Cap'n Bob & the Damsel

Vernal Equinox 2023

OK — the first day of Spring and the Equinox are here. The nights of darkness and days of sunlight are of equal lengths, according to the official astronomical ephemeris. However, at our particular latitude and longitude here in Arizona, the day length grew to just over twelve hours last Wednesday per the actual observed sunrise to sunset times. So, we can look forward to longer days peaking at the Summer Solstice and then on to the Fall Equinox when they fall back to be less than 12 hours again.

As of a couple of weeks ago, the Turkey Buzzards have begun to migrate back to Arizona and other northern places, I assume. These vultures bring the promise of warmer conditions for us, although there is still some cooler weather and precipitation still headed our way.

Even though it will be a month or more before the Pride of Barbados or Red Bird of Paradise shrubs to return from their winter slumber (we cut them back to nearly ground level in the fall). We expect that the hummers will begin to take advantage of the nectar when the gorgeous flowers return to our courtyard.

Enjoy the warmer weather and longer daylight. We know we will be enjoying the spring weather, birds and flowers.

Images courtesy of Damsel.

20 Mar 2023 by Astronomy Environment Notions 0

Saint Patrick’s Day 2023

Our annual celebration of St. Patrick’s Day will consist of a weekend of feasting. Tomorrow, on St. Patrick’s Day proper (Friday), we will be having Irish-American traditional Corned Beef and Cabbage for dinner. On Saturday, the plan is for Irish Pork Stew and on Sunday, Shepherd’s Pie. All of the meals will be prepared in accordance with our current dietary restrictions, i.e. low-sodium and low-carb. (OK — we cheat a teensy bit with some of the faire, but not blatantly.)

Tonight, the corned beef brisket is already in the crock pot and (not connected with the weekend feasting) there is a nine-pound pork shoulder roast in the smoker. The latter is to be shredded and put away in the freezer for future smoked pork delights such as pulled-pork sandwiches, pork enchiladas, etc. The roast was on sale at under a dollar a pound, so we invested in it.

Back to St. Patrick: we have taken to celebrating Irish festivals due to our DNA-certified western European heritage that includes Ireland, Scotland, England, Wales and other north-western Europe roots. The Irish shows up in both of our DNA analyses as well as both of our family tree genealogy traces. So, Irish we are, especially on days like March 17th.

From Biography dot com:

Saint Patrick is Ireland’s patron saint, known for spreading Christianity throughout the country as a missionary during the 5th century.

The man who would come to be known as Saint Patrick was a missionary that helped spread Christianity throughout Ireland during the 5th century. Much remains unknown about his life, including his birth name, but British-born Patrick became a devout Christian during his six-year enslavement in Ireland. He escaped only to return to Ireland later in life as a missionary, combining Irish pagan beliefs with Christian sacrament in his teachings. A religious figure within the Christian and Catholic faiths, he died around 461 AD and later became the patron saint of Ireland. Saint Patrick is annually honored throughout the world on his feast day, March 17.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

16 Mar 2023 by Food & Dining Holidays Notions 2

Tucker’s Second Birthday

Today is Tucker’s second birthday — well, it’s not known what his real birthday is since he was found wandering south of town and nobody claimed him, so the vet who examined him estimated his age to be a year old a year ago today. We adopted him a year ago this coming Saturday, so that anniversary will be this weekend.

After we lost Bay Bay last year, we weren’t expecting to adopt another pet as soon as we found Tucker, but there he was at a Humane Society adoption event at Tractor Supply and it was love at first sight for both us and the little guy.

Tucker is a long-haired chihuahua mix and weighs in at about eleven pounds. He has mostly black fur with a white patch on his right neck, a little blaze on his forehead and a large white “tuxedo shirt” down his chest.

Since we adopted him, Tucker has completely adapted to our routines and he is a wonderful and loving little guy. We look forward to having him around for a long time to come.

So happy birthday little man!

08 Mar 2023 by Critters Family 2

In Like a Lion

Now that I’m finally posting Damsel’s photo of a light dusting in the local foothills, it has all melted or sublimated away. However, we did get some snow in the area with freezing temperatures in early March which isn’t totally unusual for us. We’re at about 2200 feet above sea level here and have on occasion had snow stick here in town.

I know that other regions in our Nation have had much colder winter weather than we’ve recently experienced and, in fact, so have we here in past years. However, this is the coldest we have had this winter and it’s happening in accordance with the March Proverb.

Normally, this would be the time of late winter when we’re beginning to have cactus flowers blooming and other signs of impending spring. And, as a matter of fact, Damsel and I just walked out into the rock and cactus gardens and verified that there are tiny flower buds appearing on the prickly pear, beavertail, hedgehog and Argentine Giant cacti. I’m sure that Damsel will be posting a few early spring cactus flower pictures in a few weeks or less.

All that remains now, is for the March weather to go out like a lamb and then, in a few more weeks, come back like a fire-breathing dragon when the summer temperatures return to our Sonoran Desert — and we’re OK with that.

p.s. If you think that weather and climate can be influenced by anthropogenic (man-made) activities, please refer to our on-line paper about The Great Climate Hoax.

06 Mar 2023 by Arizona Environment Global Warming 2

A 1947 Pontiac Woody
Station Wagon Anaglyph

This is a throwback to Saturday, November 08, 2008 when the Coast Guard Lighthouse at Point Vicente on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, Southwestern Los Angeles County, California held an open house. Damsel and I were attending the open house on a nice sunny November Day.

Other than the lighthouse and grounds tour, one gentleman drove his 1947 Pontiac Station Wagon (not a true “woody,” but with painted on planks) onto the lighthouse station as an exhibit. I used a little pocket camera, a Canon Powershot A510IS to take an image pair to later render into a 3D image.

You will need your red/cyan 3D glasses to view the above anaglyph image. If you don’t have a pair, then you can view the 2D version here.

The encounter with this old classic was very nostalgic for me since I learned to drive in a 1951 version of this car, a Pontiac wagon with a straight-eight engine which is the same type of engine that was in the classic wagon seen above.

25 Feb 2023 by Bob's 3D Stuff Classics Nostalgia 2

George Washington’s Birthday

Today marks the 291st anniversary of the birth of the “Father of the Country,” George Washington. He was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Washington died in 1799 at Mount Vernon, VA, where he is laid to rest.

It is our opinion that the President’s Day Holiday as a replacement for both Lincoln’s and Washington’s birthdays is a sham and a disservice to both men. The generic term ‘president’ refers to nobody in particular that held the office and, unfortunately, may also commemorate some of the worst imbeciles ever to have been elected up to and including the present occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

We missed posting on February 12, which would have been the 214th birth anniversary of Abraham Lincoln (sorry Abe — next year maybe). Also, the image of GW above is actually actor Jon Voight, whose appearance in “An American Carol,” made an excellent impression of the Father of the Country.

22 Feb 2023 by Holidays Patriotism 0

Mardi Gras 2023

Mardi Gras in French means “Fat Tuesday.” The slogan above is French for “Let the good times roll.” Damsel and I visited “Noo Awlins” in October of 1998 and picked up on some of the jargon while we were there. New Orleans is, to say the least, a very interesting place. We were not in town during Mardi Gras, however, and were able to see the town relatively unabated by the enormous crowds that would appear a few months later.

The Mardi Gras festival takes place on the last day before Ash Wednesday which is when Lent begins. The word “Carnival,” is derived from middle Latin “Carne Vale” for “good-bye to meat.” So, today is that Fat Tuesday — let the day of feasting begin.

Here is more about Fat Tuesday from Britannica.com

Mardi Gras, (French: Fat Tuesday) festive day celebrated in France on Shrove Tuesday (the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday), which marks the close of the pre-Lenten season. The French name Mardi Gras means Fat Tuesday, from the custom of using all the fats in the home before Lent in preparation for fasting and abstinence.

In the United States the principal Carnival celebration is in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Carnival season there opens on Twelfth Night (Epiphany, January 6) and climaxes with the Mardi Gras festivities commencing 10 days before Shrove Tuesday. This period is filled with elaborate revelrous parades, both day and night, building up to Mardi Gras and the Rex parade. Beads of yellow, gold, green, and purple are commonly distributed, and the eating of king cake is an iconic part of the celebration.

So, if you’re in to celebrating Fat Tuesday, Enjoy! We’re going to have a bowl of Cajun Gumbo today to celebrate Mardi Gras.

21 Feb 2023 by Culture Notions 2

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