MR. BLABBERFINGERS IS ON THE EVE OF HIS 5,000TH BLOG POST

 A FEMALE AND MALE CARDINAL ARRIVING AT THE BIRD STATION AT THE SAME TIME

Waking up this morning I could feel the last vestiges of dizziness had finally dissipated and I was once again back up and running on all seven cylinders.  No easy feat some days I can assure you.

 A JUNCO HEADING FOR THE FEEDER

 I SAW THIS NUTHATCH WHIZZING BY

 A TRICKY LANDING

 IS THIS BLUE JAY COMING OR GOING??  WELL, HE'S GOING AND THAT RED SMUDGE IS A MALE CARDINAL SITTING IN A NEARBY CEDAR TREE

 TWO FEMALE CARDINALS

 LIFT-OFF

It's almost as if each of these winter days are in competition with each other to see which one can be the coldest.  Minus 3F when we woke up this morning.  Will this weather nonsense ever end!!!!

 THIS BLUE JAY IS COMING IN WITH HIS LANDING GEAR HALF WAY DOWN

 A LITTLE GAME OF FOLLOW THE LEADER

THIS MALE CARDINAL IS IN STEALTH MODE COMING FAST TO THE BIRD STATION

 A FLURRY OF BLUE JAY FEATHERS

I tussled with myself trying to decide whether to take the Jeep for a drive or not this morning.  I finally decided, not.  Scooter surprised me again by starting right up with no problem so I let it run for a while.  Why it never started that one time a couple of months ago is now a mystery to me.  Although cold outside, it was a nice-looking sunshiny day.

 'OKAY BERT I AM GOING TO GIVE YOU SUCH A SLAP'

 CARDINALS HAVE SMALL WINGS

'WHAT THE HECK ARE ALL THESE BIRDS DOING FLYING AROUND ALL OVER THE PLACE'

 COMING IN ON FINAL APPROACH TO THE BIRD STATION

 MALE CARDINAL HEADING FOR THE CEDAR TREES

Kelly spotted a gaggle of Crows on the bird station first thing this morning so that explains why we are going through so much birdseed.  Well, crows gotta eat too.  We're probably going to have to sell some of our furniture just to buy more birdseed.

 BLUE JAY COMING IN FOR A LANDING BEHIND THIS MOURNING DOVE

 A DARK-EYED JUNCO LANDS ON OUR HANGING FEEDER

 THIS FEMALE CARDINAL MAKES FLYING LOOK SO EASY

 A MALE CARDINAL DROPS IN ON AN UNSUSPECTING BLUE JAY

A friend (yes, I do have a few) sent me an article about a ghost town of 8 people being sold in Arizona.  The name of the town is Cleator and this is the link she sent, Arizona Ghost Town.  The name Cleator rang a distant bell in my memory so I rolled out my Google Map airplane, typed in Cleator, and flew myself on down to Arizona.  As soon as I saw the town's location was in the Bradshaw Mountains I had a feeling we had been to Cleator.  In my blog's archives, I quickly tracked down the day we had driven through that little Ghost Town.  It was March 7th, 2014.  And, here is that day, Jeep Rumble In The Bradshaw Mountains.  The Cleator photos begin with the 12th photo from the end of the post.  You can see both the General Store and Bar as I snapped a few photos driving by them.  Had this been back in my old drinking days I would surely have stopped into that bar for sure.  As a side note.....there were 8 of us in 4 Jeep wranglers on this rough and rocky trip.  Our friends, Jim and Bev organized the Jeep rumble that day.  Sadly, Bev passed away a few years ago.  She can be seen in the photos with short hair, dark top, and jeans.  She is also the one seen holding a bottle of wine.  

 SUNRISE AT OUR HOUSE THIS MORNING

According to Google Analytics, this post of mine today is number 4,999 and Sunday's post will of course be the 5,000th blog post I have written.  It's no wonder they call me Mr. Blabberfingers.  Of course, all those posts are stretched out over the past 16 years so maybe I'm not so blabbery after all.  Let's say I averaged 12 photos per post.  Hmmmm, that would be about 65,000 photos I've published. (I'm no good at math so that number might be way off) Oh dear, that makes me weary so I think I had better go lie down for a while and have a rest........... 

 CARDINAL LANDING AND MOURNING DOVE TAKING OFF

GROANER'S CORNER:((  The first-grade teacher was showing pictures of animals to her students to see how many they could name. She held up a picture of a lamb, and a little girl said, "That's a sheep!"  "That's right!" said the teacher. "How about THIS one?" she said, holding up a picture of the king of beasts.  "That's a lion!" answered a little boy.  "Right!" said the teacher. Then she held up a picture of a deer. No one volunteered an answer. She tried to help. "What does your mother call your father?"  Johnny said, "I know! That's a lazy old goat!"

---------------------------------

I WILL TRY TO HAVE MY SOCKS PULLED UP BY SUNDAY NIGHT'S POST

 BORREGO SPRINGS CALIFORNIA

I probably should not have started my day off by checking the 14-day weather forecast.  Not one day anywhere near above freezing for the next two weeks.  With grey skies overhead and more snow coming down, I resigned myself to an inside day.  The only time I went out was to restock the birdfeeders.  The Jeep never moved all day and I didn't do much better.  Oh how I miss our adventuress winter days in the Great American Southwest.....................

 WEST OF TOMBSTONE ARIZONA LOOKING WEST TOWARDS SIERRA VISTA AND THE HUACHUCA MOUNTAINS

 JUST A TYPICAL SUNNY DAY IN THE BEAUTIFULLY GREEN SONORAN DESERT

 ATOP BLAIR VALLEY'S GHOST MOUNTAIN WITH SAN DIEGO CALIFORNIA JUST ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THOSE LAGUNA MOUNTAINS

AT GRAPEVINE CANYON RANCH NEAR PEARCE ARIZONA

 PHEEBS DROPS IN FOR AN APPOINTMENT AT THE VETS IN WICKENBURG ARIZONA...SHE WAS GETTING HER ANTI-RATTLESNAKE SHOT THIS DAY

 IN THE YAQUI PASS SOMEWHERE WEST OF OCTOTILLA WELLS ARIZONA

OH HOW I LOVED WORKING ON MY CACTUS GARDENS AT OUR HOUSE ON GHOST TOWN ROAD IN CONGRESS ARIZONA

 LOVE THESE AGAVE CACTUS PLANTS

 SOMEWHERE IN THE CHIRICUHA MOUNTAINS OF ARIZONA

 I FOUND A GEOCACHE AT MARSHAL SOUTH'S OLD HOMESTEAD ATOP GHOST MOUNTAIN CALIFORNIA

 NOT SURE WHERE THIS WAS TAKEN BUT I'M GUESSING KELLY TOOK IT OUTSIDE OF A CRACKER-BARREL SOMEWHERE ALONG THE WAY

 EAST OF DEMING NEW MEXICO

 THESE WERE SOME OF OUR BEST DAYS...... THIS PHOTO WAS TAKEN THE DAY WE SOLD OUR JEEP WRANGLER

About the only thing I have in the way of photos tonight are a few bird shots and a short bird video. (no music) And sorry about all the selfies in this post but I was feeling a bit down and blue today thinking of our winters in the southwest when we were alive and excited about doing things, going places, and seeing things we had never seen before.......I will try and have my socks pulled up and be back on track by Sunday night's post.

 AMERICAN GOLDFINCH AND A FEMALE CARDINAL

 A PAIR OF DARK-EYED JUNCOS

GROANER'S CORNER:((   Once upon a time, there was a non-conforming sparrow who decided not to fly south for the winter. However, soon the weather turned so cold that he reluctantly decided to fly south. In a short time, ice began to form on his wings and he fell to Earth in a barnyard, nearly frozen solid. A cow passed by where he had fallen and crapped on the little sparrow. The sparrow thought it was the end, but the manure warmed him and defrosted his wings!  Warm and happy, able to breathe, he started to sing.  Just then a large cat came by, and hearing the chirping he investigated the sounds. The cat cleared away the manure, found the chirping bird, and promptly ate him.  The Moral of the Story:::  Everyone who craps on you is not necessarily your enemy.  Everyone who gets you out of crap is not necessarily your friend.  And if you're warm and happy in a pile of crap, you might just want to keep your mouth shut.

-----------------------------------

Last night, my wife and I watched two movies back to back.  Fortunately for me, I was the one who was facing the television.

------------------------------------

----------------------------

The Only Thing Better Than Right Now Will Someday Be The Memories Of Right Now...Al:))

======================