Seriously … you could not make this stuff up. Comedians are pulling their hair out just staying ahead of reality. Haven’t you heard of the AIDS vaccine? If not, where have you been? In the immortal words of Gomer Pyle, USMC, “Surprise, surprise, surprise!” Read more… »

Okay…I’m not really mad, just crazy about sausage making. At least, as imbued with it as I can be after my first two endeavors. The first was a nice cabbage pork sausage from a recipe modified from my new favorite cookbook: “Great Sausage Recipes and Meat Curing” by Rytek Kutas. The one main lack in that book, and everywhere online for that matter, is anything about fish sausage. I’ve corrected that glaring omission with my second endeavor – new recipe for what I call the Sausage Lunatic Ahi Tuna Breakfast Sausage. Any other adventurous folks out there who want to have at it? Let me know if you need any pointers. Read more… »

Our sweet, gentle little girl took her final breath just after midnight on May 1st. We buried her, wrapped in her favorite pink blanket, in a beautiful place on a sunny, forested hill. Although she is no longer here physically, Elsa’s loving spirit remains deep in my heart, where I will treasure it for the rest of my life. Read more… »

Is this the opposite of an intervention? If an intervention is designed to get folks off the sauce, then my friends and family apparently did just the opposite. Somehow – I have no idea how – those closest to me see me as a boozer. This is a selection of the liquid gifts that I received for my 70th birthday. Personally, I think these beverages have anti-aging effects. I am certain that they will boost my longevity. Or just preserve me better. Read more… »

Just arriving at the half-way point on January 20th. Looking forward to the NEXT seven decades being even better than the first. I am who I want to be, I do what I want to do, and I have what I want to have. Read more… »

My loving sweetheart got me another really cool gift this Christmas. She must be psychic. I have always wanted one of these babies. Now I have one! Read more… »

Just thinking about and appreciating all the veterans in my family today: grandfather, father, daughter, uncle, nephew. And classmates from the 1960s. And friends. And fellow Rotarians. And fellow Toastmasters. And former colleagues. The list is extensive. Today is a great day for celebrating them and their contributions to society. Read more… »

Okay, spurge still isn’t as annoying as puncture vine. It is getting there, though. I find it nearly everywhere I go. It’s in the gravel. It is in the lawn. It is all over central Arizona. I noticed it in lawns in St. Louis on a recent trip there. Read more… »

HUGE WARNING!!! Unless you are a BIG fan of horror, DO NOT read anything about how the Federal Reserve System works. EVER! (They did give me a great idea for how to solve the national debt, though. Read on.) Read more… »

Damianita daisy (Chysactinia mexicana) is all over my new neighborhood. It hadn’t yet made it into my old neighborhood, just 7 miles away in Tempe, AZ, so it was new to me. Once I saw it, I had to find out its name. First off, it is obviously a DYC (aka, Damn Yellow Composite – fellow botanists, you know what I mean). Thousands of these kinds of species dot the landscape, making it a bit of a challenge to nail down the correct identification. Now that I know what it is, C. mexicana turns out to be a pretty cool plant, especially if you are a sad little mouse. Read more… »