Showing posts with label summer solstice. Show all posts
Showing posts with label summer solstice. Show all posts

Sunday, June 21, 2026

If You Lead...

1st Tiger Lily of the season

...they will follow:
 

Elvis keeps a watchful eye as the copycats arrived a few days later

This life lesson provided *free* of charge courtesy of Mother Nature.


Karen and I enjoy sitting in the command center...


...not just for the relaxing views...

best place on the property on a warm summer afternoon

...but also because there's live entertainment:


He's here all summer, don't forget to tip the wait staff.


Speaking of summer, the official astronomical start of summer is here:  <the summer solstice>.

For a variety of reasons, Stonehenge is closely associated with this day...


...but I say we skip the druids / crazies that congregate each year in England at Stonehenge...


...and move this party somewhere more American in honor of our 250th birthday.

Thus, I give you <Fridgehenge>:


Well, it's now more accurate to say "gave", as in past tense.

If you click on the link above you'll see it was a popular creation of Adam Horowitz, but sadly is no longer "extant" (their fancy way of saying it was taken down by the city of Santa Fe).

Not to worry, however...apparently there are many of these knockoffs around the world, made from various materials, including <Strawhenge> near Ann Arbor, Michigan...




Whether you go sightseeing for your nearest faux-Stonehenge or not, give thanks to God in heaven for the start of this beautiful season:

¹⁷ Thou has set all the borders of the earth: thou hast made summer and winter.

    - Psalm 74:17

Enjoy it!


And finally - as if the summer solstice / 1st day of summer isn't enough to blow your hair back - it's the happiest day on the calendar, the day everyone looks forward to celebrating with unbridled adoration and ceaseless praise!



No need to thank me.

Really.

I think it's sponsored by Terminix and Orkin.


I do have a vague recollection of something else happening on this day, but I can't remember what it is...

don't mind him; he's not too bright.  Happy Dad's Day.

...hm...it'll come to me eventually.


Unbuckle your seat belts and make a run for it...we're just about to 23 Skidoo...

who needs Mike Hammer when you've got Downtown Brown on the job?  gotta love AI film noir.

when he's not standing in the shadows under the yellow light of a street lamp on the gritty streets of the city or solving cold cases for hot dames, Larry still relaxes at his cottage "up north"

taking the chill off of a recent morning in the 50's 

yuccas starting to bloom

another episode of "hollyhocks gone wild"

a cacaphony of color courtesy of our lilies and geraniums

chippy on the lookout

not only did she plant and weed the garden, Karen also rebuilt and mortared the curved wall in front of it.  my wife...I think I'll keep her. (counting on the fact she rarely reads this blog.)


As you rush the exits - and no matter what your relationship is or may have been with your father - do your best to obey God's 5th commandment on this Father's Day:

¹²  Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.

    - Exodus 20:12

later, mcm fans...




Saturday, June 21, 2025

The Summer Solstice...


...has arrived...
the official start of astronomical summer in the northern hemisphere.

We don't all celebrate this happy event the same way...

nice hat.  what's under it is a little suspect, but the hat - def cool.

...thankfully.

And I admit to some mixed emotions.

Yes, it's officially summer, so woo hoo!

Cue the gorgeous weather, outdoor fun, easy livin' and nature's bodacious display of floral beauty.

our first tiger lily of the year...soon to be joined by a whole bunch of friends

It's also the longest day of the year - about 15 hours and 20 minutes - which is great, but does mean we're now beginning that long slow march into...

shut yo' mouth

...well, you know.

In any event, while it is the start of astronomical summer, we're already 20 days into meteorological summer, so choppety chop chop!


It always flies by too quickly.



Do you remember the <Supreme Court nominee> who was so scared of her democrat supporters she claimed she didn't know what a "woman" was?


Sadly, this coward is now a Supreme Court justice, but lucky us, she's <written a book>!

I thought the title would be "Unqualified: My DEI Success Story", but no.

As the NY Post reports, it's "Lovely One"...

with any luck she'll trade her jurist robes for broadway footlights

...for which she has received almost $3 million (you read that right) in advances from Penguin Books.

(In related news, expect to read of Penguin's bankruptcy proceedings in the near future.)

The jokes write themselves with this one, so I'm going to leave it right here.



Would you cry crocodile tears if I told you there's no HGU* today?


You may escape next week as well, since I couldn't get an early tee time for Monday...and it's supposed to be in the 90's for the next several days.

If it is still oppressively hot by 7:30 in the evening, I shan't be plodding around the links with my hickory sticks.

So, lucky you!

Nothing about hickory golf today.

("The Duffers Lament, by yours truly, copyright 2024

"'Twas a cold and gloomy gloaming,
When the links I went a-roaming,

"With my sticks o' hick'ry flailin'
Like a madman I was railin',

"At the greens so o'erly soggy,
And the atmosphere, too foggy!

"But in spite o' dread conditions,
That at times felt like perdition,

"I endured the weather stormy,
And by six the match went dormie.

"Shivers icy coursed my spine,
When quoth I, The battle's mine!

"But my mashie lost its moxie,
And the last three holes were poxy.

"Thus I staggered off yon links,
Swearing Aye, this pastime stinks!")

Well, almost nothing.

*HGU = Hickory Golf Update


In the "No Particular Reason Other Than I Think It's Cool" department...

JP Seeburg founded a company in 1907 that sold and produced player pianos and "Orchestrions" - a sort of player piano on steroids:


Enjoy this vintage musical miracle.


Time to 23 Skidoo:

especially appreciate the vibrant orange lilies


hollyhocks looking like floral cotton candy


chippy with a mouthful of fresh peanuts


"smooth as glass" outside Larry's cottage


Harry Vardon putting in the 1890's...

...and Johnny Miller at the 1973 US Open

cue up the movie, and good luck getting your hands on one of these.  $24 at the Universal Studios theme park, $100 and up on ebay.



Within the next couple of weeks, America will either have bombed the Iranian nuclear program out of existence, or not.

Either way - whether we do or don't - there will be haters who decry Trump's decision.

For my part, I'm praying for President Trump and our country, trusting God is in control.

"The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: He turneth it whithersoever He will."

    - Proverbs 21:1

later, mcm fans...


Sunday, June 23, 2024

We've Finally Embraced...


...the rule of law.

Thank you, Bad Orange Man.

The best thing about this?

Even though law enforcement and the judicial system have been weaponized by the current administration against their political enemies - Trump, Maga republicans, J6'ers, pro life advocates -


- it could never happen to you.


Right?



Ah, the Summer Solstice...


...the longest day of the year in the northern hemisphere...15 hours and 20 minutes of daylight 'round these parts.

Hopefully you made good use of the time, since the days are shortening as we steadily <perigrinate> to...



...well, you know.

Of course, not everyone is capable of making good or even rational decisions about how to spend their time:

<lunatics at work>

But then again, nothing says "I'm a serious person who's saving the planet!" quite like defacing ancient monuments.

Yes, I see it now; it’s all so clear:

Vandalism = good stewardship of our environment.

I don't know about you, but I'm totally convinced; whatever they're smoking should be mandatory for everyone.



And speaking of doing really important stuff...

Auld Mac, proprietor of <The Auld Golf Society>

...I was attacked by my local links twice this week.

The first time I emerged victorious, 1 up (won 5 holes, lost 4).

The 2nd time I took it on the chin...


...1 down (lost 5 holes, won 4).

Notably - after the sting of flubbing an easy chip onto the 9th green (thus losing the hole and match) subsided - I can honestly say I enjoyed both rounds immensely.

Why?

In match play scoring it's me against Mr. Links, not stroke count.

With pre-1900 clubs and guttys, bogey or better is a win for me; double bogey and up is a win for him.

It's essentially 9 separate contests and total score doesn't matter.

Even if I blow up a hole with a snowman or worse...

near the green in 3, chip over the green (4), chip onto the green (5), then 3 putt...yep, that's a snowman

...I put it in the rearview and get after the next hole.

This probably makes little sense to modern golfers where stroke count is everything.

But to a hickory golfer, match play was standard stuff.

Rule #1 in the USGA "rules of golf" in 1920 stated -

"The game is played between two sides"

- i.e., match play.

Rule #1 in the USGA "rules of golf" today states -

"Golf is played in a round of 18 or fewer holes on a course by striking a ball with a club"

- i.e., stroke count.

Anyway, the evil Mr. L and I are all square...

golfing in WWII...avoid the bunkers at all costs

...with the battle scheduled to be rejoined next week.




Don't know about you, but I'm gonna 23 skidoo:


tiger lilies in glorious bloom...


...along with fresh daisies and perennial geraniums


the loki sphinx


breeze block and tiger lilies


yucca in bloom in the desert of our front yard...


...and the garden of our courtyard




The opera may not be over 'til the fat lady sings...


...but I've already burned through a third of my "Fridays off during the summer".

Be present in every moment and always embrace the truth:


later, mcm fans...