Not a cloud in the sky tonight after several days of cloudy skies. We even got a little rain. The temperature was 28º F (-2.22º C) at sunset. It’s going to be really cold tonight.
We hired Cary with Cary’s Garage here in Corrales to get Tristan’s 1980 Datsun 280ZX back on the road. It’s been sitting under Gabriela’s cottonwood for the past 7 years. The starter had caught on fire in 2014, and we never got around to replacing it.
The footage Laurie took of the loading is quite entertaining.
Cranes flying into the sunset from a few nights back.
I think the bright light in the cloud is either a UFO or the grumpy old man to the left is shining a flashlight through the cloud. The light can’t be from the moon, because the moon rose at 6:45 am this morning (the skies were overcast), and it set at 4:00 pm this afternoon. We have a new moon tomorrow morning.
A clear patch of blue smiled at dawn But the sun couldn’t show its face At year’s end lavender cast A Great Bue Heron reflects The sun lies down, pulls up covers Gray Another year has passed away
With all the hoopla about Omicron, we must not forget about other diseases that run amok like Space Herpes (you can learn more about space herpes at https://news.sky.com/story/nasa-issues-space-herpes-warning-as-virus-reactivates-in-astronauts-11669335). I brought Space Herpes to the attention of OC&NE readers in March of 2020. While the video I put together in 2020 was decent, the parody, which I originally recorded in 2018, was really bloody awful. I completely redid the music and recorded new vocals between a dentist appointment at dawn and shopping for ingredients for New Year’s black-eyed peas in the afternoon. The parody is now a much better PSA. Lyrics are at the end of the post.
1st photo: Dawn from the dentist’s office. 2nd photo: Moon peeking through the clouds at the dentist’s office. 3rd photo: Sunrise through the bedroom window by Laurie.
Sasha showing us her belly. I don’t think your allergies are space herpes, Sasha.
Sunset from the grocery store parking lot. I thought I was going to miss sunset tonight, but the painter made sure we got a good showing from the store. She didn’t want to disappoint Marina. Marina doesn’t need withdrawals from her daily OD on New Mexico’s Naturaleza at the end of the year.
Space Herpes Music: Deep Purple Lyrics: Timothy Price
Well we lip-locked with the Vals on Venus We were making out a lot on Mars We’re smooching with the groovy aliens Kissed across the universe afar
We messed around with Borealis We got space herpes from the stars
Oh no oh no oh no we got space herpes oh no oh no oh no space herpes
Remember when we kissed the moon rocks Swinging around the Milky Way We found Uranus was a rude shock Pluto doesn’t see the light of day
We’re messin’ round in the solar system And got space herpes along the way
Oh no oh no oh no we got space herpes oh no oh no oh no space herpes
The Fireball we drank was burning And now we have a new routine Yeah yeah yeah yeah Marline said They can kiss, but they cannot sing
We’re messin’ round in the solar system Swinging around the Milky Way We messed around with Borealis Got space herpes every day
Oh no oh no oh no we got space herpes oh no oh no oh no space herpes
Oh no oh no oh no we got space herpes oh no oh no oh no space herpes
The cranes were flying in and landing on the Rio Grande in bunches. Click on photos to enlarge them.
These are not technically Fire Rainbows (very rare) because we are below 55º north latitude, and the sun was much lower than 58º above the horizon as the sun was setting. However, the clouds were cirrus, and they obviously had ice crystals acting like prisms refracting sunlight and creating a firey rainbow effect. They are probably run-of-the-mill rainbow clouds.
Owls in a cottonwood hooting after sunset. I increased the exposure by three stops to get a little detail in the owl on the left. It’s really hard to see the owl on the right in the first photo.
Sunrise and a crescent moon peeking through the clouds.
Pink clouds make a halo around the Tangle Heart Tree.
The MLPs, Shocking Blue and Pink Venus, that Santa gave Laurie and me for Christmas started kicking the cats. I asked what’s up with that, and they said: “Kick The Cat” was a popular kids’ game. I told them the game was called “Kick The Can” and it was like “Hide and Seek”, “Capture the Flag” and “Tag” in one game and did not involve kicking cats. Shocking Blue said: “Oh! I heard ‘kick the cat!’ My bad!” I think they are mean and ornery MLPs. We had Shetland Ponies when I was growing up. One was named Frisky. She was a mean little pony. Frisky would buck us off and play “Kick The Kid”.
Shocking Blue and Pink Venus played “Kick The Cat” on Spunk, Marble, Sasha, and Silver. As it turned out, Silver, who bullies the other kitties, has taken a liking to the MLPs and got Shocking Blue and Pink Venus to settle down and snuggle with him. Maybe the MLPs with help silver stop bullying the other kitties.
The clouds were threatening rain at sunset.
Check Duolingo Crap! In the demotion zone Will I make it out?
At 33 minutes left on the clock, I found myself in the penultimate position in the Demotion Zone needing 140 XP to keep from being demoted. I was not the only one in the demotion zone trying to get out, so the number of XP needed to extricate myself increased as I worked through stories trying to amass points. In the end, I did make it out of the demotion zone with only 30 seconds to spare, but I had to get 252 XP to do it.
Santa is one sick, silly dude. He gave me a blue My Little Pony for Christmas. I’m trying to decide if I was naughty or nice (most likely naughty), to deserve this Shocking Blue pony. A Brony I’m NOT! Tristan has a name for her that I’m not going to publish here. Miss Shocking Blue is kind of cute and will probably end up in future posts and videos.
The painter took Christmas off. We had a colorless (gray) Christmas morning.
Jake waiting to open his Christmas present. Sasha is giving him kitty Mad Dogs.
The moon through a veil of clouds.
Tristan embroidered this amazing tiny portrait for Spunk for Laurie.
Tristan’s beautiful Bearded Dragon, Donny, made an appearance for Christmas.
Socratis at Oannes has been posting songs about cars. I keep commenting: “I had that car! Oh, I had that car, too. You are not going to believe this, but I had one of those cars, also!” From Oannes I was inspired to put together a spreadsheet of all the cars that have been in the family, and I had driven since I got my driver’s license at age 15. We still have some of the old cars that were bought new. The stats break down as follows: 33 cars over 48 years. 25 Model years from 1955 to 2017. 14 different carmakers. 26 different models in 10 different colors with green, yellow, brown, and red the predominant four colors. We’ve had more Mazdas than other cars with six. Volkswagon came in second with five. We still have two Mazdas, a Volkswagon, a Ford pickup, and a Datsun 280ZX on the property.
I was also inspired to write and record a Car Song about some of the cars that stood out over the years. I played the bass lines on my 5-string, multi-scale bass. I played my black Strat I built a few years ago for the rhythm guitar, and I played my 7-string, multi-scale guitar for the guitar solo (the song is above, lyrics at the end of the post).
Marble Sinking
Sunrise
Car Song By Timothy Price
This is a story about a few of the many cars that graced my life
My dad, he was a Rambler man 1964 classic I learned to drive Three on the tree with no air Bench seats without belts
The ’55 Cadillac was a tank with tits Big silver bumper boobs oh they couldn’t be missed Slushbox tranny liked to bump and grind Lumbered down the road in style
1960 Rambler in Pepto Bismol pink Nearly cost me my life and limbs A boy driving a pink car in 1975 Was worthy of a beating, so the other boys thought
[Chorus] Thirty-three cars have graced my life Over two score and 8 years From green to pink to yellow to blue Red sports cars are the final two
’66 American in canary yellow The cubic inches under the hood wouldn’t do I cut and bent to retrofit a power plant I lost traction, tickets, I paid for my sins
’65 Corvair. Yep that’s the one It was “Unsafe At Any Speed” That car was fun to drive I never rolled it though Not to say I didn’t try.
The Volkswagen Thing was a Thing of wonder As I wandered from here to yonder Weirdly shaped, like a Jerrycan on wheels It did nothing for my sex appeal
[Bridge] Cadillac, Chevrolet, Rambler, and Ford Volkswagens, Honda, Triumph, were never bored International, AMC, Renault, and a Datsun Dodge, Kia, and best of all is always Mazda
Eldorado, Americans, a Classic, and a Bus Travelalls, beetles, and a Triumph GT6 Plus A Sun Bug, Pickups, Hornet, and a Le Car Taurus, Rio Cinco, N600, and a Corvair Granada, Dart, ZX, Five, RX, and a Thing 323, Speed 3, my Miata is really mean
[Guitar Solo]
’79 Renault Le Car was one of my All-time favorite cars Smooth ride, canvas-covered sunroof That got Swiss-cheesed in a hailstorm
The RX-8 was as exotic as I got A Wankel whining under the hood Demanded high revs lots of speed Suicide door, it seated four
My MX-5 is beautiful to drive Small, responsive, quick, and sassy A hot profile and racing stripe It’s total fun and fantasy
Off Center & Not Even 