Views of the Neighborhood – Flora and Fauna

June 25, 2023June 24, 2023 ~ John W. Howell ~ 95 Comments

It is time to start looking at the early summer blooms and check on the deer. We are being catered by Interstellar Bar B Que of Austin. Our entertainment is Miley Cyris.

BEEF KIELBASA – All beef traditional Polish style sausage in a pork casing

JALAPEÑO POPPER SAUSAGE – Beef and pork blend in a pork casing, jalapenos, and chunks of gooey cheddar

CHOPPED BRISKET – Chopped ends sauced with Johnny’s Texas Red Sauce

PEACH TEA GLAZED PORK BELLY – Slowly smoked until tender, then glazed with our homemade peach tea glaze

TURKEY – Turkey breast brined in citrus, herbs, and Live Oak Hefeweizen, seasoned with salt and pepper

PORK SPARE RIBS – Duroc pork spare rib; a little sweet, a little spicy

PULLED LAMB SHOULDER – Juicy pulled lamb shoulder seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic, and a splash of rice vinegar

BRISKET-USDA prime all-natural brisket seasoned with salt, pepper & garlic

Sides

TOMATO ZUCCHINI SALAD – Thinly sliced zucchini, fresh diced tomato, and red onion marinated in a citrus vinaigrette

MAC & GOUDA- Fresh-made pasta shells and our creamy smoked gouda cheese sauce, topped with toasted panko breadcrumbs.

SMOKED SCALLOP POTATOES – Thinly sliced potatoes layered with cream, parmesan, and garlic smoked to a golden brown

JALAPEÑO SLAW – Shredded green, red cabbage and carrot tossed in our homemade jalapeno dressing

NEW POTATO SALAD – Tender, red-skinned potatoes in a creamy dressing with a little mustard and a little mayo, chopped celery, and red onion

COMPLIMENTARY BBQ BEANS – Red beans cooked down with chopped ends and spices.

Let’s go.

Golden Thryallis looks great.

The Three Tenors.

A cute reminder that there are fawns in the neighborhood.

Twins.

A yellow Mexican Bird of Paradise.

A mom with her twins

Red Mexican Bird of Paradise.

A buck with velvet antlers

Pinkish Crape Myrtle

White Crape Myrtle

Twins on the loose.

Purple sage

One purple and one red Crape Myrtle.

Stream of Consciousness Saturday – Prompt – Starts with “AB”

June 24, 2023June 23, 2023 ~ John W. Howell ~ 72 Comments

A guy about 300 pounds and six foot four unties me while Jessica stands, pointing a gigantic handgun at my nose. “Okay, wise guy, “she says. “You said you knew where the statue is, so now’s your chance. Get up, and let’s go.” She waves the gun in the direction of the door. The big guy steps aside to let me go first. “You wouldn’t have a spare cup of coffee, would you?” My words sound like that kid in a forgotten product commercial where he holds up a bowl and asks pitifully for some more food.

Jessica tells me to shut up and to move through the door. The bright sun renders me a temporary Mr. Magoo and absolutely clueless about where to go. The big guy grabs my arm and drags me to a big black car. He opens the door and unceremoniously shoves me inside. Jessica slides in on the other side and doesn’t have to say much about making any false moves. The cold steel against my temple says all there is to say.

“Now, smart ass. Tell the driver where to go before you’re sporting a third eye.”

Not wanting to abort my living being status, my mumbling vague directions will hopefully buy me a little time. Jessica asks the driver if he understands where to go, and a surprising nod causes my breath to let go. Jessica gives me a jaundiced look like she knows a stall when she hears one. “You get one chance, dipshit. No statue, and you’ll enjoy a long dirt nap.”

Looking out the window, a strange sight appears in the sky. It is one of those biplanes, and it’s pulling a banner. It looks like a message from Linda Hill. It reads, Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “starts with ‘ab.’” Find a word that starts with “ab” and use it in your post. Enjoy!

If you visit Linda’s post, you can see how other bloggers respond to the prompt. Here is the link. Also, please ask her to send help.

The Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS June 24, 2023

“Well, you have me absolutely confused.”

“About what?”

“The abnormality of the airplane.”

“Why are you using odd words.”

“Caught the prompt fever.”

“Well, you can stop now. We have enough AB words.”

“So, explain the airplane.”

“I think it’s obvious. I needed a way to deliver the prompt, and Jessica Rabbit and her cohort were not the way.”

“Cheap trick,”

“Or clever plot element.”

“We’ll see what turns up in the comments.”

“This is hard work. I think we need a VooDoo Ranger.”

“Uber is here already. There he is.”

“That long black car is Jessica’s.”

“No, the Uber driver is behind that one.”

“On the John Deer tractor?”

“There’s a trailer for us.”

“Absurd.”

“It’ll be fun.”

“Appeals to the bumpkin in us all. Okay, let’s go.”

Friday JohnKU – AKA – TGIF Fri-Yay Good News

June 23, 2023June 22, 2023 ~ John W. Howell ~ 87 Comments

American Museum of Natural History Video – Screengrab

Today’s good news story comes from (where else) the Good News Network. Here it is in its entirety.

Blue Whales Return to California at Levels Not Seen Since Before the Whaling Industry

By Andy Corbley Jun 21, 2023

Don’t call it a comeback; blue whales have been here for years, rocking their peers and putting sailors in fear.

The largest animals on Earth are returning to the coastal Californian waters in larger and larger numbers, with sightings on whale-watching trips becoming increasingly common.

According to a 2014 study investigating the impact of ship strikes on the blue whale population, the western Pacific population of these cetaceans has reached 97% of its pre-whaling levels.

“It’s not just one entity that is contributing to the success of the populations rebounding; it’s really the efforts of everyone,” Jennie Dean, Vice President of Education and Conservation at the Aquarium of the Pacific in LA, told KTLA.

“When we’re able to take collective action and think about balance, such that people and the activities that we want to support like shipping, like recreational use, like commercial fishing, all of those things can coexist.”

Commercial fishing tackle can harm whales, so the industry took measures to reduce this, and it worked.

Too many blue whales were killed every year in ship strikes, and so Pacific shipping narrowed their lanes to avoid areas where whales congregate, and are now agreeing to reduce their speeds when entering and exiting harbor areas.

The current estimates suggest that as many as 2,000 blue whales travel up from Mexico to Southern California waters every year, a large chunk of a global population that may be topping 25,000.

Another marine mammal making a comeback is seals, which have begun regularly turning up on the beaches of Belgium for the first time in over a century. Grey seals and harbor seals turn up on the beach to rest and feed their pups, during which time they are protected from overly-excited Belgians by a volunteer force called the North Seal Team.

Scientists believe there is a population of 200 such animals near the city of Ostend.

“I was born in Ostend. I’ve lived my whole life here, and I couldn’t remember seeing a seal,” says Inge De Bruycker, founder of the North Seal Team to Euronews. “It’s new. It’s like, come on, when we built this dam here about seven, eight years ago, we sometimes had one. Occasionally, but just one.”

The good news here is that combined efforts are bringing these animals back from endangerment. Today’s JohnKu talks about how to help the planet. I hope you have a terrific weekend.

It takes more than one,

Working together for good . . .

The animals thrive.

Thursday – A Little Personal – Twiggy Inside

June 22, 2023June 21, 2023 ~ John W. Howell ~ 119 Comments

“How’s cheeseburger doing today, Twiggy?”

“He looks pretty tired. I think I need to play with someone else.”

“Fishbone looks rested.”

“Yeah, that’s true. Let me take a sniff.”

“So?”

“I think he needs a bath.”

“There must be something over there that you will want to play with, isn’t there?”

“I’ve had my eye on the chuck-it ball.”

“Well, then go for it.”

“A little problem, Dad.”

“What’s that?”

“Chuck-it is stuck inside the igloo.”

“Can’t you get it out?”

“Not that easy. Gotta make sure the sides of the igloo don’t get in the way. Way too much work.”

“You giving up?”

“No, just taking a breather. It’s hot today.”

“I don’t want to mention that the temperature has been the same inside the house for weeks. Here I took it out for you.”

“Oh, thank you. It is just that chuck-it is more or less an outside toy.”

“You can play with him inside too.”

“I know that. I think playing with him outside is more fun.”

“That’s all well and good, but it’s 105 degrees out there.”

“And for our Celcus friends, that’s almost 41 degrees. I guess outside is not an option.”

“So what now?”

“I think I’ll just chill here inside and maybe get Mr. Eel to play with me later.”

“You okay with that?”

“Sure am. In fact, it sounds pretty good given the blowtorch conditions outside.”

Tuesday – Anything Possible – Fun Friends

June 20, 2023June 19, 2023 ~ John W. Howell ~ 71 Comments

For the last ten years, this space on Tuesday has been devoted to prompts even though the title is “Anything Possible.”

Well, today, I thought something different would be in order.

I have two friends, Tom and Dan, who regularly suggest what they consider interesting items to include in the Saturday post. Dan, for example, suggested that Roger Rabbit would make a good character. Tom keeps supplying me with security items like the anti-submarine net in the moat and the Trebuchet. In addition, there are plenty of jokes and comments that go back and forth.

This last week was very typical, but I thought I would share an example of one suggestion Tom made and a corresponding upgrade by Dan.

Tom suggested including the following list of facts in a post.

1 Biting your lips triggers a rush of chemicals in your brain that reduce anxiety, stress and boost your mood.

2 If a girl frequently plays with her hair in front of you, chances are she likes you.

3 Toy Barbie’s full name is Barbara Millicent Roberts.

4 Scotland’s national animal is the unicorn.

5 Try to breathe and swallow at the same time. You can not.

6 It is also impossible to hum while holding your nose.

7 Australia has over 10,000 beaches. You can visit a new beach every day for over 27 years!

8 The human nose can detect around 1 trillion different odors.

9 Flushing is triggered by a surge of adrenaline in the body.

10 People can detect the feeling of fear in your eyes, but they need some corresponding action to confirm it.

11 Daytime naps improve memory and reduce the risk of heart disease.

12 Japan has over 50,000 people over the age of 100.

13 Hot water can freeze faster than cold water.

14 Your brain will perform better when you believe you slept well, even if you didn’t.

I thought it was interesting and filed it away for possible use later.

Dan went on to add;

# 9 Flushing ??

In my house, it is triggered by a full toilet.

Dan would be the first to admit his bathroom humor can use some work.

Dan also wanted to add to the Friday Mastodon tooth story, so I received the following cartoon.

So as you can see, an ad hoc creative team is working behind the scenes to bring you the best content.

The latest from Tom.

I hope you enjoyed this little detour. I know I certainly enjoy Tom and Dan’s humor.

Top Ten Things Not to Do While Spring Cleaning

June 19, 2023June 18, 2023 ~ John W. Howell ~ 75 Comments

This post was run on March 6th, 2017. I’m assuming there are still some things that need to be taken care of before the arrival of summer. I hope you enjoy the list.

* * *

Top Ten Things Not to Do While Spring Cleaning.

10 While spring cleaning, do not start a list without careful planning. If you do, at best, you’ll only waste your time haphazardly moving from one project to the next. At worst, that last missing step on the ladder will only become important when you step on it. (It is a long way down, and your screaming just woke the baby, Buford.)

9 While spring cleaning, don’t forget to look down at the wash water before throwing it out. If you do, at best, you may lose your favorite brush. At worst, your youngest may take an unplanned flight. (How did that kid get in there anyway, Buster?)

8 While spring cleaning, don’t forget the law of gravity. If you do, at best, that hammer won’t take out the patio cover. At worst, your weightlessness feeling will only be a millisecond before you reconnect with terra firma. (Those skydiving lessons were of no help on your free fall from the roof, right, Tex?)

7 While spring cleaning, do not mix several cleaning agents together. If you do, at best, you’ll only waste the materials. At worst, you may inadvertently duplicate what used to be considered a military-grade poison gas. (How’s that waiting list on the lung transplant coming along, Slick?)

6 While spring cleaning, do not try to remove spots with anything but approved removers. If you do, at best, the spot removed will be more prominent as a result of residual cleaner. At worst, that spot lifter you used clearly said not for use on leather. (How are you going to explain that missing arm on the couch, Bunky?)

5 While spring cleaning, do not think you can use a leaf blower in the living room. If you do, at best, you may be surprised at how many things go out the front door. At worst, although the knick-knack shelf is clean, there may be no more knick-knacks. (Funny how those crystal items turned to dust, huh, Ferd?)

4 While spring cleaning, do not forget to empty the vacuum cleaner during the process. If you do, at best, the job will take longer. At worst, at the end of the job, your vacuum and hose may be entirely filled, only to let go when you turn the machine off. (Didn’t plan on starting over, did you, Bosco?)

3 While spring cleaning, do not use that paint from five years ago. If you do, at best, the color will be close, and only your mother-in-law will notice. At worst, what used to be bright white woodwork will look like an original “this old house” before picture. (Now you have to do it twice, huh, Putz?)

2 While spring cleaning, do not think others want the radio that loud. If you do, at best, you may get a phone call. At worst, you will have awoken Tiny, the WWF champ who flew in from LA on the redeye and finally got to sleep. (Notice Tiny has red eyes of his own as you observe his knuckle sandwich being served a la carte, Pard.)

1 While Spring cleaning, do not underestimate the strength of your power washer. If you do, at best, you may make some marks on your house. At worst, you’ll notice the chunks of paint being stripped from the siding a little too late to avoid a complete repaint job. (“Well, that was a sound investment, wasn’t it, Darling?” Yes, you just heard the most feared words in the language)

Views of the Neighborhood – Lakeway Photo Festival

June 18, 2023June 17, 2023 ~ John W. Howell ~ 79 Comments

This week we will look at the winners of the recently completed Lakeway photo festival. The rules were all photos were to be taken in Lakeway by Lakeway residents. The Lakeway Arts Committee put on another fantastic contest this year, receiving 164 submissions from 54 talented local photographers. This year’s categories included Artistic, Community, Nature/Greenery, Nature/Sky, Pets, Wildlife/Birds, and Wildlife/Critters. We are going to the award ceremony and check out the winners. We are catered by Epicere of Austin. Our entertainment is Ringo Starr.

farm wedge – tomato, farm egg, radish, bacon, ranch

breakfast croissant sandwich – sausage, cheddar, jalapeno, Urfa aioli, farm eggs

quiche of the day with salad

chicken terrine schnitzel – broccolini caesar, lemon, parmesan

shrimp po’ boy – lettuce, tomato, pickle, mayonnaise, remoulade

burger & frites – house bun, cheddar, pickles, onions, epic sauce

beef pastrami – house sauerkraut, swiss, Russian dressing

mussels – calabrian chili broth, gremolata

gnocchi sardi – guanciale, fennel, farm arugula

mafaldine – ribbon-shaped pasta, parmesan, hazelnuts, black pepper

44 farms hanger steak – frites, demi-glace, chive

Picture of an old time school bus

The bus is ready.

The Activity Center of Lakeway, where the winners are announced.

A slide show of the entrants.

Classical music sets the mood.

The winners in each category.

Raindrop Kisses.

Flag Duty.

Fall, Hurst Creek.

Sky Burst.

Lakewaii Waterfall.

Luke.

Carolina Wren.

Doe and Fawns.

Congratulations to the winners, and now sit back, relax and enjoy the food and music.

Stream of Consciousness Saturday – Prompt “Sight/site”

June 17, 2023June 16, 2023 ~ John W. Howell ~ 59 Comments

Jessica Rabbit has two messages for me last time. The first was delivered. It had to do with the prompt. that week. When we were last together, the question came out of my mouth. “And the second?” My head is pounding, trying to convince my still-bound hands to get coffee. Tied to a chair with Jessica Rabbit casting a long shadow from the bare light bulb behind her, there is little likelihood that coffee is on the agenda.

My feeling that the next words out of Jessica’s mouth would be an offer I couldn’t refuse was confirmed when she parted her lips, slowly licked her teeth, and said, “My statue or you are a dead man.”

Stuttering and trying to explain that the statue’s location was not included in my knowledge base had little effect on Jessica’s intimidating demeanor. “It seems, She began. “That you don’t care for your life.” After a pause, she continues, “How about I take your sight one eye at a time?”

Now things are getting out of hand. If I had knowledge of the site of the stupid statue, I would give it up faster than a cat’s hairball. How to convince Jessica of this fact was the center of my mind’s activity. Finally, the solution seeped into my brain. Convincing Jessica to release me while we both go to a fictitious location where Jessica is convinced the statue is being kept might allow me to break free. It will be risky but worth a shot.

The proposal is presented to Jessica, and she bites. She lets me know that any false move will be met with extreme prejudice. She also tells me that Linda Hill called with the following message. Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “sight/site.” Use one, use them both, use them any way you’d like. Bonus points if you use them both. Have fun!

If you want to see what other bloggers have done with the prompt, go to Linda’s blog and check them out. Here is the link https://lindaghill.com/2023/06/16/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-june-17-2023/

“Okay, so you got both words in there.”

“Yup. Bonus point for me.”

“What do bonus points get you?”

“I always say they can be redeemed for a Bently Turbo convertible.”

“That would be a sight. How many points will that take?”

“Um, maybe two lifetimes.”

“So why keep saying it?”

“Cause it’s fun. I already have four lug nuts.”

“Funny you should mention nuts. This site is ground zero.”

“Yes, well. You hang out here enough.”

“That’s cause the VooDoo Ranger is free.”

“Nice segway. Contact Uber.”

“Already done. There he is in a Bently Turbo convertible>”

“Where?”

“Just messing with you. He’s in the Gremlin over there.”

“Not nice to play tricks.”

“But oh so easy.”

Friday JohnKu – AKA -TGIF FriYay Good News

June 16, 2023June 15, 2023 ~ John W. Howell ~ 75 Comments

Mastodon tooth found on the beach by Jennifer Schuh

Today’s good news comes from the Good News Network and is a story with a twist. Finding a tooth is in itself not the best good news. What happens later is definitely good news.

Woman Finds Foot-long Mastodon Tooth From Ice Age on a California Beach

By Andy Corbley Jun 15, 2023

When a California woman found what looked like used firewood on a beach, she snapped some photographs of the nevertheless strange-looking object and went on her way.

As it turns out, she had stumbled across something remarkable—a mastodon tooth, and after posting pictures of it on Facebook, set off a chain reaction that led to quite the saga.

“She didn’t know what it was, the importance of it. It looks like a piece of old firewood. So she left it there. It’s understandable,” said Wayne Thompson, a paleontology collections advisor for the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History.

KRON4 News reports that Santa Cruz is a hotspot for mastodon remains, and Thompson himself actually reassembled a whole mastodon skull for the museum once: it took 2 years.

Thompson contacted the woman, Jennifer Schuh, explaining the situation and asking her to go back and retrieve the foot-long bone, but, as she arrived there, she realized that unlike her, someone else didn’t pass up the chance to pocket the super rare find.

A weekend of beachcombing didn’t turn it up, and so Thompson went to social media pleading to the new mystery owner to do the right thing and turn it over to the museum.

Then, a call came in from the nearby town of Aptos. Jim Smith had found it on a regular beach jog. According to Mr. Smith, he also didn’t know what it was but took it home rather than to social media.

Jim donated it to the museum.

“It’s super, super, super important for understanding elephant life in Santa Cruz County during the last Ice Age. There are only a few mammoth specimens, and mammoths are more common than mastodons. Aptos was a popular destination for Ice Age proboscideans,” Thompson told KRON4. “It’s a piece of Santa Cruz history.”

Alive for between 5 million and 10,000 years ago, mastodons are the smaller, rarer cousins of mammoths, and while Santa Cruz is famous for their remains, this is only the third-locally recorded mastodon fossil.

Schuh didn’t get to take home such an important piece of natural history and set it above her mantle, but she went online and bought a scaled replica to wear as a necklace, saying it’s not often one gets to touch something with so much history.

The good news here is Jim Smith was a conscientious citizen and turned the tooth over to the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History. Today’s JohnKu talks about conscientiousness. I hope you have a super weekend.

Doing the right thing,

Is not a glory matter . . .

But citizenship.

Thursday a Little Personal – Twiggy Remembers Lucy.

June 15, 2023June 19, 2023 ~ John W. Howell ~ 163 Comments

“Hi, Little One. Whatcha doing?”

“I’m missing Lucy.”

“Come up here, and let’s talk.”

“How do you stop missing someone you love, Dad?”

“I don’t think you ever stop missing those you love, Twiggy. The key is to replace the pain of missing them with the wonderful memories you shared.”

“Like what?”

“I know you don’t remember this, but look at this photo.”

“That’s Lucy. OMG, that’s puppy me hanging on to her.”

“How about this one?”

“That’s Lucy and me playing puma and water buffalo. We loved that.”

“And you two chillin’ on the patio.”

“We did that a lot. We both enjoyed it.”

“How about Lucy trying to teach you how to lick the dishes in the dishwasher.”

“She still enjoyed that, and I wasn’t very good at it.”

“You both loved those sunny days in the yard.”

“We sure did. We had such fun out there.”

“Of course, passing out on the cold floor was a specialty.”

“Oh, that floor felt so good. I still do that and think about Lucy.”

“Remember trying to figure out a new tool?”

“Lucy was so good at getting to the bottom of things.”

“You seemed to enjoy the snow.”

“It was the first time ever. Lucy was an old hand ’cause she had seen it before.”

“How about you two trying on Christmas sweaters?”

“Poor Lucy was miserable. Hers was too small. I liked mine, though.”

“Now there’s a photo.”

“I loved taking naps with Lucy. She was always so warm.”

“So, what do you think?”

“I will always miss her but should concentrate on what we shared and remember the good times.”

“It will still hurt, Little One, but those memories will help you smile through that hurt. Dr. Seuss gives us good advice when he said, ‘Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.'”

“I can see that, Dad. I think it is time to play ball. Toss it, please.”

“There you go, Little One.”

“Thanks, Dad. Rest well, Lucy. I got this.”