Yesterday was my most physically challenging hike yet. I hiked up to the peak of Guthrie Mountain near Mount Lemmon here in Tucson. I had a lot of fun.
Caturday.
Truman has been joining me out on the garage roof while thunderstorms play around the mountains just to the east of our home. He purrs like crazy while he’s out there with me and usually just sits along side, watching birds and other activity around the house. Once in a while the lightning flashes will catch his eye and we’ll be watching lightning together. He flicks an ear if the thunder is particularly loud.
It wouldn’t be good to let him out and about on our nearly three acres of land. However, having him join me out on the roof, whether it’s watching thunderstorms or admiring the night sky before bed, seems to warrant a high number and volume of purrs. His contentment is charming.
Ending?
According to the calendar, especially when coupled with my northern upbringing, Labor Day weekend brings to us the unofficial end of summer.
It doesn’t work that way here in the Desert Southwest.
The forecast shows Monsoon Season calming down a bit for next week or so. Usually it lingers until the end of September. Next week’s forecast includes record high temperatures and dry conditions. That means it’ll be somewhat windy.
I enjoy warm winds.
We had a little bit of a thunderstorm this afternoon. Truman and I watched a little bit of the lightning. He purrs a lot while he’s out on the roof. I like to think it’s because he’s spending time with me but I suspect he’s just happy to be outdoors in a shady spot adjacent to the sun.
I snapped his photo for tomorrow’s Caturday extravaganza.
Unpredicted.
The best storms during the Monsoon Season are usually the ones that never appeared on the forecast. We had some impressive lightning strikes in the show this evening.
Humanity.
This has been bouncing around in my head for nearly a week. After the DNC, I read too many awful statements and opinions on Gus Walz’s display of pride, happiness, joy, and amazing outpouring of emotion while his father spoke at the Democratic National Convention. The reaction from too many people was so incredibly toxic. Prime suspects like Ann Coulter and her ilk said such horrible things.
Gus’ position on the Autism Spectrum is irrelevant in this discussion. Gus is a human being. Full stop. He is a human being that is very proud of his father. Full Stop. People making fun of his display of emotion has bothered me so much, because no human deserves to be mocked for being true with their emotions. Especially when it was clearly so much love and pride that was on display.
Whether you support Harris/Walz or not is also irrelevant in this discussion. Hateful comments, remarks, and countless memes speak to the character and the moral foundation of those who share these things, of those who believe these things, and of those who support those that share these remarks.
When you come for Gus, you come for me, a fellow human being. Instead of trumpeting around about your political beliefs, let’s take a step back and find our common humanity and put that above all else.
A Rainbow of Fun.
It’s been quite a while since Randy Rainbow came across my bits and bytes, but this latest video is a lot of fun. Enjoy “JD, JD… (Married Lady)”.
Numbers?
Kamala Harris’ speech at the DNC last week was so inspiring. Her words gave me hope. Her passion for this country is inspiring. I haven’t felt hope like this in a very long time.
So after this amazing speech, CNN cuts to a bunch of pundits sharing their comments on the situation and then John King slicing and dicing every word, every number, every scenario.
Why can’t we just seize the moment, let the hope breathe a little bit, before we delve into the nightmare also known as “The Electoral College”. Can we live in the moment? Can we enjoy the feeling of hope? For an hour? For a week? Maybe through November.
Seize the hope. Let is breathe. We can look at the numbers after the nightmare is over.
John King … shut up.
Achieving Our Desires.
Fellow blogger Cole B wrote a blog entry I find quite inspiring. In the entry he shares his thoughts around a post he saw on The Art of Manliness, which is about the mindset and intentionality around achieving our desires.
To win and secure the thing you seek, your desire must be potent enough to energize and animate, but not so all-consuming it smothers and corrupts. You must want it, but not need it. – The Art of Manliness
I encourage readers to take a peek a look at Cole B’s entry. I hope you find the same motivation I felt while reading his post.
Extra Bewitching.
Here is a candid photo from the days of “Bewitched”. In the center, Agnes Moorehead, famously known as Endora on the hit series.
On the left is Melody McCord, who played Elizabeth Montgomery’s body double for the scenes featuring both Samantha and Serena, as well as playing an extra throughout the series. Melody can often be spotted throughout many scenes in various roles including restaurant patrons, secretaries, or other folks helping making up a scene. She is even seen full face in a few episodes in long shots as either Samantha or Serena. She also made an appearance as Sleeping Beauty.
On the right is Herb Winters, who was often an extra in background shots throughout the entire run of the series. He can be seen as a chauffeur, a bartender, a doctor, and in many other roles.
Hiking Mount Lemmon Is Awesome!
I went hiking up on Mount Lemmon yesterday, and per established tradition in 2024, I brought along my video equipment in hopes of making another piece of video art.
I was successful in this endeavor.
Earl always previews my videos before I declare the project complete, and he sat down and watched my final draft. He told me it was the best video I had produced thus far.
I tried my best to be my absolute authentic self in this video.
If anything, I want to be inspiring for other people by sharing that which inspires me. If anything, I hope someone, anyone smiled, for whatever reason motivated them to smile. And if you decide to watch the video, I dropped a couple of Easter eggs in the later half that amused me a little bit.
