Life of Wry

Gee.

One thing to appreciate about Davis, especially on a fogless, perky winter day, is the art.  There is a lot of art around town, thanks to the City’s commitment to its art in public places program.  This ceramic giraffe keeps watch on the south side of the architecturally pretty interesting Pence Gallery on D Street.

Whimsical art works better in the sunshine.

Woke up this morning to 8″ of fresh snow.

After a night of snowfall, the second day was another world altogether.  We walked in the morning and it was absolutely silent.  The ground was smooth, the sky was marbled, gray.  The snow was light, deep, satin, and our steps were like whispers.

Again, in the winter vacation capital of California…a walk along the Truckee River… not a soul.

Ambled down the hill from the cabin we were staying in on a gorgeous winter’s day.  Snowshoed down river a mile and a half or so.

It makes me wonder why we don’t go up to the mountains in wintertime more often.  Nothing simpler and more liberating than putting on a pair of snowshoes and heading into the wild. It’s Tahoe, yeah, tens of thousands of vacation cabins, but we saw not a single person in two hours.  Into the trees, down a hill, around a bend in the river… walk anywhere, see nobody.

So, yes, wild.

The first day was a spectacularly sunny and mild Sierra day.  Colors were sharp and crisp. It hadn’t snowed in weeks and the ground was hard, easy to walk on, sure.

The second day, another story…

Can I blame the fog?

It’s like this: the winter of 2011 has been a foggy one.  Foggy foggy foggy foggy.  I–like everyone on I-80–drive with my lights on in the fog.  My you-left-your-lights-on alarm is on the fritz.  I, therefore, left my lights on for two longs hours while having a nice breakfast in Berkeley this morning.  And…. my battery died.

Damn fog.

Grateful for friends who travel with jumper cables, and mostly know how to use them.

…. Who’s there?

UC Davis.

UC Davis who?

(wait for it..)

UC Davis when the fog clears.

I know, dumb.  And I KNOW, another FOG picture!  But, hey, that’s January in Davis this year.

Not bad for the first round of golf in I don’t know how many years.  Quit after nine because I’m sensible that way.  And back’s stiff.  But: hit one green in regulation, 2-putted three holes, and didn’t totally screw up any holes (besides the one quintuple bogey on the second hole and a pair of quadruple bogeys).  And I was very pleased with TWO BOGEYS and THREE DOUBLES!  And had two good outs on my three trap shots. And only lost two balls–one not even my fault (a great line interrupted by a tree, sent the ball into a neighbor’s yard).  And, in my warm up, I holed two chip-ins (yes) (with a witness), and putted quite well.

I drove with a 5-iron until my confidence came back (see previous post about favorite number) then used a 3-iron.  I also carried a 9, a sand wedge, and a putter.  That was my total bag.  You can do that at Muni.  All shots–minus perhaps two–looked pretty good…hit straight with good arcs for the most part, and in most cases got a decent piece of the ball.

All in all, I was pretty happy.  So what if I hit 24 over par.  On the front nine.  AT MUNI.

I guess I just like golf. 

Bonus: the fog cleared for a while and it was very pretty out there, see?

My birthday.

Could have chosen a smiley picture, there was one, but I liked this action shot better.  Not sure why Jim snapped it at this rather scowly moment, but there it is.  Just finished lunch at Bernardo’s and I think I’m watching a woman oblivious to the fact she’s about to back her car into me (I AM standing in the street..).

So, yes, my birthday.

I don’t feel in a particularly reflective state of mind, which is very fine with me; not what I need or want on this day; I’ve been doing a ton of it in the last few years, anyway.  Plus, we tidy, list-making, resolution planner types do a lot of that at New Years–just three weeks ago–so it’s all plenty fresh.

I actually don’t have a particular interest in setting this day apart in any way, other than to enjoy the day (a sunny one at that) and collect on the goodwill of others… which I totally love and appreciate.  There are cards, emails and calls coming in, which is so nice, and interestingly, a steady, fun stream of Facebook well wishes that adds to the mix.  OH! and texts… which… one just boinged on my phone.  So, the ego side of the house is being quite well fed.  All makes for a nice day.

Matt called this early morning and said something about double nickels.  Excellent.  Five’s always been my favorite number.  Five times five–my birth date–even better.  So I’m reasonably ok with 55, but for the reality of being that far along.  It sounds a lot older than it seems.  That’s the way THAT goes.

Matt also offered a great suggestion–that I take myself to the movies.  So that’s what I’m going to do this late afternoon.  Jim’s not only accommodating, but will have a meatloaf and baked potato dinner waiting when I get back (yeah, I really ordered that).  So not to fill up on popcorn and neccos.

The day will wrap eating Martha’s Killer Chocolate cake, our easy family birthday tradition (plus, it’s truly killer) with Peter and Jim and maybe not too many homework and bedtime skirmishes.

My kinda birthday.

Will you look at that…. shirt sleeves, shadows, green grass.  The boys are back, Crush practices have begun.

It’s January, true, but we’ve had a string of 60+ degree days, the sky’s been blue, buds are forming on the trees, it smells a teeny bit like spring…   and suddenly, one can kind of imagine baseball season.  For sure, it’s too early for real spring training, but on this winter Monday, with the junior highs all having a day off, and the weather being what it is, the Crush coach called a practice.  So for today, it’s all about baseball.

In fact, their season is starting early this year as they prepare for an upcoming February tournament.  No fantasies–the next couple months will find us dodging rainstorms, bundled and shivering in the bleachers, and wondering why in god’s name Peter picked baseball as a sport.  In this early part of the early season, we know not to expect a lot of these 60 degree days… but we are enjoying this one.  In January.

Day two of exploring Albuquerque.

Spent time down on the Rio Grande this morning.  Albuquerque’s wetlands are full of Sandhill Cranes, Canadian Snowgeese and lots of other migratory birds.  It was nice to see the cranes in this flyway, after seeing them a couple weeks ago in our own Pacific flyway.

Not a birder, but added the Flicker, Hooded Merganser and Wood Duck to birds I might (might) recognize if I ever see them again.

This is a Welcome Poster that greets you in the Albuquerque airport, a taste of things to come outside those walls…..mountains and sky.

….. and this is my picture of a similar mountains and sky scene…

(A whole lotta that in New Mexico.)

I went to Albuquerque to visit Carol and her husband Bill.  Carol and I have been friends since we met as volunteers at the International News Kiosk during our UCD days.  A visit with Carol and Bill means serious hiking, exceptional red wine, great cooking, interesting music, political conversations, and a lot of catching up.  Truly a sweet time.