Take It Easy

Take It Easy. A great song by the band The Eagles. They immortalized Winslow, AZ in their song. Winslow is east of Flagstaff, AZ and quite close to the famous meteor crater.

Well, I’m standing on a corner

In Winslow, Arizona

And such a fine sight to see

It’s a girl, my Lord

In a flatbed Ford

Slowin’ down to take a look at me

It appears that the folks in Winslow have selected a street corner to be the corner where the song took place. They painted a very lifelike mural on the side of the building. You can see the reflection in the window of the girl in the flatbed Ford truck looking out the truck side window.

It is interesting that they have an eagle on the window ledge in the mural since the song was sung by the band The Eagles.

I think that any fans of The Eagles passing through northern Arizona will have to make a stop in Winslow and take some pictures of the mural and get their picture standing near the mural. I know that I wouldn’t pass up the opportunity. And to make matters even better, they have parked a flatbed Ford near the mural.

Having a truck exactly like the one in the mural picture is a nice touch. How many girls would want to get their picture in the driver’s seat behind the wheel looking out the window. What a memorable picture that would make for an Eagle’s fan. All of this has to be a great tourist draw and will most certainly help some with the local economy. It is sad though to see that now it is fenced. The fence detracts from the beauty of the mural. I just thought that anyone who is a fan of the Eagle’s like me would enjoy this blog. Have a great day and “take it easy”. Lew

Henrietta

Henrietta the chicken. When I was a building inspector I was doing an inspection at a residence which looked like a mini-farm. The house was in a residential neighborhood but must have had close to an acre of land. I spoke to a woman who lived there and I commented about the farm animals, fruit trees, and sizeable garden. I said that it looked like quite a pleasant place to live. She told me that she had wanted to raise her children in a farm type atmosphere. She told me that she had problems with chicken hawks and she pointed out a chicken which had only one good eye. The chicken was named Henrietta and had been attacked by a chicken hawk but Henrietta had managed to fight it off but lost an eye in the process. What a brave chicken she had been.

I was standing in the driveway recently when I had a reminder of the story of Henrietta the chicken. I saw a large shadow of a bird with wings outstretched pass over the driveway. I glanced up at the sky and I could see the hawk soaring overhead looking for a meal. I ran inside and grabbed my camera to get a picture. Of course the hawk came out small in the picture at the top but the magnified picture above gives an idea of what the bird was like. I started to have concerns for our cat and chihuahua but I figured that the cat could defend itself. But the chihuahua is too small to effectively defend himself and would make a nice meal for a hawk. Fortunately for him, he always stays very close to me when he is outside and so he is safe. Recently I saw a group of at least a dozen hawks circling in a tight circle as they rode a thermal column of rising air. I wonder if they ever fall asleep while soaring? Have a nice day and look to the sky for the hawks. Lew

I'm a believer

Since this hot weather has been persisting so long I am now a believer in global warming. We are breaking records here in Orlando this week. Fortunately it is forecast that the high temperature will only get to 91 degrees today. 1 degree less than the record, 1 measly degree. What the heck, let's go for it. Let's at least tie the record of 92 degrees, after all it is only one degree more. And this is in the end of October. And to add insult to injury the humidity is back up making the heat feel even hotter.

Wouldn't it be nice to have a little frost on the window. And I kept telling Seaside that the weather gets cooler after September 1. But fear not for tomorrow is another day and it should be cooler.

A 10 degree drop. Yeah, I can go for that. I bet that it will be windy tonight as the cold front moves in. I think that I will sit in the front yard in my lawn chair and wait for it, that nice crisp breeze. I am just burnt out on the heat. Time for a change, a change in the seasons and a change in the temperature. Those of us living in sunny Florida, hold out for just one more day. Have a nice day wherever you may be and have some Chinese food for lunch as a treat. I am. Lew

Hereafter

Mary and I went to see the movie Hereafter. It was better than I expected. It was real down to earth. What I didn't like was that there was 3 plot lines running at the same time and the characters in the plot line in France all of the actors spoke French with English subtitles. I know that having the actors speak French is suppose to lend a realism, but I find that reading the subtitles detracts from what is going on in the movie. It would have been better to have the actors speak English with a French accent. After all, in the original star trek series wasn't English spoken throughout the universe? I liked the scene of the tidal wave coming ashore at a beach resort. The special effects were great.

In this scene the tidal wave is coming down the street but it is hard to see in the picture. The aftermath of the tidal wave seemed pretty realistic also.

The tidal wave section of the movie resembled the tidal wave in Indonesia that occurred.

There are quite a few movies coming up that are pretty good so I think that we will be one of the movie theaters better customers. We are looking forward to the sci-fi movie Skyline.

It should be showing in the movies in a few weeks. I always like science fiction. Have some fun and take in a movie. I know that there are "big screen T.V.'s but there really isn't anything like the really big screens of the movie theater and excellent sound systems which allow me to just lose myself in the movie. Enjoy your favorite movie soon and don't forget the popcorn and soda. Lew

a mother's love

The feral kitten Betty has begun exploring the garage with “the curiosity of a cat”. Here she is on the workbench in the garage.

She seems to be a sweet cat. The interesting thing is her enormous paws which Tammy also had large paws when she was a kitten. Look at the little piece of dried grass that caught up on her right shoulder. She is a long haired cat and so everything is going to get caught up in her fur. She will be just like a giant dustmop. We have the same problem with Tammy and Mary has to get all of the stuff out of her fur once or twice a day to keep her fur nice and fluffy.

The kitten has decided to take a nap while up on the table and is actually laying on some poles that are tree pruning poles. I guess that the washcloth looked soft to her. Her eyes are closed as she drifts off to sleep.

As you can see her mother Dolly is concerned about her kitten being up on the table. She stands guard while her kitten sleeps. Dolly still exhibits a mother’s love for her kitten by showing her concern. Dolly just kept sitting there looking up at the table for her kitten. It is sweet to see the interaction between Dolly and her kittens. A good mother. Have a pleasant day. Lew

The Hearse

Near to where I live here in Orlando is a used car lot. There on the lot was an old hearse, from a time when all hearses were black. This is done at this lot each year at Halloween time. They have it decorated on the outside with skulls and rats on the hood and roof. They even have a wooden coffin of the old-style on the roof with an arm hanging out. Even a black raven on top of the coffin which reminds of Edgar Allen Poe's The Raven tap, tap, tapping.

hearse-3

A macabre scene for some but not super scary. What did send chills down my spine were two things. First, the fact that this was a real hearse that had carried untold numbers of the dead to their final resting place.

How many of the deceased had been driven to the cemetery in the back of this hearse. Second of my spine chillers was that there was a real genuine modern day casket in the back of this hearse. This was not a mock-up of a coffin like the one on the roof, but the real thing. Had this casket been used by the dead? I don't know but the thought sent chills down my spine. What tales this hearse could probably tell. Some scary thoughts in preparation for Halloween. But that is the bad part of Halloween. How about the good part. What good part does Halloween have? Well for kids it is candy. For adults Halloween means that Thanksgiving is not far off with the roasted turkey, mashed potatoes with gravy, and dressing. Oh, and let's not forget the cranberry sauce. Thanksgiving dinner would not be Thanksgiving dinner without cranberry sauce, both whole and jellied. Personally I like the jellied cranberry sauce the best. Enjoy Halloween with all of the trick-or-treaters knocking on your door because that fabulous turkey dinner is not far off. Lew

Tiffany

Today was the day that I fixed the Tiffany lamp. The lamp has a pull chain and the on-off switch on one of the bulbs worked intermittently. I had already replaced the bulb socket for the other bulb about 6 months ago. But now I couldn't remember exactly how I had done it. I just knew that I had a multitude of minor problems which made the replacement take a long time. So in essence I had to "reinvent the wheel" all over again and make the same mistakes as I had made the previous time. Each time I made a mistake I would then remember having done it the first time and I would say to myself "Oh yeah, now I remember that". The lamp is made out of cast metal and is quite heavy. The colored glass in the shade is real colored glass, not that cheap plastic stuff. Mary got a quality lamp. She had to special order it from a manufacturer who makes nothing but lamps.

Mary and I did our civic duty yesterday and voted in the early voting. I am sure that our candidates will win by at least 2 votes. Who did I vote for? I can't tell you that. You will just have to wait and see who wins and then you will know who I voted for.

The air conditioning man came today. The central air had been icing up "big time" on the coils in the air handler. He said that the freon was low and he filled it up from a large tank that he had. He also made a check of the coils in the air handler for leaks but didn't find any. He charged $ 147. I think that I should go into the air conditioning business. He said that he could check further for leaks but that it would cost $ 140 per hour and that it would take him 1 hour. I told him that I wanted to wait and see if the unit iced up again and if it did then we would go the $ 140 per hour route. Fortunately, the cold weather is coming and pretty soon we may not need the air conditioning.

Here is the morning dawn.

Does that look like the sun coming up on the left side of the picture? No, it is just a street light which keeps fooling me for a second or two each time I see it. I like the early morning dawn because it is a new day with a fresh start. Yesterdays problems are forgotten and I look forward to what new adventures the day may bring. Early in the morning it is cool and so peaceful with the stillness and the quiet. Have a great day and tomorrow get up a little extra early and step outside and enjoy the dawn. Lew