The First Asteroid.

OK, that title to this blog is a little misleading.  No one has any idea what or where the first asteroid is or was.  I should have said what was the first asteroid to be seen by a human who knew that it was something more than a speck of light.  Would you believe that it was way back on this day in 1801?

Giuseppe Piazzi discovered it and named it Ceres.  At first he thought that it was a comet and later he thought it was a planet and named it Ceres.  It was orbiting our sun between Mars and Jupiter.  Asteroids are what you may call minor planets or failed planets.  They just never acquired enough mass to be classified as a planet, it is 606 miles in diameter.  Some thought that it may have been a comet but it wasn't active enough to be a comet, no out-gassing and thus no tail.  Here is an example of three asteroids.

As you can see in the above picture, they are large chunks of rock that come in all kinds of shapes and sizes.  The larger ones seem to be big enough and possess enough gravity to pull themselves into spheres.  That is why they are sometimes referred to as minor planets.  OK, that is enough useless information that you will probably never use, so just have a great New Year and have a great day and a great year, you hear?

Happy Birthday Texas

Texas was annexed into the United States on this date (Dec. 29) back in 1845.  So, that would mean that today would be the birthday of Texas as a state.  That would mean that Texas is 172 years old.   Of course Texas did exist before it was a state.  Then it was a country of its own.

Have you ever wondered how Texas got its name?  No??  Well I am going to tell you anyway.  It got its name from Indians, well in a way.  The Caddo and Hasinais Indians used the word "tejas", which meant friends or allies.  Before Texas won its independence from Mexico, it was a province of Mexico named Coahuila y Tejas.  I don't know how the word Tejas got changed to Texas.  I guess it was easier to write an X than a J.  Now, I will let it up to you to find out why it is also called the "Lone Star State"  Have a great day even though some of you are not lucky enough to live in Texas, you hear?

  

Santa and a Gift.

I spotted Santa at the Flea Market this morning.  Yep, sure did.

He is a friend of ours and sells his wares, which are mostly knives, at the flea market most every week.  He makes a fantastic Santa.  That is not a fake beard, it is his real beard and he also has long white hair and a jolly belly:

Tonight, my wife and I sat watching TV.  Perry Mason and Matlock were on.  She likes to keep busy, so was making me some wrist warmers.  It didn't take her long at all and they turned out to be really nice.  Here, take a look:

I guess seeing Santa and getting a wonderful handmade gift from my wife, today was as good as Christmas morning.  Now, you all have a safe, blessed, and joyous holiday, you hear?

Correction - - those are called fingerless gloves.  My wife said I should correct my mistake.  Sorry.

Signs That Winter is Here.

Although it is the second half of December, there are still signs of Fall left over.  You know, like some colored leaves:

And some more on the purple or blue side.  They look like Sweet Gum leaves but they must be babies because they are only a low bush:

And some more at a different spot:

Our neighbor to the west of us has a large tree in the middle of his field.  My wife always said that it isn't officially winter until that tree loses all its leaves.  Well, it must be officially winter:

I suppose that you noticed that the grass is still green.  Yep, and a lot things are still green.  You wouldn't know it is winter right now with the temperature at 78 degrees.  But that can change quickly.  As I have told you all before, that there ain't nothing between here and the North Pole except a few strands of barbed wire (grin).  Now keep warm (or cool if you prefer) and have a great day, you hear?

My Wife Took Some Pictures

My wife decided since it was a fairly nice, warm day, to take a walk.  When she came back in, she asked for the camera and went back out, and nope, she didn't say why she wanted it.  I was curious but not curious enough to get out of my recliner-rocker.  Therefore, I had to wait until she came back in to find out.  She handed me the camera and I looked at the pictures that she had taken.

I must say that I was a little shocked.  She had found some intruders that didn't have any clothes on.  She got some pictures as they were trying to get away.  I have heard of streakers but have never seen any.  These guys were a little different than the regular streakers.  Ok, look for yourselves and see what you think.  I think this one was leaning over trying to tie his shoes,  yep, streakers have to have shoes:

And here is some of his buddies:

Yep, I was surprised that my wife took those risqué pictures, but since she did, I felt obliged to post them.  I sure hope we didn't shock any of you sensitive readers.  Now, you all have a great day, you hear?

We Were Dancing, and Then. . .

The wife and I were dancing and having a ball.  We were all dressed up for the dance, but decided to stay home and dance in the living room.  I dyed my hair brown and the wife wore a long blond wig.  Yep, we were all dressed up with nowhere to go.  But that was OK with us.  We were having lots of fun.  See picture below:

But then it all changed.  That creature that came from somewhere far away in the other corner of the universe, tried to break in.  He is surely a ghostly figure.  It is hard to make out his facial features.  He was trying to hide behind a tall piece of furniture, but as you can see in the picture, he was way too tall to hide. 

That will teach us to put that small creature that we got in the mail in the water like he asked us to do.  Remember my posting a couple of days ago?  If not, here is a link to it:
http://dizzydick.blogspot.com/2017/12/a-strange-visitor.html

If I am able, I will let you know how the dance ended.  Now, you all stay away from huge white monsters and have a great day, you hear?

Alien Got Bigger.

Remember my last post back a couple of days ago, where I showed that little alien guy?  Well he is growing up and doing it very quickly.  He is now nine and a half (9.5) inches tall and still growing.

This is the picture I posted on my last blog:

Now, just a couple of days later, look how big he has grown:

That is a huge jar.  We don't have any bigger than that.  I guess we will have to fill one of the bathtubs and lay him in there.  You know, I don't think that would be a very good idea.  For now, he will stay where he is at.  I have visions of him growing and growing until he has filled every nook and corner of our home.  Dang, sure don't want that to happen.  In case I don't post any more, you know what happened to us. . .  Now, you all have a great day, you hear?