heck what if I don't live that long.

Thoughts, thoughts, thoughts.

Well it gives me something to think about.

But, in the meantime, here's another gaggle of goofy gigglers.

Meanwhile, back on Planet Earth, we await the total eclipse of the Sun on Monday.

Well, some places.

Here in my part of Arizona it looks like 50 to 60 percent will be covered by the moon's shadow.

But the forecast for right here for that day is "Cloudy" so it will probably be a negligible event.

As for the rest of you in the path of the eclipse, remember not to look at the sun without special glasses.

Enjoy the oreo-stuffed Krispy Kremes and the Black Slushout Floats from Sonic.

But before then do your gosh-darndest to have a jolly good weekend.

And always remember to keep laughing!

(Oh, and by the way, I know "arguement" in one of the memes above is a misspelling.)

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

( . . oh, decisions, decisions . . )

DEFINITELY A NICE SPRING DAY

 Today was a Spring day the likes of which I've been waiting for.

I stepped outside in the early afternoon to check the mail and was stunned by the warmth.

It was a very sunny day for a change and when I checked my local weather site it said the temperature was 78 degrees!

I opened up the house and let some of that glorious warm air come in to air out the winter's dregs.

After I told Judy she went out and did a trim job on the two shrubs in front of the house.

I love this time of year.

If it's not snowing!

Earlier in the day I mashed up four bananas and made a loaf of banana bread.

We haven't tasted it yet but it looks great and it made the house smell great this morning.

FIRE UPDATE

 As I reported previously, the huge Legado Luxury Apartment project  under construction here in Prescott Valley burned to the ground early yesterday morning.

Today it's a sad scene in the heart of the city.

What was lost were 329 apartments under construction and the parking garage for a total of nearly 700,000 square feet of property.

Early estimates put the loss at 60 million dollars but a young man who I spoke to, an employee of the general contractor on the project, told me he thought it could run as high as 75 to 80 million dollars.

It was to have housed, in addition to the apartments, a rooftop restaurant and ground floor businesses.

Builders said the apartments were approximately 50 percent complete.

Now they're just rubble.

There are a great number of businesses in very close proximity to the site of this disaster and a large apartment project and the town's public arena lie just across streets from it.

The various fire departments and police agencies are to be commended for keeping the blaze from spreading.

And there were absolutely no deaths or injuries.

Still . . . a woman I spoke to at the scene yesterday told me she had no sympathy for the builders and owners of the project.

"That was just too big for our little town," she said.

I had to gently remind her that Prescott Valley isn't a "little town" anymore.

FIRE

First, let me say that this not an April Fool's joke.

Fire broke out in the Legado apartment project in the heart of Prescott Valley about 1:30 this morning and burned it to the ground.

Here is the aftermath.

What's left is the concrete parking garage and (presumably) elevator towers.

I had reported on this project and told my readers who thought it was ugly that the plan called for the concrete parking garage to be hidden by apartments built around it.

Much of the wooden framing work had been done but all of that wood burned like kindling when the fire started.

No one was injured and the cause of the fire is as yet undetermined.

There will be an ugly scar in the center of my town for some time.

NOT JUST YET

 Easter Sunday morning - 5:30 a.m. - Prescott Valley, Arizona

Old Man Winter refuses to leave us alone!

THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

Here we go again.

Another holiday is looming.

This time it's Baked Ham Day.

Otherwise known as Easter.

But let's get all of our eggs in a row and let this ham show you some of his collection.

The first one is old but as one of my comedy contributors said when it was sent to me . . . "It's traditional!"

That's it, my friends, that's all the humor/humour this hard working lazy retiree could summon forth from the Humor/Humour Bank/Banque this week.

Now please have a Happy or a Blessed Easter.

Or both.

But always remember to keep laughing!

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

( . . . ohhhhh, so sneaky . . . )