Cap'n Bob & the Damsel

Culture

Cowboy Classic Ford Pickup

Cowboy Classic

Earlier today, Damsel and I were at the clinic where I had a follow up appointment for a blood test I took earlier this month. On the way out of the parking lot, Damsel took this photo of a classic mid-50’s Ford stepside pickup truck all decked out cowboy style with saddle and rope. Wickenburg is big into rodeo, especially the team roping event and this cowboy’s rigs suggest he is one of ’em.

The appointment at the clinic was with my nephrologist (kidney doc). We actually saw the doctor’s Nurse Practitioner who analyzed my lab results which show that the kidney functions are currently “good enough.” That’s good to know that I won’t be needing dialysis or a Kidney transplant anytime soon. She forecast that with my numbers the probability is that I wouldn’t be needing any of that until I’m 120 years old.

26 Oct 2018 by Arizona Classics Culture Medix Notions

Happy Easter 2018

Happy Easter

We wish everyone a happy and blessed Easter.

We bought a potted Easter Lily which opened just in time for the holiday. Photo courtesy of the Damsel. Click on the image to enlarge.

Let us keep in mind the true meaning of the Easter and Passover seasons as we pray for peace and unity among the nations. Even as we do so, let us resolve to using whatever means might be necessary to keep the peace and to keep our nation free. Amen.

John 3:16

Exodus 12:12-14

31 Mar 2018 by Culture Flowers Holidays Religion

Weekend Activities

A Humorous Quilt At the Craft Fair

In a rare departure from our tendency to remain home during winter weekends, we broke with that and went to the Town Library and Civic Center to attend two functions happening simultaneously. It was a very nice spring-like day, so we opted to venture out among ’em.

In the town auditorium, there was a showing of quilts from a local quilting society where there were hundreds of beautiful items on display. All of them looked that they had a lot of labor hours going into them, some taking the quilter years to complete. Damsel took the photo upper left of me being amused at a quilt commemorating the “Christmas Story” with Ralphie and the Leg Lamp.

The other activity was a craft fair presented by “Friends of the Wickenburg Library.” It was the usual display of art, jewelry, woodwork, soap, pottery and you name it. The displays were on the grounds of the library and it seemed to be well attended, now that the town population is over 20K with our winter visitors here for the beautiful weather.

While we were out, we decided to stop at the supermarket in that part of town and pick up a couple of sale items and some things we missed from shopping on Thursday. We noted that shopping on the weekends seemed to be a competition in that the parking lot and aisles were crowded. We resolved to avoid weekend shopping in the future during the winter season.

27 Jan 2018 by Arizona Culture

Throwback Wanderlust

Newspaper Rock, Canyonlands, UT

Damsel took this image of Newspaper Rock, an Anasazi petroglyph site in Canyonlands National Park exactly eight years ago today. We were on a summer vacation about a year before we retired. Newspaper Rock is just along the roadside on the drive through the North part of the park.

We have been planning another vacation trip for the fall that should find us in Utah again, but visiting places that we have not seen before. We will also be seeing a few of our family who will be meeting us along the route. All of that is in the planning phase now, but we need to solidify the plans before too long in order to coordinate lodging, family, meal planning and the whole nine.

We’re anxious to go, but old enough to know that we can’t just charge out there as we may have done in the past. Soon – very soon.

21 Jul 2016 by Culture Photography Travel Wanderlust

New Cowgirl Boots

New Cowgirl Boots

Since Damsel’s birthday is very close to Christmas, we have celebrated her half-birthday in June ever since we have been together. I usually get her some jewelry or some gift that can be given without trying it on first. Boots, on the other hand, have to be not only tried on, but must be approved by her taste in the style of the pair. Therefore, I took her shopping today at our local Boot & Saddlery outlet to get this nice pair which she picked out from a reasonable selection at the shop.

This photo is of Damsel posing with them in the courtyard. They weren’t a surprise, as most of her gifts are, but she likes them, they are comfortable and they look great on her. Click on the image to enlarge.

22 Jun 2016 by Arizona Culture Home & Garden

Leap Day 2016


This day is when the “loose change” of four “quarters” collected during the previous four years is resolved into a “dollar,” or a complete day. 2016 and every other leap year has 366 days and today, February, 29, 2016 is the 60th day of the year which would occur on March 1st in non-leap years.

Before the Gregorian Calendar, Romans and other civilizations had to ad-lib synchronization of their primitive calendars to accommodate the actual sidereal motion of the Earth around the sun by adding and subtracting days and even months.

From Wikipedia:

The calendar of the Roman king Numa Pompilius had only 355 days (even though it was not a lunar calendar) which meant that it would quickly become unsynchronized with the solar year. An earlier Roman solution to this problem was to lengthen the calendar periodically by adding extra days to February, the last month of the year.

February consisted of two parts, each with an odd number of days. The first part ended with the Terminalia on the 23rd, which was considered the end of the religious year, and the five remaining days formed the second part.

To keep the calendar year roughly aligned with the solar year, a leap month, called Mensis Intercalaris (“intercalary month”), was added from time to time between these two parts of February. The (usual) second part of February was incorporated in the intercalary month as its last five days, with no change either in their dates or the festivals observed on them. This followed naturally, because the days after the Ides (13th) of February (in an ordinary year) or the Ides of Intercalaris (in an intercalary year) both counted down to the Kalends of March (i.e. they were known as “the nth day before the Kalends of March”). The Nones (5th) and Ides of Intercalaris occupied their normal positions.

Before the Gregorian Calendar, which is in use currently, the Julian Calendar also added leap days to compensate for the actual solar circuit. When Pope Gregory XIII, introduced the new calendar in October 1582, many of the Julian Calendar errors were corrected at the expense of rearranging some important historical events to different dates than were originally established, mostly out of the Church’s desire to celebrate Easter near the time of the Vernal Equinox.

Happy Leap Day!

29 Feb 2016 by Culture Holidays

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