Fog, Sunsets, and New Shirt.

The day before Valentine's Day, it got foggy.  We don't get a lot of fog, so I thought I would take some pictures.  The last time was a year ago last January.  Here is a link to that blog: http://dizzydick.blogspot.com/2013/01/heavy-fog-this-morning.html
It was similar to what I am showing you today.  Here are a few of  the pictures I took the day before Valentine's day:

 

On Valentine's Day, it was sunny and clear and the evening sky to the west was painted in various colors.  That was a great birthday present:

 

 

And I got to go to Tractor Supply and get a new shirt with buck deer on it: 

I took the above picture of myself.  Held the camera in my right hand and reached out as far as I could and snapped the picture hoping I got most of me in it.  As you can see, it was quite breezy but in the upper 70's.  A most perfect and beautiful day.  Now, I hope I didn't ruin your day with a picture of my ugly self, but rather, I want you to also have a great day, you hear.

Happy Valantine's Day.

I want to wish all my readers a very happy Valentine's Day.  Make sure you give everyone you love a great big hug.

Just for your information, this is also my 71st birthday.  Yes, I am a valentine.  Where did you think I got all my charm (grin)?

Hope you all have a very great Valentine's Day, you hear?

Wondering if Cave Men Drove Pick-Up Trucks?

Did you ever wonder how early man got around?  Well I think that pre-historic men drove Pick-Up trucks.  What?  You think I am crazy and that I slipped a cog or two?  Well now, I found proof on the Internet, and you know that everything on the Internet is true and accurate, right?  Well, this blog will be posted on the Internet and it is always true and accurate!!

OK, now how do I know that cave men drove pick-up trucks?  Well, I am not sure if it were pick-ups or cars or limousines or motorcycles or what, but what ever they drove, used spark plugs.  You see, three people (Wallace Lane, Virginia Maxey, and Mike Mikesell) were hunting for geodes in California.  They found a spark plug encased in a lump of hard clay.  This happened on this day, February 13, back in 1961 (the year I graduated from high school).

So, how did a spark plug get encased in a 500,000-year-old geode?  Give me another explanation of how it got there other than cave men drove pick-up trucks.  Or maybe visitors from another planet. . nope, they would be way more advanced than to use spark plugs.  The argument against this is that it was not found in a geode but a hardened concentration of dirt and rock, which could have formed only a few years in the past.  Now I wonder, why didn't the article tell what brand it was or what name was on the plug?  OH, that is right, they couldn't read Martian.  Now, you all don't leave your trash laying around to become a future artifact and have a great day now, you hear?  

Wondering why my Posting was Removed?

The post I wrote and posted this morning was removed.  Why, you may ask.  My better half always proof reads my blog after I post it to see how many misspelled words and improperly used phrases I put in it. I removed it because my wife said it was gross and sickening and since my wife is the chief cook and bottle washer around here and I like to eat, well, I did as she said and took it off.  If any of you were quick enough to read it for the short time that it was up, good for you.

I wrote about a headless chicken that lived for a long time, 18 months or so.  I even put pictures of him on it.  But, listening to the house critic, I took it down.  Her criticism is usually correct and right on so I change things.  This time I don't think she was right.  Here is a link to one of the stories: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_the_Headless_Chicken

And another:
http://www.miketheheadlesschicken.org/history

And if you want more information, try this link:  http://life.time.com/curiosities/mike-the-headless-chicken-photos-of-a-famously-tough-fowl/#1

You may want to know how it is fed:
http://twentytwowords.com/a-chicken-that-lived-for-18-months-after-its-head-was-cut-off/

And if you want more, just Goggle it.  It is even on YouTube.  Just type in "Mike the Headless Chicken" and see what all you can find.  I did have a great blog posted with lots of pictures and facts about Mike.  Now, if you want to know more about it, you can start by following the links I have posted and put the story together for yourselves.  Now, you all keep your heads and have a very great day, you hear?

Wondering How a Plant Moves.

Most plants don't just sit there looking pretty (or ugly).  No, they move around a lot.  Yes, I know that most plants are attached to the ground with roots and yes, I am talking about those plants.  Plants always seem to bend so that their leaves get the most exposure to sunlight that is possible at all hours of the day.  They move toward the light.  Now (scratching my head), I ask myself, "Self, how the heck do they do that?"  They don't have muscles like animals, but they move.  Don't believe me?  Take a plant and set it in a window and after a period of time it will lean and try to expose the biggest proportion of their leaves to the light.  Now, after a few days or a week, turn the plant around by 180 degrees.  Yep, after awhile, it will be leaning toward the window again.

Plants don't have nerves like we do but they do communicate with other parts of the plant.  How do they do this?  They have a chemical language that lets cells communicate with each other.  Hormones and neurotransmitters are chemicals that tell a cell about the environment around it or communicate messages.  I am not going to go into detail here, but as we all know, different cells in living things communicate with each other.

OK, so how does a plant move toward the light?  The growing tips of plants produce the growth hormone auxin which is sent to the rest of the plant.  It is a hormone that tells the cells to grow and divide.  More of this hormone is sent to the shady side of the plant making the cells in that side of the plant grow and divide faster than the ones on the sunny side, thus making the plant lean toward the sun (or light).

It is amazing to me that a living thing that is not supposed to have a brain or is not supposed to think, can do such complicated stuff.  The world around us is such a marvelous place!!  I must give credit to the magazine Discover, where I got this information.  Now, keep on the sunny side life (a song I like) and have a great day, you hear?

So then, how does a plant use

Wondering About A Few Planes.

I have flown in many different types of planes from commercial to corporate to private and I enjoy flying.  I would go up anytime, especially in small, private planes.  I do not like to deal with the hassle of commercial flying, although in the past, I have done a lot of it.  I wrote a blog back a few years ago about my father-in-law who was into flying and owned a few planes over his lifetime.  Here is a link to that post and if you don't remember reading it, I suggest you go back and do so:
http://dizzydick.blogspot.com/2010/12/high-flying-family.html

Not only do I enjoy flying, I think planes are a work of art.  Their sleek aerodynamic shape make them not only functional, but beautiful.  One of the planes that impressed me and that I have been up in is the Piper Comanche:

 
And if that wasn't something, I got to ride along when my father-in-law checked a fellow out in a new twin Comanche that looked like this:  

 
But of course, of all the planes that Piper produced, the one that is the most fun is the Piper Cub:

 

Now, as far as government owned planes go, the two that impress me the most do not carry weapons, but are spy planes.  The U-2 which flew so high that nothing, even missiles, couldn't touch it:

 

But it did finally get shot down.  Remember Gary Powers?

 

And the SR-71 which could fly so fast that it could outrun any missile or bullet.  Nothing could catch it:



 

 

The SR-71 Blackbird was designed back in the 1950's and I don't believe there has ever been a more futuristic plane conceived since.  It is a thrill just to see a picture of it.  I think my feet will be firmly planted on the ground today or maybe my exterior parts planted on the couch.  Either way I am going to have a great day even though it is a dreary, wet day.  I want you all to have a great day, too, you hear?

Wondering what is Your Favorite Phrase to Say?

I was wondering what my favorite phrase was.  I have lots of them and I bet you all have at least one phrase that you use more than others.  Now, other than profanity, what are your favorite phrases?  I suppose that mine is "What?", since I am hard of hearing.  OK, that isn't a phrase, it is just one word.  So, how about "What?  Could you repeat that, please?"  Or "What?  Say again."

My grandpa's favorite expression was "Jump'n Judas Priests".  My youngest uncle's was, "Hokey Spoons".  Some others that I have heard throughout the years:

You could have knocked me over with a feather.

Get out of here.

Momma Mia.

Aah Shucks.

Dang it.

It's a jungle out there.

For crying out loud.

Heavens to Betsy

I got all my cards on the table.

It's all Greek to me.

and to end this list:  It's not over till the Fat Lady Sings.

Of course you could go back three and half years to one of my old blogs about colloquialisms:
http://dizzydick.blogspot.com/2010/07/colloquialisms.html

Now, you all have a great day and "let me get the heck out of Dodge", you hear?