This is Week 25 of 2010, Day 171 with 194 days left. It is Day 62 of the BP Mess.

Free Rambling Thoughts

H A P P Y      F A T H E R ‘ S      D A Y to all the dads out there.

Our nice summer day turned to fear for many when a wildfire blew up within the city limits. Little America, one of the city’s largest motels had to be evacuated. Those living in Country Club are possibly going to be evacuated. A smaller subdivision and one of the local animal shelters have also been evacuated. I can see and smell the smoke from my place. They haven’t listed a cause yet, but with a clear blue sky, my guess would be man caused. The fire is in Ponderosa Pine. For those not familiar, the ponderosa is an amazing tall evergreen. When it burns, it simply explodes. The planes and firefighters have to deal with 30mph winds. It started at about 1pm and at 5:00 was 400 acres and now the media from Phoenix is reporting 600 acres. While it started within the city limits, there are many elk in the area. Both Little America visitors and Country Club residents are always spotting them, sometimes right in their yards. A wildfire moves so fast and is so unpredictable; the loss of animal life is always a concern. The other fire, near Williams continues to burn too. It is now 3400 acres and only 40% contained. One of the firefighters at that fire told me he was there for 13½ hours yesterday. Thankfully there are many who are willing to do this vital and very dangerous work. This is going to be quite the fire season for our forest. The monsoon can’t come soon enough. We have been barely over 10% humidity for about a week and no break seems to be ahead for a while. The winds seem to always be around, drying out the forest even more.

I spent much of the afternoon on my deck. It was nice, only reached 79°, with just a tiny breeze most of the time. I didn’t know about the fire until about 4pm. My deck doesn’t have a view of that part of the horizon, and the wind was blowing so that I didn’t smell the fire. I moved to the front of the house, the wind shifted, and now my front view shows lots of smoke and I can really smell it. Our local paper had a great front page article about bird feeding in Flagstaff this week. I was pleasantly surprised that I wasn’t doing anything wrong, and got a few ideas to improve my bird feeding. I was very glad to hear that year-round feeding in Flagstaff is not a bad thing. I have heard that it is not good to feed birds in the warm months, because they lose their ability to search for food. Just an urban legend. The other thing I already knew was that bird baths work better for the birds if the water is moving. That can be a challenge. I did find a battery thing last year that sits in the bird bath and keeps the water moving. At first I had it in a bird bath that hangs on a branch. Due to our wind, this didn’t prove very successful as after one strong wind storm, the thing fell about 20’ to the ground and broke. I was able to fix it, and now it is in the regular bird bath and working just fine. It does seem attract more birds for a quick drink. The article didn’t give me any new ideas to attract hummingbirds, but did say they are around.

My Quote For The Day

T. S. Eliot: Those who trust us educate us.

Somewhat Useless Information

Nike is named after the Greek goddess of strength, speed, and victory. The Swoosh logo was designed by Carolyn Davidson for $35. It represents Nike’s wings. Since 1928, the Olympic medal has the Goddess Nike on the obverse side. Nike, the company, is located in an unincorporated area near Beaverton, OR.

Grey Matter Puzzle 1

My first three letters are a term in golf,

While my second, third, and fourth are drawings.

My first four are less than a whole,

And all of me is a celebration.

What am I?

Unusual News Item

     Two Montanans repeatedly take marriage vows without the benefit of divorce, but they aren't polygamists; they are proxies for absent brides and grooms.

     Montana is the only state that allows a double-proxy wedding, meaning both sides can be no-shows. Kalispell, Mont., began taking advantage of this quirk about five years ago, when a native son serving in Iraq wanted to marry his pregnant girlfriend.

     Some research by lawyer Dean Knapton and -- viola! -- Friday afternoon nuptials were born.

     The law had been on Montana's books for several decades, perhaps to accommodate soldiers during World War II.

     The cost to the real, albeit absent, bride and groom: $900, of which $50 apiece goes to the proxies, $100 to the judge, $150 to the lawyer-witness; $53 for court fees; $14 for two certified copies of the marriage certificate. The rest, $483, goes to a Pennsylvania couple who run a business facilitating proxy marriages.

A Little Laff

Two golden-agers were discussing their husbands over tea.

"I do wish that my Elmer would stop biting his nails. He makes me terribly nervous."

"My Billy used to do the same thing," the older woman replied. "But I broke him of the habit."

"How?"

"I hid his teeth."

Grey Matter Puzzle 2

There is not wind enough to twirl

That one red leaf, nearest of its clan,

Which dances as often as dance it can.-- Samuel Taylor Coleridge

What am I?

My You Tube Site of the Day

The beauty of a fishing trip in Baltimore, Cork County, Ireland Click Here!

Grey Matter Picture--This is a close up of what common object?

Something you use every day.

Some Calendar Info

► Weekly Observances ◄

14-20: Men's Health Week and Universal Father's Week and Meet A Mate Week

20-26: Carpenter Ant Awareness Week and National Mosquito Control Awareness Week

► Today’s Observances ◄

Ice Cream Soda Day

American Eagle Day since 1782, National Symbol

Husband Caregiver Day

Family Awareness Day

Father's Day

World Refugee Day

Argentina : Flag Day since 1938 honoring designer on the date of his death

Senegal : Independence Day (1960 from France)

West Virginia : Admission Day (1863 after VA cessation)

► Hit Songs on this date ◄

Nature Boy-- Nat King Cole in 1948

Purple People Eater-- Sheb Wooley in 1958
This Guy's in Love with You-- Herb Alpert in 1968

Shadow Dancing-- Andy Gibb in 1978

► Born today ◄

…The Arts

Chet (Chester Burton) Atkins, 1924, guitarist (Me & My Guitar) , born in Luttrell TN

Errol Flynn, 1909, actor (Captain Blood, Robin Hood, Against All Flags), born in Hobart, Tasmania

John Goodman, 58, actor (“Roseanne,” The Babe, The Flintstones), born Affton, MO

Lillian Hellman, 1907, playwright (Toys in the Attic, Little Foxes), born in New Orleans,LA

DeForest Kelley, 1920, actor (Dr Leonard McCoy-Star Trek), born in Atlanta Ga

Nicole Kidman, 43, actress (Oscar for The Hours; The Golden Compass, Cold Mountain, Moulin Rouge), born Honolulu, HI

Martin Landau, 79, actor (Tucker: The Man and His Dream; Crimes and Misdemeanors; Oscar for Ed Wood), born Brooklyn, NY

Cyndi Lauper, 57, singer (“Girls Just Want to Have Fun”), born Brooklyn, N

John Mahoney, 70, actor (“Frasier”), born Manchester, England

Audie Murphy, 1924, Kingston Tx, WWII hero/actor (Destry, Joe Butterfly), born in Kingston, TX

Anne Murray, 65, singer (Country, “Snowbird,” “Could I Have This Dance”), born Springhill, NS, Canada

Lionel Richie, 61, singer, songwriter, born Tuskegee, AL

Brian Wilson, 68, singer (The Beach Boys), songwriter, born Hawthorne, CA

…Athletics

Dickie (Richard William) Thon, 52, baseball: California Angels, Houston Astros, born in South Bend, IN

Doug (Douglas Wayne) Gwosdz, 1960, ‘Eye Chart’: baseball: catcher: SD Padres

…Business & Education

Bob Vila, 64, handyman, television show host, born Miami, FL

…Politics

Jean Moulin, 1899, hero of the French Resistance during WW II, born in Béziers, France

…Science / Religion

Ulf Merbold, 69, German physicist and astronaut

Ilan Ramon, 1954, Israeli combat pilot and astronaut

► Obituaries today ◄

Benjamin `Bugsy' Siegel, gangster, shot @ 41 in 1947

Georges LemaŒtre, originator of "big bang" theory, @ 71 in 1966

Bob Stump, AZ politician, blood disorder @ 76 in 2003

► Events ◄

…The Arts

1937 ►W2XBS (later WCBS-TV) televised the first TV operetta: "Pirates of Penzance" by Gilbert and Sullivan.

1948 ►"Toast of the Town" hosted by Ed Sullivan premieres on CBS-TV

1975 ►The summer blockbuster movie "Jaws" is released

…Athletics

--

…Business & Education

1793 ►Eli Whitney applies for a cotton gin patent

…Politics (US)

1675 ►Today marks the start of "King Philip's war” [Wampanoag, Nipmuck, Podunk, Narragansett, Nashaway VS English colonists, Mohegan, Pequot]. One of Bloodiest in North American History

1863 ►1st bank chartered in US (National Bank of Davenport Iowa)

1893 ►Lizzie Borden found innocent in New Bedford Mass

1944 ►Congress charters Central Intelligence Agency

1990 ►Nelson Mandela lands in NYC to begin a tour of the US

…Politics (outside US)

1567 ►Jews are expelled from Brazil by order of regent Don Henrique

1631 ►The sack of Baltimore: the Irish village of Baltimore, County Cork, Ireland is attacked by Algerian pirates.

1837 ►Princess Victoria became Queen Victoria

…Science / Religion

1959 ►A rare June hurricane struck Canada's Gulf of St. Lawrence killing 35.

1990 ►Asteroid Eureka is discovered

Grey Matter Answers

…1

Party: Par is the maximum number of strokes you should need to hit the ball in the hole. Art can be drawings, sculptures, or anything of the sort. Part is not a whole thing, so it is not a whole. A party is a celebration.

…2

The sun

Grey Matter Photo

garbage can

Today’s Photo Shot

Bald Eagle in flight Click Here!