Another contest to get your competetive juices churning!

In retrospect, my last contest was a bit too easy (taking nothing away from Bonnie's insightful solution to the conondrum). So this one will be a bit harder, requiring more thought and, mostly, creative activity than the last. Here goes - pay attention to the rules and remember that other active minds are, at this moment, conniving ways to win and deprive you of the valuable prize....

Sure, I've gotten hits from Portugal and, even weirder, Kansas, but my blogscope is severely limited it seems, being clustered mostly about 45 North latitude. This must expand, if my wit and prose are to receive the international acclaim that they merit. So, today's secret word is "Uruguay". I want a bloghit from Uruguay! I don't want to start an internet stampede in Uruguay, so (and here's Rule #1) NO ONE FROM URUGUAY IS ELIGIBLE FOR THE PRIZE - this contest is limited to my friends and relatives residing in the US or its territories. I can hear the Southern Hemisphere groans up here in Idaho! The winner will be the person (outside of Uruguay, as specified above) that persuaded the now-enlightened Uruguayan to look at my blog and document his (temporary) interest in this blog with a blog comment naming the "Qualifying Person" who got him to peek and comment (Yep, that's Rule #2). I am adding a Rule #3, which I refer to as the "Jeff Rule": The blog comment must be believeable, not written in phony Uruguayan dialect and claiming to be from from a displaced Uruguayan residing temporarily outside Uruguay, like, for instance, in Glenview, IL.

I will be the sole judge of what constitutes a believeable comment and exactly who qualifies as a "friend or relative" (but I'm not very discriminating about either category).

The prize is an autographed 8x10 copy of my favorite bird photo - a Wandering Tattler inspecting a tide pool at Punalu'u beach - attractively matted and framed in fine claro walnut. If the prize can be hand delivered, I'll toss in mounting in the frame with non-glare glass. If it must be shipped, the winner buys the glass and does (or buys) the assembly.

OK, get crackin' - the clock's ticking.

Chuck

Response to Blogbitchers

Apparently, there is a blogfrequency standard that I am not meeting (hear that, Bonnie?). OK, this is a NEW POST, so listen up! Yesterday I hauled trash to the dump, string-trimmed the irises and some other silly flower remnants into oblivion, and started making picture frames. Today I will purchase some walnut for more frames, pick up the glass I ordered (for the frames), and wash and clean-up the truck for the upcoming trip to Sedona. Oh, and have Jiffy Lube change the truck oil. Time permitting, I will continue making more frames. At approximately 7:00PM (MDST) I will grill cube steakes and soon after that Mom and I will dine upon them, perhaps accompanied by a robust yet sprightly cheap wine. Sometime within the next couple of days, we will gather our crystals, pyramids, and magic healing stones in preparation for our pilgrimage to the power vortices of Sedona (New Age capitol of the known universe). Gotta remember to get in a couple of hours of mantra practice and wash the meditation rugs.

Jeff wanted something interesting, so here goes: When Sedona was incorporated, the new postmaster sent a couple of candidate names for the community to the US Post Office for official acceptance. The response was that the names were too long to fit on a cancellation stamp, so send something shorter (Maybe "Newageflakemecca" was one of the original choices). The postmaster's wife's name was "Sedona"...... and now you know the rest of the story!

So stay tuned for the next installment, in which will be related the saga "Chuck and Nancy go to Sedona", complete with aura photos, tarot reading results, and, hopefully, a few bird pictures (The Verde River valley hosts many eagles and other raptors during the winter, and Oak Creek is also a neat birding location).

I hope this satisfies you impatient, whining blogstalkers!