I have been remiss in my posting

Been a couple of weeks since I posted last; that's what happens when you're busy and your muse has left town.
We're finally into real spring here in Salt Lake Valley; no more frost or snow from now on. And I've finally been able to plant the garden.

Got several tomatoes planted.



The Egyptian onions are doing well; each of these tops grows into a bulb; if you plant it, another plant grows, so every time you pull one, you plant another.



A small section of my herb garden; here showing are curled parsley, cilantro, chives, thyme, and oregano.



My miniature roses are also doing well. These are an inch in diameter.





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Friday we spent most of the day at the zoo. A couple of large examples will suffice.





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Saturday was spent in northeastern Utah and the southwestern corner of Wyoming. We took a trip up into the north side of the Uintah Mountains until we got near the top, where it was still blocked with 4' high drifts.
Down lower there is a lot of drifts and runoff, and the spring flowers are coming up.







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After coming down out of the Uintahs, we stopped in Evanston, Wyoming, where they were having a large gathering of bikers; they had part of the main street closed for the event.

A picture looking to the west from the middle of the street.



A picture looking to the east from the middle of the street.



I thought this paint job was interesting.



No explanation needed for this one.



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Today we went to the Sundance area for a while, then up the south side of the Uintahs until we hit deep drifts in the road.

A shot of the mountains above Sundance.



The Provo River in the Uintahs.



Lower falls of the Provo River.



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I few old tunes, a few older ones...

"Sukiyaki" by Kyu Sakamoto
"Wild Summer Nights" by John Cafferty & the Beaver Brown Band
"Rebel Yell" by Billy Idol
"If You Could Read My Mind" by Gordon Lightfoot
"On the Sunny Side of the Street" by Diana Krall
"Sittin' On The Dock of the Bay" by Otis Redding
"Smuggler's Blues" by Glenn Frey
"Lawyers, Guns and Money" by Warren Zevon
"Highwayman" by Johnny Cash/Kris Kristofferson/Waylon Jennings/Willie Nelson
"Close My Eyes Forever" by Lita Ford and Ozzie Osbourne

The song by the Highwaymen has always been one of my favorites; sadly only two of the four are still around, and they aren't getting any younger.



The last song in the playlist is a favorite of mine from a few years ago, many people probably don't really remember it, other than maybe my friend Gregor.

Happy Mother's Day

To all of the moms out there, my best wishes for today. I'm going out to my mom's place later today (she lives about an hour southwest of Salt Lake). The weather is good today, so it should be a good trip.

It's also my brother's birthday. Happy birthday, Rich.

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The flu scare is getting a bit old; how is this flu doing any different from any other variety of flu that hits every year? I don't see a bit difference in the statistics, leading me to believe this is mainly hype being put out there by the media. Personally, I'm more concerned about bee stings, or getting hit by a car. If you have any contrary information, please let me know.

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Happy birthday to the integrated circuit.

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I have neither the time or patience to talk about national politics at this time; I do leave you with these related terms however: fustercluck and goat rope.

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Listening to a playlist I put together Friday.

"We Gotta Get Out of This Place" by Eric Burdon and The Animals
"Moondance" by Van Morrison
"Take on Me" by A-Ha
"Walk-Don't Run" by The Ventures
"Go Where You Wanna Go" by The Mamas & the Papas
"Dengue Woman Blues" by Jimmie Vaughan
"Take the "A" Train" by Duke Ellington
"Don't You Forget About Me" by Simple Minds
"Time Won't Let Me" by The Outsiders
"To Beat the Devil" by Kris Kristofferson

Decided to put the first and the last ones on here.
The first one is an old favorite, and used to get a lot of people singing along with the chorus when it would come on the radio at places where I was working.




This one is in a bit different vein; it has been one of my favorites from Kristofferson, and anyone who has ever been down in the dumps or had some hard times can probably relate to it.

Help Wanted: Muse

I've pretty well given up on my muse; I think she changed her name and moved to Canada. New applicants will be considered. Until then I guess I'll just sort of rant and babble in a semi-coherent manner.

I just saw in the headlines that Dom DeLuise died yesterday; he will be missed.

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The weather seems to have finally settled down into spring around here. It has been fairly warm (anywhere from 45ºF up to 67ºF), so people are finally putting in their gardens. Most of my herbs are in, the tomatoes and zucchinis are planted, and I have been putting in some poblano chiles. I wanted to plant some epazote this year, but I'm having trouble finding some at the local nurseries. Maybe I can find some seeds somewhere.

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I think the media is getting people all worked up unnecessarily about the flu this year; I have yet to see a flu season that didn't have some casualties, and this year doesn't seem much different, other than the MSM seems to be acting like it's an epidemic of Captain Trips from a Stephen King novel.

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Looks like the piracy question is forming into two camps; those of us who believe in kicking pirate asses, and those who seem to like kissing them. I just hope the US stays on the former side, and doesn't start acting like a bunch of thugs are victims. We've got enough of that BS with criminals in this country.

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Most of my time the last couple of weeks has been divided between two pursuits; working in the yard, and recovery time. These days it's harder to put in the hours I used to do; seems like the time between getting laid up with back problems is getting shorter all the time. Hopefully things will be better when it is warmer.

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I'm still trying to find an example of a country/culture/society that has managed to tax itself into prosperity. The current federal adminisration seems to think it is possible, but I haven't really been any more impressed by their intelligence than I was by the last administration. Do you ever get the feeling that some people go into politics because they don't have any useful skills, abilities, or knowledge?

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Lot of old stuff today; anyone out there who can remember even half of these?

"Goin' Down Slow" by Howlin' Wolf
"Black Rose" by Waylon Jennings
"Comin' Back to Me" by Jefferson Airplane
"Mirage" by Pentangle
"Tennessee Stud" by Eddy Arnold
"Michelle" by The Beatles
"Dirty Water" by The Standells
"Om" by The Moody Blues
"Blues' Theme" by Davie Allan & The Arrows
"El Paso" by Marty Robbins