"It's beginning to look a lot...

Like Kwanhumas! Everywhere you go!"

Come on everybody! Let's sing! 

I believe in these sadly divided times it might be a good idea for everyone to lighten up! 

Turn off the Fox Network News or CNN channel, ignore the rants on Facebook, remove your finger from the trigger, take a deep breath and try to be polite and civil to each other. Is that too much to ask? 

I'll resurrect the 1967 Youngbloods classic song in the post. The lyrics are dated but very appropriate in the Season of Goodwill.

"Get Together"

Love is but a song to sing

Fear's the way we die

You can make the mountains ring

Or make the angels cry

Though the bird is on the wing

And you may not know why

Come on people now
Smile on your brother
Everybody get together
Try to love one another
Right now

Some may come and some may go
We shall surely pass
When the one that left us here
Returns for us at last
We are but a moment's sunlight
Fading in the grass

Come on people now
Smile on your brother
Everybody get together
Try to love one another
Right now

If you hear the song I sing
You will understand (listen!)
You hold the key to love and fear
All in your trembling hand
Just one key unlocks them both
It's there at your command

Come on people now
Smile on your brother
Everybody get together
Try to love one another
Right now

Right now
Right now

The last few pictures are of shore birds flicking their beaks at the "No nudity" on the beach laws in Pinellas County, Florida. 

Happy Kwanhanumas to all, and to all a goodnight.

Jeff

Nope! Not Colorado, Not Arizona...

I'm  at Saint Pete Beach, Florida. It was too wet and wild on the Atlantic Ocean side of this sandy peninsula, so once again I took Horace Greeley's advice to "Go West. Young Man. Go West." I'm glad I did. 

I was beginning to get moldy from the constant wind driven drips on the sunrise side of Florida. 

Besides, I was running out of holiday movies to spend money and time on. 

Saint Pete Beach is a throw back town. It wouldn't surprise me to see Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon frolicking in the salt water. "Beach Blanket Bingo" anyone?

I like it here so much I purchased a small fix-er-upper right on the Gulf side. I know the "salmon" color might be a bit showy.. 

Happy Hanukkah!

Jeff

I give Thanks...

To my family who puts up with my strange and wandering ways.

I give thanks to Wild Places and chocolate turkeys.

I give thanks to you folks who look into my blog.

Happy Thanksgiving from Boulder, Colorado 

Enjoy these special moments,

Jeff 

SAD! SCHMAD! I'm in Scottsdale for the...

Fabulous Shopping! 

So what if I mentioned SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) drove me south to the deserts of  Arizona.  http://jeffsambur.blogspot.com/2015/11/i-playing-dirty.html

So untrue. The real reason is the plethora of art galleries, luxury auto dealerships and boutiques which reside amongst the new money wealth of Scottsdale. It can't be old money since Arizona is barely over a century old. I fit right in. 

NOT! 

OK. So it's not the shopping. 

It's the water. Phoenix and its booming Metropolis would not exist without the huge supplement of liquid from the Colorado River. This massive engineering scheme is called the Central Arizona Project. The Bureau of Reclamation provided the dams, the pumping stations and the canals to make it happen. Look at these photos: its a virtual Venice in the desert. 

So what if Coloradans are forced to go on water restrictions in drought years? Daily showers and brushing ones teeth are so overrated. We'll take one for the team! 

Coloradans will do our part so Phoenix can keep their golf courses green, the cotton? plantations productive (5,300 gallons to produce the equivalent of one shirt and pair of jeans) and their cars spic and span clean. 

Anyone who has lived in the dry part of the west knows these two maxims are spot on.

"Whiskey is for drinking, water is for fighting"

"Water flows to money." 

The second maxim is the truer of the two.

OK. So it's not the water rights.

It's the baseball and the warm weather. http://jeffsambur.blogspot.com/2015/11/in-arizona-desert-folks.html

America's Pastime and the toasty temps will bring me back to Scottsdale. Play Fall Ball!

Next to Last photo: I purchased a pocket pooch to fit in better with the locals. Fifi over Fido. 

Final Photo: Score! 

Cheers! 

Jeff

In the Arizona Desert the folks...

here call it "Fall Ball" However when an El Niño inspired cold front blew in with droopy clouds and wind chill breezes; it felt like winter. Finding a seat was no problemo when the Scottsdale Scorpions took on the Surprise Saguaros. In fact only the brave and or stupid (I lean toward the stupid side over brave) were on hand to see the cold contest. 

The ball players had to attend. There were MLB scouts on hand. The scouts came equipped with speed guns and stop watches to check out the local talent. This is where the long road to the "Biggies" begins. 

Today the weather was more muy buen. I had a toasty frolic among the rock formations and the cacti. 

This sure beats real winter.

Stay warm,

Jeff

It's not the years but the...

miles.

I've got a lot of mileage on this minute body of mine.

Back in the day prior to my accidents, (http://jeffsambur.blogspot.com/2015/07/four-years-ago.html), I reckon I rode a bicycle over a quarter of a million miles. I had a ten year stretch where I pedaled over 100,000 of those Old English measuring units. Now that my love of the two-wheeled vehicle has been beaten out of me; I hike and I do it a lot. As an astute old buddy of mine once said, "Jeff hikes like a monkey on crack." 

The scratches, gashes, soreness and sprains keep coming. But I have an Rx for all those maladies and complaints. I ignore them. This is how I fight the good fight against aging. I keep moving. I'm a believer of Newton's Laws of Motion. 

Every object in a state of uniform motion tends to remain in that state of motion unless an external force is applied to it.

I think that external force is A-G-E. 

Yep, I'm 61 today, and I'm afraid of slowing down. 

Cheers on the ides of November,

Jeff the Birthday Boy.

PS. The photo of the Milky Way was graciously provided by Amber Lyle. It gives me perspective that I'm not that old in the Big Picture. 

PPS. Fido didn't score any Alpo from my ad campaign. Poor porcelain Pug.

http://jeffsambur.blogspot.com/2015/11/poor-fido.html

On Friday the 13th..

I brought a rabbit's foot, a four leaf clover and a wish bone on yesterday's  ramble. After all I was going into the Superstition Mountains Wilderness. One can't be too careful in an area where gold mines go missing, let alone a little dude like me. 

The "Sups" are legendary for mother lodes that somehow become forgotten. Talk about senior moments! The Lost Dutchman Mine is the most famous tale of "Holy Crap! Where did I put that mine?" 

Down through the decades scores of adventurers have gone out in search of that hole of wealth. Many died in gold vain. (A little miner's humor there). One was found with two bullet holes in his bleached skull. That's a high price to pay for a potential piece of jewelry. 

With all of this in mind, I tossed in a flashlight, an extra layer of warm clothes, matches and the above mentioned good luck charms into my daypack. Of course, I forgot my maps! 

Somehow, I made it out fine and in one piece. I didn't rediscover any mine. I did find a lot of peace and solitude in those 12.5 miles of trekking. These days, that's a good thing.

In lieu of yesterday's atrocities in Paris, wilderness areas are looking better to me each day. 

Be safe out there,

The world is becoming scarier and I don't mean the wild places.

Jeff

PS: last photo graphically shows why Arizona hiking would not be a good idea for someone who is a hemophiliac.