Odds And Ends

Hello,

Here are sum pi'chers I done took with that new fangled contraption you kids call the camer-thingy-ma-bob: 

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Click blog-post images to see a larger view

Last fall I drove up the winding road high along the Apache Trail east of Phoenix looking for some photo opportunities.

 

I had the road virtually to myself as I got above Tortilla Flats and it was a rather mild, warm day without many clouds.

 

After stopping at many points along the way to take photos I finally turned around and slowly started making my way back home. 

 

As I rounded a bend in the road I suddenly noticed the absolutely amazing vista spread out before me.

 

Even with my unaided eye it seemed like the mountains and sky went forever off into the distance...and with the sun starting to go down, it naturally brought a lot of depth and color to the scene.

 

I took several shots from this view but the one I cropped above is my favorite.

 

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That beautiful creature above is my tabby-cat Shasta, the Queen.  I got her as a rescue kitty when she was probably only a month or so old.

In July she will be 17 and it's very hard to believe that she's been in my life that long.

She has the most amazing personality.  She's always been very vocal and used to come in from outside and announce her return with a loud "MAAAAH-WAAAH"...like taaaah-daaah...I'm here!

She has decidedly strong tastes...and knows exactly what she wants...and she thinks I live to serve her every need.  :/

Since she was a rescue cat I'm not sure what her earliest life was like but it took me years of patient effort to be able to pet her head and hold her...but NOW she lifts my hand with her nose, or climbs up on my chest while I'm watching tv, when she is in need of some attention.  : D

Anywho...if yer not a cat person...you're prob'ly rolling yer eyes by now...but if you are practically part cat like I am...you'll understand.  : )

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I used to live on nothing but fast food....literally eating it one to two times a day...almost every day for most of my adult life.  And breakfast was usually a gas station coffee and some kind of muffin or other dry-as-cardboard sweet wrapped in plastic that I'd eat in the car to where-ever I was rushing off too.

Then as I got older I finally started to tire of all that junk but still ate most of my meals out...at more "adult" type, sit-down places.

The food was more expensive and marginally better...but I'm sure still loaded with fats and empty calories...and more often than not they offer only soda to drink!! 

Worst of all...my weight and health certainly reflected years of over-indulging in a lot of bad food.

Light Bulb!

Then, last fall some thing finally clicked:  If I wanted to be around a lot longer...and not make an absolute wreck of my remaining years...I needed to make some changes.

From about October of 2013 to March of 2014 I ate ONLY healthier meals that I prepared at home.  At first I did so a bit reluctantly...and missed my restaurant fixes.

And then in March a funny thing happened.  I decided to occasionally give myself a day every week or two where I could eat out anywhere that sounded good.

But...low and behold....I found I've pretty much lost my taste for fast food. 

For example, one of the first places I went to was a fast food burger joint and got a few bites into my meal when I realized how awful it tasted and threw nearly half of it out.  : /

So while the pic of my dinner above may look a bit spartan (and in fairness I had already eaten about half my 6 oz salmon)...I gotta say...it tasted really good.

And I always feel so good after having a meal like that!

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Jephyr...You Still Drink Milk??

A note about milk:  Several times in my life I've had someone (who is usually drinking a soda at the time) say to me, "Ya know, humans are the only animals who drink milk past infancy."

The first time I heard it I thought about it and wondered if their comment had any merit. 

And then it occurred to me...yeah...and humans are the ONLY animals who blend various foods and spices together in recipes, and cook our food...AND we're the only animals who wear clothes, go to school, marry, get jobs, build roads and bridges, use computers, and communicate with each other using LANGUAGES......... 

GEEZO...that list could go on forever!  : )

hahaha

Anywho...someone will have to come up with a much better argument than that to convince me milk is a bad drink choice.

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Thanks fer lookin' in...have a great one!