A Glorious Morning; Blue Skies, Cumulous Clouds; The Most Recent Statistics Showing Blog Readership Astounds; A Hoot Hot Hit; Cat Got My Tongue Idiom Explored; Two Photos From 2020; The Statistics In All Their Glory 

You are not going to believe this – even I do not believe this – I cannot believe my eyes. It is Tuesday, May 23, 2023. First there was pink at sunrise. Now aa little later there are blue skies and beautiful cumulous clouds. ( Cumulus clouds are clouds that have flat bases and are often described as puffy, cotton-like, or fluffy in appearance. They are usually spotted in fair weather conditions.) 

The blue sky, with clouds are an absolute joy to behold. Checked the faithful iPhone to learn that Air Quality is 6, not a perfect 2, but getting there. The iPhone (and my eyes) tell me that it is ‘perfectly clear right now.”  Not much rain, 9 mm in the last 24 hours, At least the Drought Prayers did not result in flooding, which does go to prove the Allah (SWT) is All Knowing, All Aware  (Arabic Al-Aleem, al-Khabeer) Discussion of Drought Prayers and other interventions discussed on May 21, 2023 blog, just go backwards. Click on Older Posts at the bottom of the page a couple of times. This blog is actually quite usable. A bit to massive, do admit, but usable with a bit of persistence. 

Yesterday morning’s emails testified to the usability of this blog. Computer Guru Chris sent statistics – not only ones showing daily, weekly, monthly, yearly counts but also country counts, the top ten, so to speak. Of course I absolutely HAD to respond to Chris. 

Me: Looked at my country statistics with great interest and relief. My Canadian numbers are almost reaching my United States numbers. That is good because I do not intend to be worrying about those USA folks from now on so glad to see that lots of Canadians are jumping on board. I am rather amazed at India – as I have had no real connection with folks there in any way. Hmmmm Those UK numbers are most minimal. My connection with Lyn and my former classmates may make a difference. (If I really care.)  By the way, what happened with the huge country of unknown? I had hordes of readers from Unknown in my prior stats.  Thanks for all of this. I do think the timing is great. Think if I were constantly aware it would bring me a self consciousness and a desire to please which is not a good idea. Not good at all!!  But it was fascinating to see the UAE’s numbers completely disappear. And interesting that Saudi Arabia is not there. More later. Rain s scheduled but not here. But it is not hot. More later.

A photo of the numbers in their entirety will follow. But the statistic that overwhelms me is the 90 day statistic 4,268 visitors made 10,868 visits. My math skills are limited, but I can count and comprehend that figure. I also spoke to the sheer numbers in a response to Chris. 

Me: Thanks luv!!! No two ways about it I am a hoot hot hit!!! Hahaha! Not sure if you are reading the blog but I am in touch with a classmate from my ‘good’ London school. She is published -a great book was able to order it from my independent bookseiller, got it and am devouring it. (Thankfully it is a paper back. Hahaha! ) Never, ever could I ever written a book to equal hers, so I am most happy I abandoned the Uncle Dave biography. So I am not competing, the blog is my own arena of success. I am most happy. Who would not be??? I scrapped plans about coming to London in June. You were not probably going to be around anyway. The abandonment of plans has to do with left knee. Will discuss this in boring detail on the blog.  

Miracle worker Chris also added a new feature on the blog. Go to Gallery in the Menu and there is a reel, obtainable through You Tube. iPhoto sent to me, I sent it to Chris, now with his help I am sending it to you. Oops I am not, tried the link and it is not working at the moment. Back to square one, as they say. 

(Back to square one means back to where one started, with no progress having been made. If you are back to square one, you have to start working on a plan from the beginning because your previous attempt failed completely). At the time thinking progress had been made I emailed Chris, thanking him. 

Me: Fabulous!!!! I gotta go look. 

It is labelled Golden Hour Over the Years and contains photos of the sunset taken in different locales. Some of my favorites are taken on a Safari Trip taken in Dubai in early 2020. I paid money hoping to kiss a camel. Instead I slipped on a carpet while at the eat, drink, belly dancer stop. I fell on my bum knee, screamed in pain. The great guys lifted me up – drove me in their SUV to a highway. An ambulance was there waiting to take me to Rashid Hospital. On the way, the paramedic (upon hearing I lived in San Francisco) asked me to marry him. That is an absolutely true story. The absolutely great Safari Trip guys followed me to the hospital, waited for me and escorted me back to the hotel. The medical treatment was superb – an injection took away the pain. The next day a doctor came to the Marriott – more medicine prescribed and got a knee brace. The joys of photography – it brings back the memories, some forgotten. Emailed the Crown Prince of Dubai from the Emergency Room. 

Me: I am in the Emergency Room. Do not worry it is not fatal. 

I was SO naive. There are cameras everywhere, He already knew it was not fatal. He did not, perhaps could not show up.

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This very moment  recovered two forgotten photos from that era. One shows me kissing a camel, The camel was wooden, found in the courtyard of the Marriott. No danger from SARS  with that guy. The other photo has me wearing a tiara that says Bride to Be. Let me just say this. I was not answering the proposal from the paramedic. You figure out the rest of the sad story. I shall say no more. The Cat Has Got My Tongue. It is an idiom meaning that someone is being unusually quiet. I googled it to find this: “Some have suggested that ancient kings would punish those who displeased them by cutting out their tongues and feeding them to their pet cats. This grisly idea persists in the theory that the phrase came from a time of witch-hunting – where fear and hysteria abounded.” 

Just goes to show, yet again, that you can not trust Royalty, and goodness knows I talk too much. My tongue is firmly affixed in my mouth. However, it is my fingers that spread the word. Do you remember that I survived a broken right hand, with nary a pause. I am planning to go to the Legislative Cafeteria today and say:

Me: Look I am fixed!  Not like a cat is fixed but I am fixed. 

There is a hilarious video on Instagram. A cafeteria employee filmed a video, rolling on the floor laughing.  am sure she shall be happy to see my fully recovered right hand. My Instagram is Alexis_Dryburgh. The video is there, I just checked.