73rd Birthday

 Tucson Weather Today

_____

Last Saturday, May 19, 2012 marked the 73rd anniversary of my birth. Now I am not only a cantankerous curmudgeon, I'm a really, really old cantankerous curmudgeon.

My eldest son and his wife took me out to dinner on my birthday. Also along to 'celebrate' was my daughter and two grandsons. We dined at a restaurant with an Old West theme. For the most part the menu was different cuts of beef, mostly huge steaks. But there was also mashed potatoes with thick and hearty deep brown gravy. And smoke grilled sweet corn -- and western style beans. The waiters were all dressed as early American cowboys, faded denim jacket-shirts and jeans, boots, and ten gallon stetsons. Our waiter said his name was Doc Holliday.

Midway through the meal a tall, lean lawman strolled through the room, pausing at each table to make fun of the most tender-footed among us.


The next day, Sunday, we all went shopping, at Trader Joe's and several other retail stores, mostly featuring organic foods and fruits, such as Sunflower Foods. In the late afternoon my son grilled a variety of things, including a beer can chicken using a can of cream soda instead of beer. Delicious. Oh, and a big bowls of fresh shrimp, too.

One of my grandsons soaking up poolside rays

The water temperature in the pool was just right for those who like to swim, including the three dogs.

Which reminds me --

Eva was on her best behavior.

(In my opinion.)

That evening we all watched the solar eclipse, through proper dark glasses, of course.

_____

WORD FOR TODAY

panacea  [pan-un-see-uh]
noun
1.  A remedy claimed to be curative of all problems or disorders; a cure-all.
2.  An answer or solution for all problems or difficulties:

_____

BORN ON THIS DATE IN HISTORY


 Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Born May 22, 1859
Died July 07, 1930

Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle was a Scottish physician and writer, most noted for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes,

ALSO

Sir Laurence Olivier

Born May 22, 1907
Died July 11, 1989

Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, was an English actor, director, and producer. One of the most famous and revered actors of the 20th century, he was the youngest actor to be knighted and the first to be elevated to the peerage. Actor Spencer Tracy said that Olivier was 'the greatest actor in the English-speaking world.'

_____

__________

There is a fifth dimension, beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition.
--Rod Serling