The Full Harvest Moon...

 

According to the Old Farmer's Almanac: "The September 2026 Full Harvest Moon peaks on Saturday, September 26, at 12:49 P.M. Eastern Time. Rising low on the horizon, it will appear bigger, brighter, and more golden than any other Moon this year, casting long light across autumn fields and evening skies."

That's 9:49 Mountain Standard Time here in Phoenix, and I caught it at the absolute peak.  As predicted, as the moon came up over the eastern horizon, it had a golden color to it, and semi-shrouded by a cloud layer...

 

The Harvest Moon is the Full Moon closest to the autumnal equinox (September 22 or 23). Unlike other Full Moons, it rises about the same time for several nights, providing extended evening light. Historically, this extra illumination helped farmers complete their harvests before fall frosts.

Other Moon names for this month highlight how September is the transitional period between summer and fall:

• Autumn Moon (Cree)
• Falling Leaves Moon (Ojibwe)
• Leaves Turning Moon (Anishinaabe)
• Moon of Brown Leaves (Lakota)
• Yellow Leaf Moon (Assiniboine)

The behavior of animals is also a common theme, with Child Moon (Tlingit) referring to the time when young animals are weaned, and Mating Moon and Rutting Moon (both Cree) describing the time of year when certain animals, like moose, elk, and deer, are looking to mate.

The cloud cover opened up as it got close to 9:00 pm, and I was able to get a clear shot of this month's full moon...

 Very bright out there!  No, I didn't hear anything howling at it.

 

Reminiscing...

 

Yeah, Little River Band, 1978... didn't you use that title not so long ago, Jim?

Glad to see some of you are paying attention.  Which reminds me of a joke: back in my 20s, we were so poor, we couldn't afford to pay attention.  Old joke.  Old guy.

Last night, we saw Little River Band in concert at Talking Stick Casino in Scottsdale.  We've seen them before.  Yes, we know that none of the members are "the originals" from Australia.  Wayne Nelson, the bass player and singer was with them back in the 70s, so as close to one of the originals as they have.

Some critics (and the 3 original band members in Australia) have called this version of the band "a cover band."  I'm in the "they are keeping the music alive" camp.  That said, the last time we saw them (at this same venue) was probably 7 or 8 years ago, and Wayne Nelson did most of the lead singing.  They were good and sounded like the records, mostly.  Wayne was the original lead singer on Night Owls.

Unfortunately, Wayne's voice isn't what it used to be.  All 5 members of this current line-up sing.  One guitar player's voice was so gravely that it made my throat sore.  The other 3 singers did fine, each taking a turn at lead vocals.  But, none of them had the same timber and tone of the originals.  The musicianship, though, was excellent.

Overall, it was a good concert.  No regrets in spending the money and making the drive, and we thoroughly enjoyed "reminiscing" with the songs.  LRB had a good number of hits.

Some photos...

 One of the highlights of the evening was the 5 of them singing acapella around a pair of condenser mics...

 

As long as they were all singing, you didn't notice the raspiness or lack of power in two of the singers.

We had a good time.  One the way home, ADOT had closed the southbound lanes of the Loop 101, so we had to take a series of back roads, adding nearly a half hour to trip home.  8:00 concert; it was after 11:00 when we got home.  Yeah, we stayed out just like grownups.  On a Friday night.  With a full moon.  (Maybe I'll get a photo of that tonight.)

Some video clips...

 

Look to the sky...

 

Yesterday, we had rehearsal for the Hip Replacements (AZ) - or, as Podge calls it: THRAZ.  We have a gig coming up on Sunday, and we haven't been together for quite a while (I'm thinking it has been almost 2 months).  More gigs coming up in the following months.

Rehearsal went well.  I enjoy making music with Mark, Ron, and Podge.  We all have decades of playing experience, and we flow together nicely.  Everybody has input and it is a good, cooperative effort.

It was raining when I left our house, heading the 32 miles to Mark's place.  Dry by the time I got there, so I didn't have to schlep my music gear in the rain.  I was able to load up the Equinox in the garage to stay dry.

Coming home, I could see some rain shafts over the Estrella Mountains, but it was west of my routing.  Joan helped me unload gear from the car, then while she made supper, I took Murphy outside.  The weather to the east of us is clearing; clouds being lit by the setting sun to the west.  I grabbed a camera...

 To the east, the moon was rising with the diminishing clouds...

 Pretty close to a full moon, which will happen here Saturday morning.

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While I was making music, Joan had plenty of tasks to keep her busy at home.  One of those tasks was assembling a cabinet that will hold cat supplies in the garage.  Fortunately, she had plenty of feline help on that project...

 Pretty sure she was appreciative of all that hands-on (paws-on?) help.  ;-)

 

Stella's Turn...

 

My little furry girl is cute and sweet.  She is learning to be a subject for the camera.  I posted an outdoor image of Murphy the other day, here is one of Stella...

 That image is from my iPhone.  Joan took a bunch with her iPhone 17 (much newer than mine)...

 Enlarged, the image quality from Joan's phone is much better.  And, because my little girl is so darn cute, here's a couple more from Joan's phone, mostly for me...

 A bit more info on why I am so taken with these photos: that thing Stella is sitting in is the toy she and Murphy like best, currently.  Stella pulled the cardboard scratcher out of the base and is using it as a recliner.  Yep, all on her own.

I particularly like those little black tufts on her ears (you have to look close). 

Didja feel it?

 

The 2026 Autumnal Equinox happened Tuesday at 5:05 pm (Mountain Standard Time) here in Phoenix.  Didja feel the rush of cool fall air at 5:06?  Yeah, me neither.  That marks the official astronomical start of fall in the Northern Hemisphere.  We are just a bit more than equal hours of daylight and dark, being a bit south of the mid-latitudes.  The hours and minutes of daylight have been getting shorter since the Summer Solstice, and will continue to do so until the Winter Solstice.

Contrary to popular belief, we do have seasons here in the Arizona desert.  It's about 2 months of autumn, 2 months of winter, 2 months of spring, and 6 months of the Gates of Hell.  I was excited to see that the weather weasels updated the 7 day forecast this morning, with only one day of triple digit high temperatures this next week.  We'll see how that plays out.  Hurricane Polo is off the west coast of Mexico, but the upper air in the southwest will be affected by this... that may account for our cooler (99º??) temperatures and a chance of precip by Thursday.  

In the meantime, early morning temps in the (upper) 70s to 80s.  That's a nice change.

 

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A thin overcast this morning, so no blazing sun when I took Murphy outside.  I cleaned filters and added some water to the hot tub.  Some breeze this morning, so we didn't put any umbrellas us.  More wind and a chance of rain this evening, so Joan and I put away cushions and took the fabric off the cover over the hot tub.

Stella was at the patio door the whole time we were out there, watching what was going on.  I'm thinking she may be getting curious about going outside.  Joan put a leash out on the floor in the living room, so she can see it isn't anything bad.  "Oh, look - a new toy!"

 Baby steps.

 

Quokka...

 

If you said," The quokka (Setonix brachyurus) is a small cat-size marsupial, native to Western Australia, famous for its smiling face," you get 20 bonus points.

 

I had never heard of a quokka before seeing it on the Today Show this morning.  It prompted me to do some research.  Did you know that quokka excrement is highly toxic to humans?

OK, I just made that up.  That is a quokka shit.

Yes, I am ashamed of myself for making up that really bad pun.  And that is a big fat lie.  I laughed out loud when I told that pun to Joan.  Sometimes I crack myself up.  She laughed... not at the pun, but at the fact that I couldn't keep a straight face when I said it.  Sometimes it is about the delivery.

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And just because he is so handsome...

 Murphy looking good in the early morning light.

 

Whippersnapper...

 

A new primary doctor, so she has to do "some tests"... one of those tests was scheduled for this morning; an ultrasound.  I always thought an ultrasound was something done on a pregnant woman.  Pretty sure I am not pregnant.

Of course, they don't do that in their office, so you go to a place where "imaging" is what they do.  Like most everything around here, a half hour from our home.  As requested, I was 20 minutes early for the appointment and only had to wait 18 minutes before they took me in.

A very nice young lady took me back to a semi-dark room, and asked me to lay on my back on the table.  I've read about things like this: somebody gets an organ harvested.  Fortunately, no harvesting happening today... she had me raise my shirt and squirted some stuff on in and started moving the device around.  Probably checking my organs to see if there are any worth harvesting.  Pretty sure I have mostly worn them out.

As mentioned, the young lady was pleasant and conversational - no doubt that makes the time pass quicker while she is "scanning" mostly older bodies.  She had me spell my last name and give my date of birth.  When I got to the year, after telling her that, I said, "I remember when you just gave the last two digits of the year."

"What do you mean?" she asked.

I said, "Well, you were probably born after 2000, right?"

"Yes, 2001."

You will be fine give just the last two digits of your birth year... but, we older folks have to say '19' in front of the two digits... just adding to the fact that we are older."

"I never thought about that," she said.

"Because you are young."

I remember being young.  I thought about that when I rolled over on my side while she was scanning... and rolled onto my titanium hip.

She said, "I see you don't have a gall bladder - when did you have that removed?"

"About 50 years ago"... that must have really made me seem old.  And then to add to that, I asked, "Do I get a discount since you don't have to scan a gall bladder?"  Of course, I was just kidding.  You know - old guy humor.  Who cares?  An old guy benefit: Medicare.

When I was done there, Joan and I went out for breakfast - First Watch.  I was ready; I had to fast before this ultrasound.  My old guy belly is on a regular meal schedule.

Then, we ran some other errands; making efficient use of time and gas.  'Cause I remember when gas was 19¢ a gallon.  "Why, back in my day..."  ;-)

 

Zen And The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance...

 

If you said: "The 1974 novel by Robert Pirsig, that explores the meaning of 'quality' through a cross-country motorcycle trip," you get 20 bonus points.  Yes, we do literary trivia here (as long as it pertains, somewhat, to the topic of the post), as well as music, film, and TV trivia.

It was a delightful start to the morning - only 78º.  The average high temperatures right now are in the 100º area.  Today is supposed to be a high of 98º; of course, it isn't going to stay below triple digits in the near term.

It would have been a good morning to get out on one of the bikes.  But, I am not a big fan of being a "Sunday rider," because of the potential for crowds on the fun roads.  Besides, the bikes need to have tires checked, oil checked, and the chain on the CTX lubed.  So, while Joan went to the store, I messed about with bikes...

 Not as much fun as riding them, but better than no bike content.  Hopefully, we are getting to that time of year where a morning ride will be thermally possible.

I can't tomorrow, thanks to an early medical appointment.  An ultrasound; pretty sure I am not pregnant, but if the tech hears a heartbeat besides mine, I am outta there.

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Cat Content...

Yeah, it why we're all here.  Well, maybe not you, but, for sure, me.  Stella has been a bit antagonistic this morning.  Not with the humans, but she has been pouncing on Murphy.  He takes it until he doesn't.

The most recent cat toy has been very popular with both of them.  It started out as a thick felt oval with a cardboard scratcher insert and two noisy balls under the cardboard.  There are slots in the thick felt structure, where a cat can get a paw in there and knock the balls around.  That didn't last long: both cats figured out how to pull the cardboard out of the felt base and knock the noisy hard plastic balls with bells in them all around the tile floors.  We had to hide the balls in order to not be awakened at 2:00 am.

Since both cats like this new toy, they took turns sitting in it and scratching the cardboard.  Until that turned into "King of the Mountain."  I am not sure which cat did this, but when I looked down, the cardboard was completely out of the base - Murphy was laying in the base, Stella was laying in the dished cardboard.  OK, that takes care of the "It's MY turn!" arguments.

Until Stella decides to antagonize Murphy...

 If you look close in that photo above, Murphy has his paw sticking out of the slot and Stella is biting him on that paw.  Stella is scrappy, but does not realize Murphy is twice her size... when he is tired of taking crap, he can grab her with one paw and flip her around and body slam her.  She immediately comes back, looking for more.

Stella did get scolded for "picking on her brother."  She does not take well to being told "No!"  We put some space between them, until they can play nice again.

Here's Murph with his paws through the slot...

 Yeah, the boy has big paws.  

Downtown...

 

Where all the lights are bright.

If you said, "Petula Clark, 1964," you get 10 bonus points.  If you added, "The song was written and produced by the English composer Tony Hatch," you get an additional 50 bonus points.

Joan was feeling like a walk through a Farmer's Market today.  The one we have been to in the past is the Uptown Market, and it is LARGE.  It also closes down at 11:00 am this time of year.

"Um, let's look around."

 She found the Downtown Farmer's Market.  In, of all places, downtown.  We go downtown when we have to, as in: going to a big name concert.  Or some kind of ball game besides football (that stadium is in Glendale).  Otherwise, downtown, for us, is a bit too crowded, with expensive parking.  For us.  Yes, I know there are plenty of people who think living downtown is hip and happening.  They don't even need a car.  Because: see that "expensive parking" above.  But, being the agreeable kinda guy I am, we headed for downtown.

After one loop around, I found an empty parking spot on the street.  Bonus: it even had some time left on the meter.  This Farmer's Market wasn't huge...

 This being hip and happening downtown kinda thing, there was a few too many "all natural, vegan, gluten free... all that stuff that makes you wanna throw up.

"I used to eat natural foods... until I learned that most people die of natural causes."  "Health nuts are going to feel stupid one day, dying of nothing."

We didn't buy anything.  Also, there wasn't a single farmer for sale.

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It was getting to be time for lunch when we left.  Joan did a quick search for "the best BBQ" and came up with Bobby Q, about 8 miles away.  BBQ sounds a lot better to me than any of that vegan stuff.

I didn't take any photos, but Bobby Q's was outstanding.  I would call it "upscale BBQ" - a nice restaurant, upscale prices, but great service and really good BBQ.

 

Cat Grandpa...

 

No, neither of our kitties have become parents.  You may have heard me mention that I feed Steph and Dan's cats when they are running late.  Today is one of those times.  Dan has a late meeting at school, Steph is going to a Guide Dog for the Blind meeting directly after work.

Steph writes it in our appointment book and I step in to do my job, making sure the grandcats are fed on time.

They are sweet cats.  Alfie is their special needs boy; he has a neurological disorder that causes seizures, so he has to have meds at specific times - that is the main reason I get called in if they are running late.  4 pills, twice a day.  He takes the pills without much fuss...

 The other two cats waiting while Alfie gets his meds...

 Food prep...

 Proof that the cats are getting their meals...

 I also send Steph a photo when I give them a treat during the day.  Steph has accused me of just using the same photo more than once.  Yes, that is bullshit.  A new photo each time, but the cats generally take their food and treats in the same position.  Today's shot above, is an exception, since Tango (the orange boy) is usually on the left.  I do the photos so she can see that her kitties are being well cared for, because I am that kind of a caring guy.

I told her that I would sent a photo of me, instead of the cats.  She welcomed that.  Probably didn't think I would.  My selfie skills are not sharp, but here is a photo of me after the kitties have been fed...

 I am dependable help.  And my only charge for this service is the opportunity to tease Steph a bit, telling her that I will be "charging extra for short notice" or some other smart-ass comment.  Mostly to make her feel guilty about taking advantage of my good nature... but, she doesn't feel guilty and I don't really have a good nature.  ;-)

Yesterday, I put a book that she has recently acquired in the photo of their treat time so she could see that I wasn't using the same photo over and over...

 Of course, she hasn't considered my Photoshop skills and how easy it would be for me to put any item into an image.  Which I wouldn't do.  But, I could.  ;-)

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And, because I like kitties... and photos of kitties... here are a couple shots I took today of our sweet little Stella...

 

It's Also A Jungle In Here...

 

If you saw the post from two days ago (It's a Jungle Out There), you may get this title.

Joan got another silk plant - well, actually, more of a small tree.  I have no idea if it will eventually go outside, but Stella was pretty excited to see a tree in the house...

 She's so cute.  As always, I am biased.  But, look at that cute little face.

It Pays To Advertise...

 

Advertising isn't what it used to be.  For a lot of businesses, it is more effective to hire a social media manager to get the word out about their products... make "free" posts on FaceBook, Instagram, etc, regarding your stuff.

It worked on me.

Today, Joan wanted to stop at a rain gutter manufacturer and get a length of downspout to add to the bottom of one of our existing downspouts to route the water further away from the house.  The company that did our rain gutters couldn't sell us a 10' piece of downspout, but they gave us the name of their supplier.

We stopped there today and bought a 10' section.  For those keeping track, it just fits in the Equinox.  After that, Joan asked me where I wanted to have lunch.  I have been craving a burger (out) for several days - I have been seeing posts on Facebook for Shake Shack, and suggested a new one about 5 miles from where we picked up the section of gutter.

IF we have been to one of these before, I don't remember it.  I knew I liked the burgers at Steak & Shake, but not the same thing.  So, off to the Shake Shack...

 Like many other fast food places, they want you to wait on yourself...

 Easy enough, but then they also want a tip after you are done waiting on yourself.  From my perspective, there should be an "employee discount" when you wait on yourself.  But, I digress.

The burgers were good.  The shake was excellent.  The sides (fries and onion rings) were plentiful; nothing exceptional.  Not inexpensive.  We voted: we'd eat here again, but not go out of our way to get here.  This is a new location, in a new shopping area.  The interior is kind of austere - nothing fancy about it...

 This has not unseated our favorite burger places: Smashburger and Five Guys.  But, another option.

It's A Jungle Out There...

 

If you said "Randy Newman, the theme from the show Monk," you get 15 bonus points.  If you said, "Burkhard Dallwitz, 2008," you also get 15 bonus points.  If you said, "A line from the Jimmy Buffett song Fruitcakes: 'Stay in touch with my insanity really is the only way. It's a jungle out there, kiddies, have a very fruitful day'," you are my people and you get 20 bonus points.

It was only (only?) 88º when I took Murphy outside just before 7:00 this morning.  A break from starting the day in the 90s.  Murphy walked about a bit...

 Stella still shows no interest in going outside.  I am OK with that - she can run and jump like a spider monkey.  But, she keeps an eye on everything from the patio door...

 

Look To The Sky...

 

No, not a full moon or a SpaceX launch.  The weather around the state just digs in why we haven't gone anywhere somewhat local in the van.  This evening, there are flash flood warnings in Pinal County, southeast of us.  Areas along the Mogollon Rim had flooding over the weekend.  Seems it has been a lot of that over the last couple months.  Well, that and forest fires and big wind.

We did the "get it out, put it away thing" over the weekend and today.  Took down the umbrellas, flag, cover over the hot tub, and put away patio furniture cushions...

The umbrella laying down in that image is bigger than the rest - it takes both of us to pull it out of the stand and just put it on the ground.  Everything else is in the shed.  30% chance of thunderstorms tonight, 40% tomorrow and Wednesday.

Looking to the southeast...

 Looks ominous to me.  But, Murph and I got some outdoor time...

 The last bit of light on the furry boy.