THE MEDIA: YOU GOTTA LOVE 'EM
How'd I know that you wouldn't see Mr. Barak Nobama flubbing up? No worries. I have secured a YouTube website for you to observe Nobama proclaiming the number of states there are in the U.S. And you, or more specifically they--our media thought VP Quayle's spelling of potato was bad. In fact unforgivable.

As as far a President G. W. Bush, well, they have questioned his intelligence since Day One. He, holder of degrees from Yale and Harvard. Yet this same media gives pass after pass to B. Hussein Nobama.

Refer to the clip from a Michigan rally at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpGHO2D+Iws

ENERGY DRINKS

I bought two today. From a princess. Or a queen. They cost me $5. I gave them away.

She was standing there on the sidewalk with her little brother in a USC hat. Her mom was there, too. With babies in a stroller.

The princess or queen was wearing a crown. Waiting for golfers to drive by on the way to the 16th hole at Lookout Mountain. I drove by. I couldn't resist.

"Would you like to buy two energy drinks to help pay for my ______?" I can't remember if it was camp, registration, audition. Like the saying in one of the movies, Top Gun?, she had me at hello. So I don't know what specifically she needed the money for, but she got it from me. I mean anyone campaigning to be a princess or queen, well, the world needs more of them.

I gave my two drinks to my golf buddies. I didn't need the energy. Even when my second shot out of the sand lipped the cup and caused me to walk away with a bogey. But how could I feel bad when I'd just helped a princess in waiting?

I FEEL A DISCONNECT COMING

Amphibious, androgynous, ambivalent. Somehow I feel torn. And it's all about war.

The two most divisive issues I've seen in my lifetime are two wars. Both entered with good intentions. Both for humanitarian purposes to at least some extent. Both calculated risks. (Remember when the scary fear we had of The Big Red Army of Iraq? What a farce.) Both wars resulted in terrible losses for Americans in terms of our troops, our morale, our prestige around the globe and at home.

So what are/were we to do? It's easy to say bring the troops home. That's what we did in Viet Nam. But what kind of answer is that? In hindsight no one would advocate going into Iraq. But all, not some, all-- military intelligence advised it at the time. Only isolationists, only those with political posturing in mind voted no or they voted in abstentia. And now...

Maybe we are to blame for not having a handle on the mind of the Muslims. We've had a Mid-East presence for some time now, but we don't seem to have much understanding. So, again, I ponder...Where do we go from here?

Stay the course? Pull out? Modify the course? It's tough, and so far, I haven't heard much intelligent discussion. Kinda like universal health care.

SAGUARO FLOWER

When Goldie Hawn made Cactus Flower, I had no idea what those two words meant. A dichotomy? Well, had I known that word then, that's what I would have thought.

But cactus flowers are beautiful. This saguaro, the cactus with arms that only grows in Southern Arizona, parts of California and Mexico, sports some of the most beautiful flowers starting about May 1. This saguaro pictured displays a veritable bevy. Our saguaro, an eight footer with no arms, had one last year, none this year. But the little bud from where it bloomed is still attached though shriveled and black now. The cactus is quite healthy, and I've observed a lot that didn't bloom this season.

A friend of ours who Winters in Florida thinks the desert desolate. She can't understand our attraction to the Southwest. Actually, I hope there are several others who believe the same, because we're getting inundated with people. When we first moved here 7 years ago, there were not that many from Illinois. Now, there are many. We also run into a lot of East Coasters who retire here rather than their traditional spot in Florida.

So if you move or visit the great Southwest, be prepared to explain that we don't have sand dunes, we do have green plants, and we do have beautiful cactus flowers. But unless they're real close friends or family, tell them you like Florida better.

THE DUST DEVIL, ARIZONA STYLE

Or Dust Tornado, sometimes these babies stretch far into the sky. One hundred feet high, I'd guess. Why and how? You'd have to ask a local meteorologist. But they aren't too good. I mean, I know I could hit the weather forecasts as well.

So I'll try. Today, tomorrow, and for the rest of the month in Scottsdale it will be mostly sunny with a morning low in the 60's and afternoon high in the mid-nineties. Sometime before the end of the month, we'll hit 100 degrees, but that warm air flow won't last. There will be 0% chance of rain.

That's it. You won't have to tune in; you won't have to stay up; you won't have to be teased by a limited forecast, or even "I see changes coming in our weather for the weekend. Stay tuned ( in 20 minutes or so) for the complete forecast." You have it till June 1. Refer back to this page as much as you need.

Now if a little wind comes up, or if a lot of wind blows in and creates dust devils, well, all predictions are off. I had a Weather class in college at Illinois State back when. I didn't like it. And then I had a Climate class as Southern Illinois University. There we studied the water tables of Viet Nam. All quarter. I didn't like that class either. I always thought that Prof was trying to prepare us for something I wanted no part of. And that's the extent of my weather/climate studies.

I always thought old coaches were the best weathermen/women since they watched the skies for rain. And prevailing winds. They had to know when to take out a pitcher and stall, or when to save the tired athlete from a relay team. But they didn't have to worry about dust devils unless they lived out here.