Cap'n Bob & the Damsel

CapnBob

Tombstone Freedom Days June 28 & 29, 2019

I got a dispatch from the Arizona Citizens Defense League (AzCDL) announcing the third annual Tombstone Freedom Days. I am posting some of it here:

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The Third Annual Freedom Days celebration in Tombstone will be held on Friday and Saturday, June 28 & 29. A schedule of events for this two day celebration can be found at https://www.tombstonefreedomdays.com/.

This year’s events include a Celebrity Town Hall panel discussion at 7 PM, on Saturday, June 29 featuring:

  • Mark Walters of Armed American Radio
  • Baseball Legend Curt Schilling
  • Actress Morgan Brittany
  • Second Amendment journalist Dr. AWR Hawkins
  • Also on the agenda is Patrick Henry, co-author of the Bill of Rights, as portrayed by Lance Hurely.

Panel discussion tickets are now available for only $12 and can be purchased in advanced by calling (520) 226-5024. Seating is limited. Doors open at 6 PM. All proceeds benefit the Tombstone Lions Club.

Don’t delay, get your tickets today!

While at the celebration, stop by the AzCDL booth and visit with our volunteers.

Unfortunately, we’re tied up with a medical procedure that Friday and won’t be available to travel to Tombstone for the event.

22 Jun 2019 by Arizona Comrades in Arms Second Amendment

Memorial Day 2019

From Michael Ramirez:

Memorial Day 2019

From The Patriot Post:

In his 1868 call to celebrate Decoration Day as a national holiday, Maj. Gen. John Logan stated eloquently: “Let us then, at the time appointed, gather around their sacred remains and garland the passionless mounds above them with the choicest flowers of springtime. Let us raise above them the dear old flag they saved from dishonor. Let us, in this solemn presence, renew our pledges to aid and assist those whom they have left among us as sacred charges upon the nation’s gratitude—the soldier’s and sailor’s widow and orphan.”

In 1968, Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act of 1968, which changed Memorial Day from its traditional May 30 date to the last Monday in May, creating a 3-day “holiday weekend.” That significantly diluted the original purpose of this solemn and reverent day. Recent polling indicates that only 28 percent of Americans understand the true meaning of Memorial Day. Many confuse it with Veterans Day (honoring Veterans of all wars, living and deceased) and Armed Forces Day (honoring active duty and reserve military personnel).

Today, Memorial Day provides a stark contrast between the best of our nation’s selfless Patriot sons and daughters versus the worst of our nation’s selfish culture and consumerism. Astoundingly, some businesses actually promote a “Memorial Day Sale.” But Memorial Day is NOT for sale. Millions of Patriots have already paid the full price.

Our prayers go out to the friends and families of those who perished defending our liberty. May God bless them and their honored dead.

27 May 2019 by Holidays Military Patriotism

Supporting The Wickenburg High School Rifle Team

I received the following from AZCDL in a email this evening. I had read about this item elsewhere but now it’s in my inbox. Our local High School (The Wickenburg Wranglers) has possibly the ONLY public school shooting sports team of its kind in the entire US of A. Plus a couple of the team members are invited to shoot in a national event coming up.

I’m not printing the entire AZCDL blurb here, but the full story and support information can be found in the linked article at the Wickenburg Sun.

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Supporting the Wickenburg High School Rifle Team

Two members of the Wickenburg (Arizona) High School (WHS) Rifle Team, which may be the only recognized public high school high-power rifle team in the USA, have been invited to join the United States F Class National Under 25 Team. WHS teams have earned four national records in F Class.

Since the team is a public-school activity, donations are fully tax-deductible to anyone in the USA. However, Arizona residents get a deal that’s hard to refuse: you can write off the full amount of your donation against your state income tax liability… not just as a deduction, but as a tax credit.

To clarify, if you usually owe the state of Arizona $200 for state income tax each year, you can make a donation of $200 to the Wickenburg High School Rifle Team and owe the state nothing next April ($400 for couples). If those taxes have already been withheld from your paycheck, you will actually get a refund from the state!

It’s also a terrific way to send a message to both the school system and to the state tax authorities about where their priorities should be. Some years back, the Wickenburg school board took official notice in their minutes that the Rifle Team was neck and neck with the football team for the most popular recipient of tax credit funding. It was that sort of community acceptance that caused them to upgrade the school rifle “club” to a recognized “sport.”

Donations can be made immediately online – you no longer have to cut a check or even lick a stamp. Visit: https://wickenburg.revtrak.net/tek9.asp

Damsel and I are proud to contribute to THE WICKENBURG HIGH SCHOOL RIFLE TEAM.

22 May 2019 by Arizona Charity Firearms Second Amendment Shooting

Armed Forces Day 2019

The Nation takes the time today to honor those members of The Armed Forces. The Airmen, Soldiers, Marines, Sailors and Guardsmen sacrifice daily to protect our nation. We proudly honor them today.

Here is a throwback pertaining to the armed forces of WW2 which had a personal impact on our family as I was growing up in those times. This is the USS Brooklyn, CL-40 with Palisades Park in the background, as she cruises along the Hudson River near New York City. My Dad, Jack, was an Electricians Mate, First Class, on this vessel.

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The Brooklyn departed from Norfolk for the Mediterranean on 24 October 1942. My 20 month old brother, Billy, and Mom, Kate, were in Norfolk, Virginia to give the Brooklyn and Dad a send-off. Mom and Billy then took the train back to California, where I was born about 9 months, or so, afterward.

Dad did not meet me until I was over a year old, since he and the Brooklyn were engaging the Axis in the Mediterranean. Rommel was there, Montgomery was there, Patton was there and the USS Brooklyn’s 5 and 6 inch guns were there helping the Allies to victory.

May God guide and bless our Armed Forces.

18 May 2019 by Everyday Heroes Military Nostalgia

Cherry Red Cactus Flowers

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Last October, Damsel and I separated the individual stalks from our Cherry Red (Trichocereus Grandiflorus) cactus and planted them in various pots with the hope that they would survive and produce more of the wonderful hot pink flowers that the original produced. Well, we are pleased and amazed that nearly every one of the pups and the mother all have flowers or flower pods this weekend.

Judging from the number of immature flower buds, we should be enjoying Cherry Red flowers for days to come, if not weeks. This cactus (even though we may have overpaid a bit for it) has been a joy in that it reliably produces the attractive flowers each spring. Click on the image to enlarge.

28 Apr 2019 by Arizona Home & Garden Photography

New Shredder/Chipper

chippa.pngOver the several years we have lived here in Arizona, we have found that the natural vegetation on and around the property requires some maintenance by us. Most notably, the mesquite trees and the creosote bushes. Either of those will overtake its environment given unchecked growth. There are several other vegetation varieties which might require some maintenance, but those are mostly out away from the house and garden.

Image: Assembled Unit

We acquired a light-duty unit since most of what we will shredding is on the order of ½ to ¾ inch branches and such. The unit is capable of chipping branches up to 1½ inches, but we will be saving the larger ones for the neighbor’s fireplace.

I assembled the unit today and did a test run with some of the scraps that are still up in the wash behind the retention wall, where I threw them after maintaining one of the mesquite trees up there a while back. There is a lot to clean up there and the test sample was a tiny bit of it. The rest will come later.

I took the manufacturer’s advise and used gloves, long sleeve shirt, eye and ear protection (courtesy of the shooting range bag) and commenced to feed some of the branches through the hopper. The material I was feeding conformed to our intended use being of small to medium sizes and the chips and sawdust-sized shreddings went into the unit’s built-in catch bin. No problems were encountered. The remains of the material fed through looked suitable to use as garden mulch, although we don’t exactly have that sort of garden here in the desert.

The unit requires 15 amps of 120VAC current. It is actually quieter than would require ear protection with the stuff I shredded today, but I will be using the earmuffs anyhow just in case something comes flying out of the unit backwards which can happen. Having more cover is better under those circumstances.

We’re pleased with it so far and intend to start some more serious cleanup of the wash area and some stuff still laying across the road where we trimmed up some of those mesquites over there.

UPDATE – FRIDAY 04/26/2019: Damsel and I took the shredder, the truck with the Honda generator and a bunch of tools across the road today to clean up an old mess of cut branches and to trim some of the spring growth off of the big mesquite over there. Happy to report the mess is cleaned up and many of the low-hanging branches on the tree are now redistributed at the base of the tree in the form of mulch. The chipper worked great. There is still more to do, but since it was hot (95°) today, we knocked off after we met our initial objectives.

Shredder at work

23 Apr 2019 by Arizona Home & Garden

Grand Canyon National Park Centennial Crowding

View from Yavapai Point

We can all agree that the scenery at Grand Canyon’s South Rim is nearly unsurpassed in its spectacular views of the canyon. And, looking at the second photo below of the South Entrance traffic this morning, we can all agree that the canyon’s popularity tests its infrastructure to the limit. Also, given that 2019 is the canyon’s Centennial celebration, it has become an even more internationally popular attraction.

South Entrance Traffic Jam

Although Damsel and I haven’t been there in a couple of years, the last several times (starting in 2008) we have gone to the South Rim we have found difficult parking, overcrowded view areas and tons of inconsiderate people who seriously detract from the enjoyment of the visit. We probably will not visiting there soon, but I asked the internet to show me slow times at the south rim and I got the following hit from the National Parks Service about a South Rim Survival Guide. They address several points, not all of which are useful to us, but I’ll share them anyhow.

Visiting During Busy Periods

Like other national parks, Grand Canyon has seen a dramatic increase in visitation over the last few years. The South Rim experiences crowded conditions during busy periods throughout the year, including spring break, summer, and holiday times during fall and winter. You can expect:

  • Long entrance station lines,
  • Long shuttle bus lines,
  • Limited parking near Grand Canyon Visitor Center,
  • Large crowds at popular viewpoints.

However, there are ways to navigate and avoid some of this congestion to make the most of your time on the South Rim. Here are some tips:

  1. Park in Tusayan and Ride the Free Shuttle into the Park
  2. Planning to Drive Your Vehicle into the Park?
  3. After 10 am Parking Becomes Limited Around the Visitor Center
  4. Enter the Park at Desert View, If You Are Approaching Grand Canyon from the East
  5. Tips for Touring Scenic Hermit Road
  6. Visiting the South Rim with 3 Hours or Less?
  7. Arriving in the Afternoon with 4 or 5 Hours?
  8. Less Crowded Sunset Locations
  9. Take the Train

The enumerated tips above are all expanded on their Survival Guide. As I said, not all are options for our needs, but we may try to avoid some of the hassle by taking a suggestion or two.

As usual, click on either image to enlarge.

22 Apr 2019 by Arizona Notions Wanderlust

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