Fire Trucks, Then & Now

Skull Valley is a very small ranching community about 20-25 miles from Prescott, the other side of the Prietas. I'm sure that theirs is a volunteer fire department -- but look at their fine up-to-date fire truck.

Plenty of gear & gauges to befit 21st century blazes.

Here's what they might have had back 85-90 years ago, tho I would guess a fine R.E.D. machine like this more likely belonged to a city such as Prescott or Phoenix. Both machines were on display at the pie & ice cream social this weekend. (And, Bro, note that the proper wheels remain on the truck. None of this low rider nonsense.)

In the meantime, I've been tagged again! By she at The One Acre Wood. Actually, twice, but I'm doing this in two parts so I can think about my answers.

#1. Rules-Players, you must list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of your middle name. If you don't have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to have. At the end of your blog post you need to choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag. Don't forget to leave them a comment telling them they're tagged and to read your blog. Hokay, here goes:

A -- Ambitious not. Never was -- all I ever wanted in my working days was a reasonable living doing something interesting. Journalism fit that requirement to a tee until they started pushing me up the ladder, where meetings and paperwork took the place of inquisitiveness.

N -- Nosy. The old shoes, ships & sealing wax thing; I'm curious about almost anything or anybody you can name. Always have been. Mom says that as a little kid, I was always asking "Why for???"

N -- Negligent. Or perhaps just plain lazy. I never did keep a neat house or office & my windows and hard drive need cleaning, tho I'm taking care of the windows very soon by hiring outsiders. Not to say that my negligence is guilt-free; no way. Goes with the territory of being brought up female.

So: who'll I tag? How about:

* Olivia
* pb
* String Bag

Potted Tomatoes

I love tomatoes -- when they taste like tomatoes. The problem arrives when you go into mass production; it takes a lot out of the soil to produce that wonderful, intense tomatoness that catches you in the corner of the mouth. My rule is very simple-- never grow more than one tomato plant in the same soil. Period. I'll admit that I do periodically buy grocery store tomatoes, but only the biggish cherry guys in the little mesh bag or the hothouse fruit grown by Eurofresh, which offer enough flavor to enhance a small hamburger. (An Arizona outfit, BTW.)

This year is my most successful year for pot-grown tomatoes. Last year I tried two 5-gal. containers on my flat roof, thinking that plenty of sunshine was the ticket. How wrong could I get! The poor plants fried when our late June/early July sun hit them every afternoon. So in early May, I bought a 6-pack at the WallyMart and tucked the little fellows in among my other plants. Cherry tomatoes, by the way-- I'm an impatient sort.

Quite a few fruit were set before the days of the hot sun arrived. Besides, the other plants have provided welcome cover. In fact, some of the ripening clusters have never seen the direct sun! Right now, it's too hot to set more tomatoes; however, once the rains arrive (if they ever do arrive), the plants should start producing again. And, in a week, I am to inherit several more potted tomatoes courtesy of the SIL, he of the ag degree and the 10 green thumbs. He wanted a good home for them when he leaves on the Alaskan adventure.

A question: where is it written in stone that, while flowered plants should be scattered artfully in the garden, food plants belong in rigid, straight rows? The tomato above is sharing its pot with a snapdragon and several morning glories. Veggies often are as pretty as any flower and deserve feature status!

Notes: Karen at The View from My Chair is back from vacation complete to her 8 fascinating facts; give it a read. And Chatoyance has come up with her quirky take on the four questions about her glass. One more link: steveg over in Germany had his camera ready when his wife discovered a silky little bat at the door. A pretty little fellow. And I am reading a fascinating historical: Quicksilver, #1 in the Baroque Cycle by Neal Stephenson. Imagine, if you can, a novel focused on the British Royal Society, science and the roots of the Age of Reason instead of ripped bodices or pirates or military conquests or the trials and tribulations of a dysfunctional historic family.

Glasses, Postscripts & Links

In short, miscellanea. One of those days. Max, above, called it, with his hot-day-in-Prescott pose. I looked at the massed clouds this morning (below) -- and, foolish woman, believed them ; by late afternoon, those rainless things were evaporating, tho Wunderground hasn't rescinded its 50% chance of precips. Anyway, it's that sort of day. The Database-from-Hell is leering at me, so it's time to get on with my bits and pieces.

For example, Loosely Speaking tagged me the other day with 4 questions from Starbucker. 1. How full is my glass, for starters. That's my main glass, above. There's nothing in it right now. But it's often full. 2. What kind of glass is it? A 6.0-72.0mm 12x Canon Zoom lens. 3. What's in the glass? Basically, never anything but light. It fills rapidly when I leave the house; when I return home, I empty the receptacle. At this point, I have 6000+ pix stored in iPhoto. 4. Reasons for #1, #2 & #3. My glass is a magic device that converts the light of reality into the stuff of dreams, nightmares and Walking Prescott. Particularly the latter.

Of course, I have other glasses. Once I was grown up, I realized I could have a pair of scissors handy in every room. And when my aging eyes needed readers, it only made sense to keep a supply on hand, in case I left a pair at your house or perhaps the library.

Still more glasses: back in more felicitous times, my husband was the photographer and I manned the binoculars, great for spotting new wildflowers as well as birds. Now, I realize that the house is awash in binoculars. Somewhere, there's even a huge pair of astronomical binoculars. Not to mention a telescope or two. Hope that is enough glasses for the originator of the questions. In turn, I'm asking Chatoyance, Angie, OmegaMom, Lucy and My Aloe Garden each to tell us about his or her glass. Be sure to link back to Starbucker, who started this game of tag.

Next item of business-- a postscript to my post on antennas. Andrew over at Coyote Radio was kind enough to email me a picture of the aerial (remember that word?) for his new community radio station (1610 AM). Where do we find a schedule, Andrew?

And finally, some links. First, to Quilted Dogs, who's posted her 8 fascinating facts as well as three cool pix of a house finch taken with her new camera. SteveG reported in from Germany with his 8 facts about himself in a comment here. And, despite the heat, I recommend a visit to the Mojave Desert where Bro. Bartleby waxes philosophic as he works on a labyrinth; I was especially taken with his comment on communication with two cans. Finally, wonderful nostalgic images at Shorpy and at Judith's. Enjoy.

Another Visitor

So the daughter & SIL needed some concentrated work time for the house they are trying to sell before the Alaska move. Result: a weekend with the little one. It was hot. She was constantly on the go. Whew!

What is there for a little girl to do at GrannyJ's? Since she didn't really care for all of those monsters I drew for her (example below) and I didn't have any coloring books, I decided to consult The Google -- who else. Site recommended: coloring.com. A winner.

Of course, one can always put a kid to work if it looks like fun. Whitewashing fences, for example. Not having any fences, we made do with watering my pot garden. Oops, I mean my plants in pots. Naturally, she decided that she, too, needed to be hosed down. From there, it was a short step to fun with a spray bottle on the back porch!

Next door to feed the fish; thank you, good neighbors! We read poems, watched Shirley Temple play The Little Princess at least twice (granddaughter learned an old music hall ditty from that movie) and generally had a busy time of it. I was worn out by the time her parents arrived for retrieval; they, by the way, had a wonderful dinner for two the previous night! Good for them, good for me.

Note: Updating my recent tagging of 8 people to post 8 fascinating facts about themselves: #3 has complied. Go visit Desert Cat, who actually copped out by asking his Daisy Cat to make up the list! Friend k has politely declined, so that leaves four folk -- you know who you are, get with it, guys!

Tagged: 8 Fascinating Facts

Ms. Chatoyance, she of the cool pictures from Texas, just tagged me. And immediately went into hiding. Hokay, I'll play. This time.

Here are the rules:

1. I have to post these rules before I give you the facts.
2. Each participant posts eight random facts about themselves.
3. Tagees should write a blogpost of eight random facts about themselves.
4. At the end of the post, eight more bloggers are tagged
5. Go to their blog, leave a comment telling them they're tagged.

OK, so: 8 facts about me...

1. My lit professor at Phoenix Junior College told me I should never, ever consider a career as a writer. (At that time, I was serious about chemistry.)

2. I'm one of those weird women that the heavy feminists should love -- I scored higher on the math section than on the verbal section of my GREs.

3. Considering #1 & #2, it follows, logically, that I spent most of my working years editing/writing for neighborhood newspapers and trade magazines in Chicago. Credit the lit prof-- journalism isn't the same as literature.

4. I have strong prejudices about certain modern, made-up words, namely, wellness, proactive and lifestyle. None too fond of facilitator either. Wellness, proactive and facilitator come out of the mouths of bureaucratically inclined folk who want to visit good upon me, without my by-your-leave. I'm quite happy with good health or healthy ... thinking ahead ... and with chairmen, leaders, and such like; it doesn't hurt my feelings to have someone in charge. As for lifestyles, they are light and fluffy, for adopting or dumping on a whim. I squirm when I hear, for instance, the term gay lifestyle; one doesn't turn gayness on or off
casually.

5. I love colors of all kinds, strong and subtle.

6. My daughter thinks that my husband and I were hippies of some sort. Not so. We preceded hippiedom by 10 years and thus were bohemians when we were in our 20s. And yes, I wore all black long before anybody had invented Goths.

7. Long ago, I produced an obscure jazz LP on an obscure label. The Yancey Special it was called. Jimmy Yancey was one of the early boogie woogie piano masters.

8. I would like to find a solution to the problem of Cat Keyboard. This is a combination of cat fur and dust that renders the space bar impotent. It's driving me crazy!

Now, I get to do the honors. I herewith pass the torch on to:

* Desert Cat
* The Demystification Guru
* Digital Karen
* k
* Avus
* Steve, just back from his vacation. Hah!
* Quilted Dogs
* She of Little Brain