Old As Dirt (but sounding good!)

Posted in honor of some dear friends who went to see Willie Nelson in concert today.

To Anonymous (Whoever You Are)

You may have been a bit surprised by the height of the "diet burger" in the post immediately below. Please just remember that we have returned from 3 weeks of Summer in the Midwest. Summer means fairs, county and state fairs.
And fairs mean food, fried food, lots and lots of fried food. For example:

So there!

For Meat Lovers Only

I warned RKW that I was going to do this! I just gaze and salivate at the

sight of spicy delicacies inside the sausage case.

On the other hand, there's always a tempting burger...

Frank & Fizzie's on the Shores of Green Bay

 

Hmm. No Ramen. Considering a pattymelt with chips.

Twitter Screens

Please don't ask me. I think it means that everything is ok.

"Hippies Not Welcome"

Classy Coffee Shop, with Wi-Fi, on Lopez Island

Lincoln City OR

We lead with a photograph by DHKearns, Architect, of a kayaker awaiting a good wave. He may have to wait for a while, but at least the sun is shining.

The sun did not shine while we were in Lincoln City, with DH and his DW. We enjoyed our stay nonetheless.

Except for the breakfast waitress who would not serve me eggs "sunnyside up" because "we don't want you to get sick." And except for the illegality of me pumping gas at the gas stations. I am not licensed to pump gas in Oregon (or New Jersey, for that matter.)

What is with all that? It's Oregon (sigh.)

Anyway, we had a great two-night layover. Thanks to Dave and Jane.

The Hollywood Essence

You might enjoy this (or parts of this:)

Wisdom and Beauty in Santa Cruz

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Wow! I never knew.
(I'm sad.)

Wine on the deck, awaiting dinner

Just prior to barbequed 3-legged chicken* on Lopez Island, in the San Juan Islands, Puget Sound, Washington.

*at least the package of chicken contained 3 legs. Maybe it's a Washington thing.

Three Sisters

 

Badlands National Park, South Dakota.

(And yes, your correspondent got a traffic warning from the Federal cops.)

Who knew?

 

Visit to Rushmore today was well worth it. Very comfortable new parking structure, entrance pavilion, displays, informative movie all are very well done.

I'm much more impressed with Rushmore, the incomplete huge statue of Crazy Horse, and, in fact, the entire State of South Dakota than I ever intended to be. This is a pretty neat place.

Thanks to Gemma and ABS Tours of Rapid City.

Four Winnackers...

...at Bay Ridge in Sister Bay Wisconsin

The weather was bright and brisk, the clubs were all rented, the course was green, the greens were tricky, and all was well with the world.

(we missed Tempdisplaced)

Lunch on the lawn at Fred & Floozie's (close enough) on the shores of Green Bay followed

 

Hoover (Boulder) Dam Bypass

On our cross-country trip with the Hayashis a few years ago, we drove on the top of the Hoover Dam, after undergoing a security check, for us and for the car. At that time, we saw the vertical abutments of the new bypass bridge for future traffic.
The construction has progressed slowly, but nicely. The bridge is an amazing engineering feat.

You can see the existing road on the ground and on the dam.

Ephraim 2009-5 July

 

Rudy and a few of his girls at Al Johnsons.

 

Nice Mid-western folks!

Happy Thoughtful Independence Day!

I may well not post again for 3 weeks. Have fun. Take care.

Lifted from a Twitter Post

http://www.ibiblio.org/pha/timeline/410612bwp.html

I am humbled by this prose.
However, this link is disappearing. If the above doesn't work, try to cut & paste:

http://www.ibiblio.org/pha/timeline/410612bwp.html

or Google: Prime Minister Winston Churchill's Speech To The Allied Delegates June 12, 1941

Good luck. It's worth it.

Ed McMahon R.I.P.

Safeway Shoppers

Forget Costco and Whole Feed! Shop Safeway, using Club Card, and then find a Safeway Gas Station!

 

You might wish to pay special attention to the 3-line paragraph close to the bottom of the receipt.

The Peach Tree - 2009

 

Our friends, the Hayashis of Tokyo, presented us with a peach tree as we moved into HiltonHouse back in 2005. This healthy "mo-mo" tree was pruned to within a inch of its life earlier but, now, the tree limbs are bent down to the ground. What a pleasure, and what a great time to say "thanks" to the Hayashis!

Twitter cloud

Thanks to Neoformix for the image.

In Case You Ever Wondered. . .

I consulted Wikipedia:

[edit] Dugout choice in MLB

Which team occupies the dugout on the first-base side or the third-base side is purely arbitrary. The Major League Baseball Rulebook is silent on the subject. There are many anecdotal reasons why one dugout is chosen over the other.[citation needed] One is that in the early days of the game the manager also served as the third base coach, so occupying the third base dugout meant less walking for the manager between innings. Contrarily, the thought is that since more close plays occur at first base than third, the first base dugout is preferred. However, the most likely theory is simply that the home team chooses the better clubhouse and the dugout on that side of the field. (For example, prior to their 2008 move to Nationals Park, the Washington Nationals occupied the third-base dugout at RFK Stadium because it was the larger and newer of the two dugouts.[citation needed])

In the National League, far more are on the first-base side (11 to 5). In the American League, though, it's split evenly, with seven on each side of the field. Even the two oldest parks still in use differ on this point: the Cubs sit on the third-base side at Wrigley while the Red Sox inhabit the first-base dugout at Fenway. However, the four parks that have opened most recently (those in Cincinnati, San Diego, Philadelphia, and Washington) all have the home dugouts on the first-base side.

15 Minutes . . .

I'm not a great fan of "TIME" magazine, but this was the talk of the town earlier this week. It's nice to know someone who, with a few others, works for the subject of the magazine's cover.

Update: The link is here.

Kittens Are Cute

Kittens are cute.

Battle Of The Reds!

 

There's our red-leafed Japanese Maple in the middle of the rose bushes, and today each was fighting for dominance. I think the maple won, but what do I know?

The Untrammelled Joy & Excitement Of Fishing

 

I have no further comment.

Only If You're Hungry -

 

Merely three tasty pieces of Kuromaguro Toro. Enjoy.

Chipper Learns to Overcome Paranoia

The Rhododendron Is Always Late

But she always blooms in May!

And we thank Reg and Christine Robinson for their thriving house-warming gift.

Dancing On Memorial Day

 

Just two young ladies working/cavorting in the back forty. Very nice weather.

Humm, Hummer, Hummingest

Halong Bay

Wikipedia tells us that the Vietnamese believe that the dragon gods threw a bunch of their jewels into the water in order to frustrate the invading armies from China.

The dragon jewels became islands in the sea.

 

We were there, about 10 years ago, visiting Vietnam with a close friend, her sister, her children, and her uncle. The uncle became my very best Communist friend.

 

We had a good time. Found a passable hotel. Ate a lot of good seafood. And, had a drink of something from a big jug with a pickled snake inside. I was supposed to feel healthy afterwards.

 

Good memories.

For the Kids of all the Mothers

 

 

Creative Marketing!

 

If things get much worse, I'm guessing "Buy One, Get One FREE!"

A Bit of Art History

 

I would call it "a la Piet Mondrian" with a Craftsman contrast.