Cap'n Bob & the Damsel

CapnBob

Monsoon Days Are Upon Us

As of a few weeks ago, our Monsoon Season has brought us a few showers, but not in the usual summertime quantity nor have they been very intense. We’re not complaining about the lack of damaging rainfall at all, but as to not getting a good soak now and then. The image above (I later learned) is of a cell located over Yarnell, AZ, a town 30 miles north of here. They had a good prolonged rainfall just up there around eleven AM local, while we have had didley squat.

Later in the day, some intense, dark clouds drifted over us, but again, no significant precipitation. Damsel took the following photo of a Turkey Buzzard circling overhead beneath the clouds:

After the time of the previous photo, I took the dogs for a walk and distinctly smelled wet creosote, but observed no rain. I presume that the Good Lord will eventually bring gentle, soaking rain our way as He always does.


Image courtesy Foxtrot Mike Products

In other news, we have been monitoring some of the court proceedings regarding our rights to keep and bear arms. There are some good decisions and some bad decisions about various aspects of arms and accessories. We anticipate that one of these days the US Supreme Court will gather their collective cajones and grant certiorari for one or more of the “Assault Weapons” cases where various Communist states (California, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, etc.) are unconstitutionally restricting the right to keep and bear those “commonly in use for lawful purposes” firearms. Maybe I will live long enough to see that become a reality.

03 Aug 2024 by Arizona Beltway Kabuki Environment Firearms

Mesquite Tree Bean Pods

This morning, while walking the dogs, I photographed them inspecting the myriad of bean pods recently fallen from the Mesquite tree in front of our house. You can get an idea of how numerous the pods are under this and other trees in the area from the (clickable) image above.

During the spring and summer months, the Mesquites produce these pods, which are said to have been a staple food source among the native Indians and this area’s early settlers.

From American Outdoor:

The yellow pods were once used by all the indigenous inhabitants of the desert regions, usually ground into a flour and eaten. The ripe pods are sweet, and when ground into flour, can be used to make a variety of tasty and nutritious dishes.

This shrub, or one of its close relatives, can be found throughout the deserts of Southern California, southern Nevada, parts of Utah, in Arizona along the full lengths of both the Colorado and Gila Rivers, southwestern New Mexico, and even east to Texas along the Rio Grande River.

There is no point in attempting to clean up the pods since the desert critters and other conditions do it eventually for us. Moreover, it is too warm to be handling a rake in the 105+ degree daytime temperatures here.

By the way, Cabela (on the right above) will celebrate her SIXTEENTH birthday tomorrow. Other than partial blindness due to cataracts, she is still going strong. We expect that she’ll be with us for quite a while longer.

02 Aug 2024 by Critters Home & Garden Notions Photography

Nine Squared

Having competed yet another orbit around the sun, the total of my years is equivalent to the title and graphic shown. In spite of that rather large-ish sounding number, I am still in very good health with only minor symptoms of arthritis and a slightly under-performing kidney. I still see a dermatologist who eliminates some skin carcinoma from time to time, thus reminding me of my younger days of over exposure to the sun’s UV radiation.

Here’s a brief summary of life to this point:

  • Born during the second world war in Long Beach, California.
  • Graduated High School in the early 60’s
  • Active duty US Navy – Avionics Tech School for a year
  • US Naval Missile Center, Point Mugu, CA Targets Dept. 2 years.
  • Went into Aerospace industry for the next 40 years.
  • Retired in Wickenburg, AZ.

I may have left out a few details. There are a couple of blog posts in the works that detail my Navy service – coming one of these days.

22 Jul 2024 by Notions Retirement

July 11th – 7/11

Today’s date reminded me of the dice game “craps” which is popular in casinos worldwide. We are not particularly gamblers, especially at our advanced ages, but reminisce occasionally about things we did in the past which we thank God that we’re now over those days and urges.

Anyhow, here a couple of notes about the goings-on in our world on July 11th of 2024:

The (clickable) image above shows one of the several mesquite trees around the house which are all fully endowed with green foliage and numerous bean pods. Not shown in the image is the ground beneath the tree covered with more bean pods. The desert critters and other phenomena eventually clean up the pods, so there is no labor involved, which is good since daytime temperatures here are in the 105-115° range during pod season.

These deciduous trees lose all the green (well, most of it) during the colder months, but have lots of bipinnate leaves providing shade during the warmer months. We’re thankful to have these around the property.

We have had Cabela, our Min-Pin, for almost fourteen years now, and she was estimated to be about two years old when we adopted her in August of 2010. In the (clickable) photo, you can see that she has cataracts in both of her eyes, the right eye completely blind now and the left one not far behind. She does OK in bright light, but tends to not see very well in darker conditions. She also seems not to be able to see things close up and her depth perception is certainly impaired judging from her reaction to things around her.

In spite of her vision problems, she is physically able to get around and prances like the little puppy still going inside of her. We worry when she runs around, since she tends to collide with objects from time to time.

This particular breed of miniature pinscher (not related to Doberman Pinschers) has skin problems resulting in bumps and growths on the surface of her (almost) hairless body. These aren’t a significant problem since they are benign and if she doesn’t scratch them and make them bleed, they don’t seem to affect her.

So, we will continue to baby her as long as she remains healthy and spry. Naturally, we dread the day that eventually will come when we lose her. Dog lovers everywhere know the pain of that.

11 Jul 2024 by Arizona Critters Notions Retirement

FPC and SAF File Lawsuit on
 Post Office Carry Prohibition

The Firearms Policy Coalition and Second Amendment Foundation plus some individual plaintiffs have filed a lawsuit in the 5th Circuit Federal District Court regarding the prohibition of carrying a concealed firearm into or on the grounds of any US Post Office. They seek to have the court declare that such a prohibition is unconstitutional under previous Supreme Court Decisions. This is good news for us since we rent a PO Box at the local facility and it is a pain to have to disarm to merely stroll in and get our mail.

Cam Edwards at Bearing Arms reports on a previous ruling against the prohibition:

As FPC and SAF point out in their initial complaint, at least one other district court judge has already determined that making postal facilities “gun-free zones” violates the Constitution. In United States v. Ayala, a postal worker was indicted for possessing a handgun after he carried his concealed pistol inside a postal facility in Tampa. Emmanual Ayala has a valid Florida carry license, and says he had his pistol with him while hauling packages in a semi. Rather than leave the gun behind in his vehicle, Ayala kept it secured inside a fanny pack when he would enter postal facilities, but in September of 2022 he was stopped by postal inspection officials and was ultimately arrested by the Tampa police for bringing his gun into the facility.

In January of this year, however, U.S. District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle threw out the charges against Ayala, ruling that the government had not demonstrated a historical tradition of barring guns in postal facilities.

This issue will probably be kicking around in the courts over the course of a couple of years. Keep in mind that it is VERY IMPORTANT to get the anti gun Democrats out of the Whitehouse and congressional majorities or this may never be resolved. Support the SAF and FPC and, most of all, support pro-gun choices for elected office at any level of government.

Yes – we’re back to blogging about our rights as Americans more frequently, we hope.

Continue to pray and support those who need it.

18 Jun 2024 by Beltway Kabuki CCW Comrades in Arms Law and Order Second Amendment

D-Day Eightieth Anniversary

From The Patriot Post:

Today marks the anniversary of D-Day, the Allied invasion of France codenamed Operation Overlord, which commenced in the early hours of June 6, 1944. It was the beginning of the end for Adolf Hitler’s National Socialist Workers (NAZI) Party and its reign of terror across Europe — an epic battle in defense of American Liberty and, by extension, that of all mankind.

On that day, and many bloody days that followed on the European and Pacific fronts, American Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines purchased Liberty for the next generation at a very heavy human price. It is our sacred responsibility now to extend that inheritance to the next generation.

Join us as we pray for the American Veterans of that war and the preservation of the Republic for which they fought.

06 Jun 2024 by Military Patriotism

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