Verna and Bob's Weblog

Bob

Warmer Weather

Image cropped from GOES. Click to enlarge.

Much of the country received a “polar vortex” event, which caused temperatures to drop dramatically. Our version of the event was probably much milder than a lot of places north and east of here; we only had temperatures drop below 32° for a couple of nights the lows reaching maybe 29-31°. We got no ill effects from the cold save for some damage to the leaves (and not the fruit) on our little lemon tree.

Now, the temperatures are looking more like our normal Sonoran desert conditions for January with lows in the 40s and highs in the 70s. We like it.

The almost cloudless image above was taken from the GOES satellite imagery a couple of days ago. Our location is on the top of Maricopa county just to the left and below image center. In the image within Arizona you can see white areas of snow along the Mogollon Rim and in higher areas in Northern Arizona.

January 18, 2024 by Arizona Climate

Happy New Year – 2024

Wishing you a very happy and prosperous New Year in 2024! We don’t have a lot of news to report for the past year and, at our ages, that’s a good thing, I expect. In the coming year, we are going to resume some travel in the big RV, probably starting soon. The main trip this year will be to travel to Waco, TX, for the total eclipse of the sun.

Have a happy and prosperous 2024!

January 1, 2024 by Holidays Leisure Retirement Vacation

Christmas 2023

Verna and I wish each and everyone a joyous Christmas. We are celebrating quietly here at home with a planned feast in the afternoon of Chateaubriand, Braised Brussels Sprouts and Loaded Mashed Fauxtatoes (low-carb cauliflower masquerading as ‘taters).

The roast is from a whole beef tenderloin I recently butchered into several steaks and other beef goodies to be consumed later. We will be feasting on them for weeks to come.

Image above: The Virgin with Angels” by William-Adolphe Bouguereau, oil on canvas, completed around 1900. The original painting is in a museum in Paris, France. I overlaid the scripture on the image. you can see the original here.

December 25, 2023 by Food and Dining Holidays Religion

Winter Solstice 2023

Image – an unusual snow day in Wickenburg (2014-12-31)

Solstice Notes

The first day of winter in the Northern Hemisphere is marked by the winter solstice, which occurs on Thursday, December 21, 2023, at 8:27 P.M. Arizona time or 0127Z if you’re into Greenwich mean time. Today is the shortest day of the year with only 9 hours and 53 minutes of sunshine at our latitude here in Wickenburg.

We’re not expecting any snow of the magnitude depicted above this season. The snowfall in Wickenburg on New Year’s Eve 2014 was the most snow we have ever seen in town since we moved here in early 2011 when our house was finally completed. As a matter of fact, we can count our snow days on one hand over our nearly 13 years of living here.

Music Notes

The 61-key digital keyboard shown below is the replacement for an older version of the same thing that I’ve had since March of 2010 (and there were many before that). This one has much more capability and I have been enjoying exploring the different voices, songs and styles included in the unit.

I have been playing keyboards (without much formal training) since age 5 or so. I have messed with MIDI quite a lot although that isn’t my peak interest now. I’d much rather play favorites and try to compose some things now and then.

The new keyboard is a Yamaha PSR E373 which is still considered an entry level unit, but it has a lot more features than I probably can figure out how to use. I have an app for the Smart Phone which allows me to record sound and video from the unit. Maybe I will post some of it on social media and link it here one of these days.

Here is the new unit in my studio (a.k.a. Master Bedroom):

This is Yamaha’s Blurb about this keyboard:

The PSR-E373 features a newly developed tone generator that delivers stunning improvements in sound quality as well as high-quality effects. You can enjoy a comprehensive library of 622 instrument Voices perfect for playing in any genre you choose, as well as unique Super Articulation Lite Voices that reproduce the subtle nuances of stringed instruments such as the cello and mandolin that are typically difficult to emulate on a keyboard instrument, delivering realistic and authentic performances.

The old keyboard will be retired to the Motorhome for practice when we’re on the road.

December 21, 2023 by Astronomy Climate Entertainment Music Retirement

Avalon 1998

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