The Pleasures of the Distant Harbor

San Francisco has decided to lend us its weather for a day. Mark Twain (perhaps apocryphally) is reported to have once said, "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco," and there was enough truth in the quip that this Bay Area break is quite delightful for those of us trapped on the edge of the sultry Central Valley. The line, of course, displays a bit of Twain's characteristic humorous exaggeration, as it is not actually wintry cold, but more like early spring. Spring is good.

It is chilly enough that when I went out I had to put on a sweater, but I do enjoy a gray day, and most gray days up here are cold indeed, so its nice to have one that is only pleasantly cool. It's a double bonus that it has come in July and relieved us of the awful heat that has plagued the town for more than a week.

So far we haven't gotten much rain locally, but the clouds are supposed to hang around all night so there's still a chance that the storm will water my yard for me. It drizzled off and on all night, but not enough to keep the soil visibly damp today. I'm not going to complain, though, as the coolness alone is such a pleasure. Thanks, San Francisco. I'm going to go out and enjoy your gift of moody overcast now. I guess it would be asking too much for you to also send us a bit of your fog, but I can dream, can't I?

Ah, I can almost smell the seaweed!

Rare Second Entry

( TMI about cat scat )

Still no more rain, but the night is, if not young, at least youthful. The crickets are chirping, and it isn't much cooler than it was this afternoon, so it's probably going to be a pleasant night. The moon won't be up until fairly late, or I'd be out watching its light play across the clouds. I'll probably watch television instead. Maybe I'll still be awake when the moon rises, but I had no nap this afternoon and didn't need iced tea today, so I might go to sleep too soon.

It feels like a good popcorn night. I think I'll make a batch.