The Leap Lair Live ~ Sunrise & Quirky Notions 29Feb24

I've been collecting some quirky lines I've imagined, or of which I've heard beginnings and tightened to oxymora. These specific phrases seem quotable originals on search. I'm sharing some; this stuff is beyond the normally topic-focused blog content. I'm not micro-dosing; I just like odd phrasing. Happy leap day.

• I write a lot without knowing much.
• I will use my second guess.
• I have world class humility.
• I caught you watch me fall.

Too, from a recent Lawrence song... Gracie is quirky too with: "I'm confident I'm insecure."

Building The Rodfather Bombadeer ~ Stealth From Above (drc#24 MHX Native 8'6" 4pc 5wt Fast) 23Feb24-28Feb24

Wow, this thing will drop dimes at 80ft, right ahead of unsuspecting cutbows. It's just in time for springtime and is aptly named the Bombadeer. Did I need another 4wt (that's right, the Bombadeer is more like a strong 4)? Probably not. I couldn't ignore the deal for a nice high modulus rayon from Japan, rolled in China, blank marked down by 50% though. It's built on a light 8.5' 4pc from MHX's Native blank series and is plenty fast. Sweet. It tips in with a stout 4 ERN of 4.6 and is plenty fast with an AA of 68° yet only weighs a meager 3.5oz and the ultralight 5.5oz swingweight blows my mind. This rod displays the very lowest normalized swingweight (swingweight/ERN) in my entire quiver. I'm ready for a RF Diamond Blaze (my current go to 4wt) vs RF Bombadeer vs Winston B3X bakeoff... best 4s in the quiver. Though, the RFDB has nicer hardware than the "bargain" RFBA.

I started the build with a custom full wells handle and fixed fighting butt. It was interesting turning the fighting butt as I needed to epoxy it onto the end of the butt section, with the reel seat ahead, before turning. I registered the fighting butt dead center, taped off the seat, and wrapped the other end in masking tape for the chuck, and then turning went quickly. I conjured up a wild diamonds and variegated wave horizontal spiral grip that finished nicely. I have to say also that on the purchase date I also looked for a reel seat at a deal price and found a pretty American Tackle one with braided windows and coralwood insert in black & beige that matched my build perfectly... the only issue is that it did not come with a rear ring to "finish off" a build with a fighting butt so I just slightly buried the seat in the butt.

I added just simple CRB snake guides and a Fuji stripping guide for this "bargain build" but I did splurge on new tri-color variegated nylon in black, dark green, and desert tan for the wrapping. The wraps match the coralwood and satin charcoal blank well. I typically buy colorfast nylon but the new Tiger Pro Wrap stuff wasn't, so I "painted" the threads with color fastener before floating on the epoxy. No accent wraps this time - despite called size "A," the tiger wrap material is thicker and didn't mate well with my intended desert tan accent thread. One can't really see the tiger stuff from afar, but I know it's there and cool... the moire patterns created in the wrap tend to change as the wrap diameter shifts.

The Bombadeer measured out sweet with 1477 grains of power. It's balanced right; it's super light @ 3.46oz (lighter even than the marking as I have to guess just a bit before the last epoxy is put over the "logo"); it's cool mated to the Rise reel and perfectly matched when loaded with some new SA Amplitude Infinity Smooth WF4F (1st 30ft weigh 1540 grains).

February Music Appreciation ~ Late In The Month With A Fire On The AFA, There's Stuff I Like 25Feb24

I don't know how to categorize this amalgamation... so, I won't. For starters, while we weren't evacuated from Peregrine, we did see and smell the fire on the USAFA a couple miles from us. It was a madhouse in Perigrine for a bit... everybody wanted to see. We did not want to be evacuated again ~ though M&E did call from I25 to see if we were alive. We packed some stuff but ultimately said: "Fuck it, let it burn, let's have a beer." We met our close neighbors S&P at Red Leg for some pops ~ yeah, it was a decent observation point as well. We saw the smoke dissipate and headed home but WTF, it's only February!

On to the show; it's super eclectic...

• Mark Knopfler - Ahead Of The Game - 29Jan24 Studio ~ So F#*#ng cool: vibe all over this tune, old killer musicians, such a long time since I've heard that guitar.
• Mipso - Carolina Rolling By - Jan23 ~ Why am I late to this party? One of the best Americana bands I've heard... where'd'ya play next.
  
• Mipso - The Numbers - Manifold Recording in Pittsboro, NC - Jan23 ~ Reprise in the studio; awesome.
• Bleachers - Tiny Moves (Antonoff & Qualley) 17Jan24 ~ Yeah, they are recently married. Cool choreography and Jack sings a cool song to her.
• Julia Lage & Scritch & Aofie ODonovan @Woodsongs 15Apr20 ~ Wicked good all around. 
• Daiistar @ KEXP 16Jan24 ~ Dark hooky dreams in Seattle; very good.
• Abruptors - Best Wishes - Jan22  ~ Gimme SKA Buffalo; total yesss. Or, Who, What, Where Jan21
• Teens In Trouble - 31Jan23 - Old Starnes Cove Road ~ Asian Man Records has the inside line to brilliant dissonances. Lady is super cool.
• Maren Morris - covering Songbird on Stern on 13Dec23 ~ She swore off country but man can she sing; Stern's studio sound is the absolute best... NQA.
  

Hiking The Mud & Snow On The AFA 24Feb24

It was a very nice day weather wise so we headed out to hike the AFA. Sure it was a smidge windy on occasion but the obstacles to quick success were the considerable snow and ice on the trail ~ which obviously created mud as well. We trounced through the snow when we could, appreciating our shoe's purchase there. We also avoided most muddy spots and left the trails pristine. It took us a bit longer than usual but it was really great being out below Blodgett Pk and Signal Mtn on a bright Colorado day.

WTF, Errors In The 'Hood ~ Then Cleared 22Feb24

We made it to COS safe, to encounter a rage of errors. Sure, the garage door opened, but opening the fridge was to expose an exploded fermented lemonade ~ which popped a glass 2 qt vessel into the fridge and drain onto the oak flooring. Bummer clean up, and weeks of adjusting the hardwood to level. I need water to clean ~ so nearby spigot,  nope. The hose connector on the kitchen faucet broke off squirting H2O under the sink. Sheesh. I cleaned that up too and pulled stuff from under there; I cleaned up the massively exploded 2 qt jug. I observed the fault under the sink. I went to the Crusher Too to head to the hardware store for an esoteric part (long shot). Nope, dead main battery. While re-charge is brought online I'll check the spa; WTF it's acid. Dumped the acid and refilled with water. Dunno, what's the message, don't leave home? At least I came to understand Mipso even more deeply.

Plus North Carolinians must understand dynamic range, and don't over-compress their offers. Thanks.

Sublime Times In The Valley Of The Sun 15Feb24-21Feb24

Wednesday, Valentine's Day, Kala & I drove to Phoenix trading 3 hr stints behind the wheel. We went down to the desert a smidge early this year as her company's go-live at work is in April and she needs to be back in COS for the work up to culmination. We VRBOed a cheesy but satisfactory bed and shower condo in Old Town Scottsdale this year for its central locale and low burden on locals.

Thursday featured time with Marinick and Kesterson. Michael & I climbed the iconic Camelback Mtn from the Cholla TH. This is a rigorous and exposed hike with 1500 ft of vert over 1.5 miles with plenty of Class 3 moves over granite ~ it was a blast and provided great 360° views of Phoenix and surrounding towns. Below is a pan south and our hands on the missing benchmark @ the summit. The brown cloud of winter was evident. Kala visited Hoyt at the venerable Duck & Decanter (no pics). Afterward we met up with Michael & Maria for a great dinner and visit at The Gladly downtown. Delicious and wonderful discussions with our friends (no pics).

Friday after breakfast and sugarless coffee (more non-stocked items at the condo) we headed past McCormick Ranch where we held our wedding reception 43 years ago. Nice grounds which haven't changed much in those few years.

For this day's hike we chose to scramble around the Phx Mtn Preserve from our old neighborhood at 32nd St & Shea. We did a stout hike up & along one of the larger E-W ridgelines. We stopped at "Matt's Pk," up to the point where a young Matt used to hike, and then we climbed. The expansive views north were not as socked with the brown cloud. It brought back great memories of hiking and riding here, including those for Kala when she and Karen hiked with their young Matt & Jeff in backpacks. As we are early, we didn't see any desert bloom yet but the views were sublime on another great day. It was keen seeing ocotillos, saguaros, chollas, barrels, and hedgehogs again.

After hiking, we grabbed a good pizza and salad with David at a local spot and shared what old folks often do, tales of health changes. It was good to grab some time with our old friend David.

That evening we celebrated Karen's birthday with her and Jimmy... we started at the nice Blue Water Grill and got a fancy G&T for the birthday girl. Then we were off to Richardson's for dinner. This was Kala's & my favorite restaurant in Phoenix and a reprise was warranted ~ especially when combined with a night out with Karen. These days it is a mob scene with densely packed valet parking and tough reservation rules, but we were able to sit in the original bar area, as we often had. Great vibe, great friends, and great food, if not replete with big prices these days.

Saturday we went over to sister Letha's for a day of games, kibitzing, and walking. She showed us around her keenly appointed home with perfectly matching colors and accoutrements. We had lunch in, and we played a wicked game of hearts. The cats remained behind the scenes... fully hidden. We even introduced her to Torchy's, a site of which was nearby. It was great seeing my sister who seems damn good; she's a lil' devil though.

Sunday Karen had a big day planned for us ~ we started at the famous Olive Mill in Queen Creek, AZ. A solo artist was playing covers on the huge olive covered patio area and we enjoyed excellent brunch items while sampling plenty of their olive oils, hot sauces, and other wares. We even walked around and checked out the grounds and items growing. It was very nice. After brunch we headed out "in the vicinity," according to Karen, to the Lost Dutchman St Pk at the base of the Superstition Mtns and took and excellent hike up to some rock formations. It was a fine hike and I even toted a treat for the team. See Four Pks in the background, right of the jumping cholla ~ Kala & I hiked up and camped in the saddle to the left there 40 years ago... so cool. Great views all around ~ great time with great friends.

We headed back to Karen's for happy hour and a great steak salad dinner with stellar dressing (which we copied). We were fortunate to catch Jeff, who'd headed back early from his work site in Pinetop. Awesome.

Monday, President's Day, was spent with long-time great friends Steve & Anne. Steve and I played golf @ Foothills while the ladies did tennis stuff and walked the Gordon's neighborhood. All the quail, dove, and roadrunners seemed to have moved to Steve's Weiskopf-designed club. It took me 20 more strokes than Steve ~ but that's my game of hackery. I even had to wrestle an errant shot from a dead pile of bougainvillea & ocotillo ~ the pile won while I added blood to my golf towel.

We had a killer 2012 cabernet sauvignon after a nice lunch and ultimately headed back to Scottsdale for a dinner downtown at Citizen Public. That too was excellent. We caught up on so many issues with our great friends.

Tuesday we met up with my dear friend Swish. These rare encounters are always cherished. We've been close friends since meeting and forming the Becht Gang in our 'hood 60 years ago (no pics). Kala & I then jetted home for a change and saw a nice century plant in the courtyard shooting its 100 yr stalk ~ awesome. We headed north to the Scottsdale Fine Arts Festival... OMG 100 stellar current artisans, many from AZ and all from the west, convened to do work, show work, and sell work... one of the coolest displays of modern art we've attended (thanks MM). We had a blast reviewing the entire set of works ~ Kala even chatted up management and got our entrance comped. So, it was well worth the $0 we paid. We met up with M&M's artist friend Trevor Swanson of the AZ birds and landscapes.

After a trip around the canvases and sculptures we contemplated fire pits and water fountains but nah. We headed out for a brewery tour and a stop at Bianca for pizza Tuesday, a religion of mine, lest we replace that with taco Tuesday. What a blast at The Wren House (super good hazy named Spellbinder, best in the Valley IMO), Bianco margarita pizza, and (new to us) Goldwater Brewing (hazy IPA called Golden Fox), near the condo.

What an excellent spring stop in our old haunt ~ we always have a complete blast with our desert friends, and even immensely enjoy our simple outings together here. Tomorrow we head back to COS; it is time for Kala's software go-live and my spring skiing & fishing in the Rockies.