Today in History

Today in History:    After traveling three-quarters of the way around the globe, Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan is killed during a tribal skirmish on Mactan Island in the Philippines. Earlier in the month, his ships had dropped anchor at the Philippine island of Cebu, and Magellan met with the local chief, who after converting to Christianity persuaded the Europeans to assist him in conquering a rival tribe on the neighboring island of Mactan. In the subsequent fighting, Magellan was hit by a poisoned arrow and left to die by his retreating comrades.

    After Magellan's death, the survivors, in two ships, sailed on to the Moluccas and loaded the hulls with spice. One ship attempted, unsuccessfully, to return across the Pacific. The other ship, the Victoria, continued west under the command of the Basque navigator Juan Sebastian de Elcano. The vessel sailed across the Indian Ocean, rounded the Cape of Good Hope, and arrived at Seville on September 9, 1522, becoming the first ship to circumnavigate the globe.
On this day in 4977 B.C., the universe is created, according to German mathematician and astronomer Johannes Kepler. As for Kepler's calculation about the universe's birthday, scientists in the 20th century developed the Big Bang theory, which showed that his calculations were off by about 13.7 billion years.

Shows to go ya' that you ain't always right ... no matter how smart you think you are. And the Magellan thingy shows that you oughta' keep on keeping on ... way to go Juan Sebastian de Elcano!

Two days in a row

Jill (in shock) and Hilda pose beside Jack and Jill's flowers

One of the flowers from yesterday

Jack and some of their flowers

the lady at Little Anthony's Diner taking reservations ... poodle skirt and all

The 'outside' dining area at Little Anthony's

Ms Hilda waiting for her dinner to arrive

Notice the eyelashes over the headlights

I ... like most people who are not famous ... never know if my words reach anyone. But, at times it is enough to put them down and let them go. I imagine that it is a lot like the Journals that people in bygone days kept. It is a repository of words that need to come out of your head, whether or not anyone else ever reads them. I am going to tell some people that I am again on the blog and if they care to look in, they can. Hilda and I went to the monthly/bi-weekly car show at Little Anthony's Diner. It is a great retro 50's Diner and is part of the Gaslight Theater complex. they put on some great Musical melodramas  there ... year round. It is always fun, and the diner has great food. Jack and Jill are our friends and neighbors here at Wilmot North.

The Return of the Desert Dude

    It has been many months since I put anything on my Blog and decided to get fully involved once again. I need to write and I need to take pictures and I have to have a place to put them ... if just for my own edification. As they say in Latin ... furor scribendi (a rage to write). Whether anyone reads them or not is not as important as putting thoughts into words and words onto paper. Actually we don't put them onto paper anymore ... just into computer memory. There are so many phrases that people use that are no longer meaningful in reality I guess.

examples: Typing (keyboarding/texting)
                      Putting words to paper (yeah ... right)
                      Like a broken record (does anyone know what a
                           record is anymore?)
                      Dial a phone (Say what?)
                      Disc Jockey (there are still DJ's but no discs ... maybe
                          they're CDJ's?)
                      And many more ... send me your list!

   Seriously, Dick Clark is dead and no one knows who he was and what he did ... we are all dinosaurs and are facing the same extinction that they did. Our fossils will be sealed in caskets though and not scattered in silt and mud. We missed our chance to become fossil fuel. But me ... cremation. Too much land already holds the remnants of people long gone, I won't take any more room up.
   Anyway ... there have been many changes in my life and my situation in these past many months. However ... the one constant and anchoring facet of my existence (the ever lovely Ms Hilda) is still around and I love her more now than anytime in our 10+ years of being an "us".
   We have some new close friends ... Jack and Jill (for real) Williamson who live in Apt 339 [2 doors down ... we are in 337] and Jini and Mike Burke who live next door in 336. Lawyers are working on Hilda's SSI Disability claim. Everyone ... except for the Social Security Administration ... agrees that she is unable to work because of her hypoglycemia unawareness. So, we shall let that take it's course, and get on with our getting on.
    I found out 19 hours ago ... on Facebook, how weird is that? ... that my cousin Jean Reynolds, in North Carolina, died.  My and Hilda's prayers go out to her husband, daughter and grandkids. Also to her sister Robyn Richardson and her/my many cousins, et al.
    I am working part time (isn't existence a bitch?) at U-STOR Self Storage in Tucson. I work one day at a facility on Miracle Mile and two days for a facility on Ruthrauff Road (at la Cholla). It is not strenuous and it puts more shekels in the coffers, so it is a good thing.
   I am writing this at work, but will add some pictures to the post when I am at home (probably in the early AM manana ... the first n should have a ~ above it, but I have not figured out how to add Spanish lettering in my posts ... and I lapse into Spanish(or more correctly Spanglish) from time to time. That is a product of my 40+ years in Arizona and my addiction to Mexican women (only Ms Hilda now!) as it were. Seriously though ... my four children are Hispanic, as are my 9 nietos (grand children), as is my ex-wife ... and my current (and future) love Ms Hilda Riesgo Reiser.
    I am going to attempt to stay away from my dread of the political future of our country and our headlong rush into Communism. I am pushing 67 (albeit a fairly healthy 67) and time is too short to be pushing my political and religious views upon an unsuspecting populace. I was thinking of re-naming my blog "Arizona Caught My Eye" ... which is going to be the name of my photographs if they appear in book form. But on thinking about it, the current title sums up what the blog is about. It came about because that is the way that I signed (and still sign) all of my e-mails for years to folks outside of my adopted state.
   So, ... if anyone anywhere cares ... the Desert Dude is back.

August 1

    I would like to tell you about my best friend (outside of Hilda, my significant other, that is). He and I met in Tombstone in 1970 or so. We did stunt work together, we drank together (a lot), and we talked together (again, a lot).

    Dr Stanley S. McGowen (of Weatherford, Texas) has been blind for twenty years. He was in the U.S. Army when it happened. He had been an Infantry Platoon Leader in Vietnam, Military Intelligence Officer with the 101st Airborne, helicopter pilot and Company Commander. He served 21 years in the Army. He resigned his commission when President Carter pardoned the draft dodgers. However, he missed the Army a lot and went back in after a few years and had to take a Warrant Officer slot as a helicopter pilot, as there were no Major's slots available.  
   A plane crash in 1990 took his sight. After multiple operations, "Valdez" (as we call him) went back to college at Texas Christian and got his MA and  PhD in History. After teaching college for ten years and writing a few books he decided to retire. You really should get a copy of 'Horse Sweat and Powder Smoke ... The 1st Texas Cavalry in the Civil War'. It is published by Texas A&M University Press. Although it is a history book, it is a really good read. You also might like his book of stories from Vietnam titled "You Ain't Gonna Believe This, But ...". It is published by Trafford Press. I believe that both are available online.
    Valdez was the coordinator of the “Texas Project,”which was inaugurated by the Armed Forces Foundation (AFF). It offered America’s injured veterans the opportunity to participate in various outdoor events.  During those years as Texas Project Coordinator, and member of Safari Club International’s Veteran’s Committee, McGowen organized programs that allowed over 200 injured Veterans and family members to participate in hunting and other outdoor activities.  Recently Dr. McGowen was instrumental in the Texas State Rifle Association (TSRA) initiating legislation which permits legally blind hunters to utilize laser sights to hunt game animals in Texas, greatly enhancing visually impaired hunters’s chance of success.
   Stan (Valdez) was the first and only  blind person to kill the Cape Buffalo in the wild in Africa. He has many kills of game animals in the U.S. and Canada and also in Africa. He has killed an elephant (a rogue, that was bothering villagers) ... at night. Every time that life starts to get me down, I think of Stan and how he has dealt with what has been handed to him. He is a remarkable human being and I am proud that he is my friend. Hilda and I and my nietos (G-kids) love him and his wife Jolene to death.
                  Go get 'em Valdez!
   He just returned from another trip to Africa, and sent me this e-mail:

  The hunt was bought 2 years ago at auction. I was trying to bid up the hunt to make more money for our SCI chapter and got caught when bidding stopped. The hunt was for Gemsbok (Oryx) mostly, but for other plains game, including black wildebeest. Hunt was successful as you may see.