Nothing quiet on the Western Front
We have been in this house for going on eight years. This is only the second scorpion we have seen here.
He is about an inch and a half long. The males can grow to over three inches in length.
Unlike the scorpions you have seen in TV shows and movies, these fellows are much smaller, but also quite venomous. Continue reading “Scorpio”
I am beginning to sound like a broken record with this current rant.
For those too young to understand, a record is a vinyl disc with grooves, well, one groove – one groove that a diamond tipped stylus rides in and transmits vibrations that are then converted into an electromagnetic signal that is sent to magnets surrounded by paper cones and converted once again into sound waves. These audible sound waves are called music. Continue reading “My Body, My Choice”
Quarantine is something you do to people that are sick. This current lockdown is a farce – with scarce scientific data an entire country has been brought to its knees.
Healthy people are being locked away – apparently “my body, my choice” only applies if you are liberal and want to kill an unborn baby. Continue reading “Pontoon afternoon”
Working on the latest book. It has been four years since Morel “Mo” Pagano passed. I have finally gotten around to sorting through the piles of ephemera we left in my care – personal mementos, hand written drafts of articles, cartoons – all of which are being compiled in this retrospective of his life, in his own words.
I am getting help from those that knew him well. In this book I am being careful not to tread on or duplicate stories from his three books. All three remain in print and are available from Amazon.com. Continue reading “Knowing Mo”
Bureaucrats in Washington DC dictated that national parks be closed. I can’t take my kayak into the lakes that are part of the Tonto National Forest.
I can’t hike the trails of the Superstition Wilderness that is part of Tonto. But somehow, Walmart is okay. Continue reading “Quarantine Fun”
Covid-19 closed our favorite bars and restaurants. All public venues are closed. Liz and I decided to try our luck in Tonto National Forest hiking Second Water.
I have never seen so many vehicles on the stretch of road leading back to the Second Water trailhead. While the trail had more hikers than we are used to meeting, it was not very congested. Continue reading “Second Water Hike”
Back in the 1980’s – I am giving my age away – I used to home brew beer. In the day, craft brewing was not yet a thing. The swill I learned to brew was undrinkable by today’s standards.
I began with recipes for pilsners and lagers. My most successful beers were stouts.
My projects yielded at most a case at a time. One memorable failure involved two cases of a pilsner I was brewing. Two o’clock one morning I was rudely awakened by explosions that sounded as if they were emanating from my basement. Continue reading “Home Brew”
Along a stretch of Pima Road past Happy Valley Road in Snottsdale, er, Scottsdale, Arizona is an unexpected art display.
In Scottsdale, the rich eat each other. Back in the 90’s before much of the area was built up, Henry Becker bought parcel of land for upwards of two and a half million. The land is zoned for low density residential use. Becker wanted to develop the land commercially, but was rejected by the city council. Continue reading “Roadside Arizona”
For Christmas, Liz bought us a family gift. It was a tour of a local distillery in Tempe, AZ. Arizona Distillery is a small batch distilling company. They distill whiskey, gin and vodka.
We were shown the distilling process from beginning to end. It begins much like brewing beer… with whiskey it is called mash, with beer it is called wort (pronounced wert).
Unlike beer, the grain, whether wheat or corn or rye is crushed into a powder. The grain is mixed with water and cooked for up to eight hours at around 160°F , which brings out the sugars. The mash is then cooled, and then pumped to another container where yeast is added and it ferments until the proper alcohol content is reached. Continue reading “Getting my drink on”
We attended the Lost Dutchman Days rodeo yesterday at the BLM Rodeo Grounds in Apache Junction.
The rodeo is the main attraction on the grounds. There is live music all day. There are food vendors, and tents featuring fine crafts, tee shirts, leather goods, equestrian supplies, and of course beer tents. At four dollars a can, they are not price gouging. Continue reading “Lost Dutchman Days Rodeo”