Suzy Says

We had a heatwave that lasted an entire week. It was a nightmare. Seven consecutive days of it being 90 at my house. Every day, I’d open the doors first thing to attempt to cool the house down, risking Dodge’s life and limbs in the early morning darkness. I had the fan on while I got dressed after my tepid or cold shower.

I closed up the house before I went to work, and closed what blinds there are in the hopes of staving off the worst of the heat. I had two fans blasting on high by my bed, but it was so hard to sleep with the heat and without a blanket. After a few days of this, I was a sleep-deprived zombie, and with no end in sight, I just sat on the couch and cried, wishing there were someone I could surrender to who would make it stop. I would not stand up under torture.

Temperatures inland were horrifying: 112 in the County seat of Ukiah. My boss’ daughter was slated to fly from San Francisco to Palm Springs during this nightmare, and her plane was unable to take off because of the heat (Palm Springs was scheduled to reach 120 that day). I did not know that was a thing.

This is so scary. I thought I was old enough that the planet would start burning down after I had shuffled off this mortal coil, but apparently it’s ahead of schedule. At least there’s air conditioning at work, where I spend most of my time.

A YEAR AGO: Audrey turns sour (not sweet) sixteen

FIVE YEARS AGO: The magic of the circus.

TEN YEARS AGO: My drive to work.

FIFTEEN YEARS AGO: Want to trade?

TWENTY YEARS AGO: My summer wishlist

I still hadn’t recovered from the horrors of the five day power outage immediately following Clyde’s death when I started hearing reports of still more storms heading our way.

Needless to say, they were scheduled to arrive over the long Presidents’ Day weekend, because long weekends are reserved for storms, heatwaves, and other disasters, not for recovering from the hamster wheel from hell that is working five days a week and still always being broke.

So I spent the weekend tensed up waiting for disaster, as the flowering tree outside my bedroom window blew sideways and the redwoods, which are hundreds of feet tall and alarmingly close to my crushable house, waved around in the gale force winds.

Astonishingly, the power stayed on that weekend, maybe because I kept all my devices plugged in, especially my phone, which is my alarm clock. I woke up to heavy rain on Tuesday morning, sighing as I headed to work, tired of driving in bad weather and living in fear of it. A couple of times on the long drive to town, I considered pulling over to wait for the rain to slow down, but decided to just get it over with.

I made it to work, but I also got an alert saying that the power was out at home yet again. Unsurprisingly, the cause was listed as “weather”, but surprisingly, the power was back on by time I got home. I am ready for winter to be over. Bring on spring!

A YEAR AGO: It was a snowy wonderland.

TEN YEARS AGO: A fun visit with Erica and Jessica, who now reside in the elegant environs of Pasadena.

FIFTEEN YEARS AGO: A lovely visit to Golden Gate Park.

The day after we buried our beloved Clyde, a huge storm blew in, with torrential rains and high winds. It didn’t take long for the power to go out. And stay out.

On Monday, despite the still-bad weather, I attempted to go to work. The Ridge was carpeted in several inches of debris: twigs, leaves, bark, branches, small trees, pine needles, etc. A couple of times, I got out of the car to move small trees. There were several inches of debris, and I should probably not have driven over it, especially with a low-riding car.

I made it to the Albion River Inn in the pouring rain, only to find a PG&E truck across the road. The worker told me that many trees and power lines were down and that the road would be closed for some time. I made my way back to my cold, dark, Clydeless house, getting a branch stuck under my car as I did so. I was finally able to remove it when I got home, but it made a really loud and unsettling noise while it was stuck.

There’s no heat when there’s no power, and I was just dreading the long, dark night. I made it to work the next day, where I recharged all my devices, if not Self. I stopped by Megan and Rob’s place on my way home for a shower. It felt really good, and it was nice to shower under the skylight. I forgot to bring a hair dryer with me, though, so the total effect was not all it could have been, but at least I was clean.

The power outage dragged on. On the fourth day, I just sat on the couch and cried. I was so tired of the cold and dark and not being able to cook, and by then, the water in the water tank had run out, so things were a little more on the third world side than I was really comfortable with.

The lights finally came back on after five days of being out, and I ran around cleaning up and basking in the joy of heat and light. The next day, I was at the grocery store in town, chatting with an employee I know about how long our power had been out. When I told him that mine had come on the night before and explained where I live, a guy passing by said that he worked for PG&E and that he was the one who had gotten our power restored. So I was able to thank him in person.

We are supposed to get another storm next weekend. I really hope it’s not as bad as this one was. I am so worn out by the loss of Clyde and the stress of the last outage. I don’t think my solstice dumplings did a damn thing.

A YEAR AGO: Things were getting a little brighter.

FIVE YEARS AGO: Some snow days.

TEN YEARS AGO: Getting some rain.

FIFTEEN YEARS AGO: Traveling by train.

TWENTY YEARS AGO: My first visit to Florida.

Looking back over the years, it appears that having a heatwave on or around the Fourth of July is a tradition. Yet I seem to forget this every year, and am shocked and appalled in equal measure when the Evil Death Star sends its roasting rays down upon my unsuspecting head. Just like I am always surprised by how early it gets dark in the afternoons along about Fall, and how I have to start putting the high beams on when I go to work in August. “Surely this didn’t happen last year?” I always think, and yet…it did. Sometimes I think I am the slowest of learners.

Despite this unpleasant tradition, I was surprised and dismayed when there was a heat advisory for the weekend before Independence Day. Not for the first time, I wondered why heatwaves always seem to happen on weekends, rather than during the week when I am a) at the ocean; and 2) in air conditioning for 9 or 10 hours a day.

I sadly closed up the house before it could get too hot outside, and closed what blinds there were. Sometimes I wish I had blackout curtains to go over the doors, like I did in the old house. I also wish I had screen doors like I did in the old house, allowing the cool air in while keeping the kitties in.

At least this house, unlike the old one, has insulation and is not shaped like an overturned rowboat, trapping the heat where I’m attempting to sleep. I think having the big redwoods around the house and the water tank on the third floor helps to keep things cool.

Weather forecasts said that Saturday was supposed to be the hottest day. It was 85, which is about 10 degrees higher than my highest level of heat tolerance. I foolishly believed the forecast, even though I know there is no job that has less accountability. Imagine my dismay to discover that it was 90 on Sunday, aka the night before the work week starts. At least it does cool down at night to around 50. I’m already dreaming of winter.

A YEAR AGO: Fleeing the usually wonderful Flynn Creek Circus. I didn’t dare to go this year.

TEN YEARS AGO: Clyde and Megan were both feeling better.

TWENTY YEARS AGO: The joys of getting a mammogram. They are no more enjoyable twenty years later.

We were hit with yet another Atmospheric River storm. I left work early yesterday because I heard that Highway One was closed in Little River (the next town north of Albion, aka Hooterville in these pages), and I was worried that I would once again be unable to get home.

The highway was one lane at Big River, just south of Mendocino, because of a massive slide. I was finally able to get through and kept going. I took the road from the cemetery in Little River, since I knew the highway was closed beyond that point and there was no other way to get home. It was terrifying. The road is badly potholed and it was flooded. I drove slowly, not knowing how deep the water was or if I would make it through (of course, I did have my Mouse).

When I got to the Y in that road, I took the road to the Albion Bridge. This is a non fun road at the best of times, because it’s steep, narrow, and twisting. In this case, it was also flooded, and there were two slides I could just navigate around. Not far from the bridge, there was a slide that took up one lane. CalTrans was on the scene. I made it to the bridge and back onto Highway One, which was empty, probably because the highway was closed in Little River and also a few miles south of Albion, where the Navarro River routinely floods and closes the road every winter.

My Ridge was not so bad, being very high (about 700 feet above sea level) and draining off into the river. There were a couple of flooded places, but I could drive around them and I could at least see the potholes. I was so relieved to get home, even though the power was out. I was supposed to take the minutes at the Finance and Board meetings last night, but couldn’t, since the meeting was via Zoom and no power means no internet. It was the first time I have missed a Board meeting since I started working at the clinic 9 years ago this month.

Power is back on today and roads are open. I made it to work. Hope it’s a better day today.

A YEAR AGO: Thinking about Dad on his birthday.

FIVE YEARS AGO: Getting a new mattress was not as easy as I expected.

TEN YEARS AGO: Dogs and a seaside walk: Dad would have approved of how we spent his birthday.

FIFTEEN YEARS AGO: A snippet of City life.

Well, it’s been quite a winter.

Once the snow finally melted, we had hailstorms. It was like very heavy, torrential rain, only with hail. I have never seen it hail so hard. It sounded apocalyptic. The cats were completely freaked out by the racket, and I can tell you that the Help was, as well. I wondered how loud it must have sounded at the old house, with its total lack of insulation and curved roof/walls. Even rain sounded really loud there.

Here’s one of the hailstorms (there were two) in progress, taken from my front door:

The aftermath was quite snow-like in its appearance:

Like the long-lasting snow, having this much hail, especially two days in a row, was a new one on me. We are slated to get yet another “atmospheric river” (Meteorology-speak for “power outages”) over the next few days, and the forecast looks distinctly dreary:

Maybe the Groundhog was overly optimistic?

A YEAR AGO: A lovely visit to B. Bryan Preserve.

FIVE YEARS AGO: Rob’s amazing artwork.

TEN YEARS AGO: A check up for our beloved Schatzi. We still miss her.

FIFTEEN YEARS AGO: The challenges of feeding kittens.

TWENTY YEARS AGO: Checkups for our kitties.

Winter Wonderland

Somewhere, a groundhog is laughing, with or without a top hat on. The additional six weeks of winter he ordered have been extra wintery so far.

Storms took the power out on February 21 and 22, making it cold inside and out and wearying our heroine’s spirits. By my count, this makes 8 powerless days so far in this relatively young year. I have to say the apparently endless storms and power outages are beginning to get to me. I was surprised to discover how quickly I miss having a hot meal at the end of the day.

On my way home on Thursday, I drove over a branch that had been blown off a tree in the gales earlier this week which had also taken out the power for two days. It got stuck on something under my car. I parked in the middle of the Ridge, got out, and was finally able to dislodge it and pull it out. It was almost as tall as I am! My hands were sticky with pine tar. But the power was back on when I got home. It was nice to eat hot food and have the heat on.

The following day, I woke up to a winter wonderland. It was 31 degrees, with a heavy blanket of snow. Here’s my back porch:

It was beautiful, but also alarming. I drove to work slowly. I have very little snow driving experience. Once I got caught in snow on the Donner Pass on my way back to San Francisco, and it was nerve-wracking.

Without consciously thinking about it, I immediately recognized the distinctive white light in the house that comes from daylight reflecting off the snow, and the sound of tires driving on the snow from my faraway girlhood in faraway upstate New York, without consciously thinking about it. I guess things like that are just ingrained in your psyche.

Unlike the last time it snowed, this time it hung around. I was amazed to find it still there when I got home, and it didn’t melt completely until the afternoon of the following day. This is still California, right?

A YEAR AGO: Recovering from dental surgery.

FIVE YEARS AGO: Quite the day at work.

TEN YEARS AGO: Jonathan took a flying leap.

FIFTEEN YEARS AGO: Million dollar shoes. Sadly, not worn by Me.

TWENTY YEARS AGO: The view from the treadmill.

Sunset Glow

Despite the daffodils, there has been a definite nip in the air these days, both inside and out.

It’s been about 29 degrees and 52 inside when I get up in the early morning darkness. Getting up in daylight is months away, and will only last from, say, May through July. Darkness begins to descend in August, which only makes sense, since it is the Official Month of Death. And since it’s beginning to get a little lighter earlier in the day, the madness of the time change can’t be far away. It seems the entire purpose of the time change is to plunge the early risers of the world back into darkness as soon as there is a glimmer of hope on the inky horizon.

I have been thankful for the heated seats in the new(ish) to me car, and for the surprising fact that the windshield never, ever frosts over. I’m not sure how that works in sub freezing temperatures, but it’s fine with me. The steering wheel feels like ice, though, so I finally gave in and ordered a pair of gloves, which will probably arrive when the official six weeks of winter are up.

The Ridge sparkles with frost in the morning, which is pretty, but inspires me to drive more slowly, like the old lady I am. CalTrans has spread red grit on the bridges and dark parts of the highway which tend to be icy, and I realize that the sound of the grit spinning through my tires is one of the sounds I associate with winter.

Despite the chilly start to the mornings, it’s been warming up to 50 or 52 during the day, and the light is golden and lovely across the hills and the Ridge on my way home in the evening.

A YEAR AGO: Cheers to some unseasonably warm weather.

FIVE YEARS AGO: A fun exhibit at the Kelley House.

TEN YEARS AGO: Beautiful work by students at the local fine wood-working school. Still the desk of my dreams!

FIFTEEN YEARS AGO: Adjusting to a commute.

TWENTY YEARS AGO: Musings on cats and water.

The storms kept kicking our collective asses. Rain, wind, thunder and lightning were an unlovely cocktail, and even when the power was on, I feared it would go off, stripping my life and house of its very thin veneer of civilization and plunging me into cold and darkness yet again.

The dreaded monthly Board meeting, which in my menopausal years has replaced my period as the thing I look forward to least each month, was looming on the horizon. They are done by Zoom, as so many meetings are these days, so I was concerned that my internet would go out before or during the meeting.

I decided to stay in town, at a hotel near work. Fortunately for me, I have friends in high places. Well, a friend. He manages some of the nicest hotels in town, and let me have a room at a prix d’ami. He also told me that many PG&E workers were staying there – they have a staging site set up near the coastal trail in town, and have brought sufficient generators to power the downtown part of the Big Town – so I figured if the power went out, it would be restored more quickly there than at home.

It was nice to swap a 40 minute drive for a 2 minute one, and I enjoyed the room:

It had a kitchenette, which was nice:

and a lovely view of the stormy harbor, by day:

and night:

I missed the cats, but it was nice to have reliable power and a shorter commute for a couple of days. I was glad to get home to the kitties, though, and even happier that so far, the power has stayed on. For now.

A YEAR AGO: Stopping to smell – well, admire – the flowers.

FIVE YEARS AGO: Sometimes, getting home isn’t easy

TEN YEARS AGO: Getting a photo taken for work.

TWENTY YEARS AGO: The joys of visiting Chicago.

I think it’s safe to say I was too late in my dumpling consumption, because the hits just keep on coming. We have been hit with violent storm after violent storm, and the power has been out more than it’s been on. It’s scary and exhausting. I wish there were someone I could surrender to in order to make it stop.

Last Wednesday, I was unable to get home because of the storm. I found the Ridge blocked by a fire truck. Getting out of my car, I was greeted by my friend Erin’s husband Jaime, who is a volunteer firefighter. He gave me a hug and told me that the road was closed because of fallen trees and downed power lines. They didn’t know when the road would be passable, and the storm was still storming.

I drove to Megan and Rob’s place, where the power never goes out. I got a text from my landlord Danielle saying that she was able to get through, so I tried again, only to find that the road was closed again, or still. I don’t know how she got through, but Danielle is a force of nature almost as strong as the storm. So I headed back to the family estate.

Megan wasn’t expecting company, but she rustled up some pasta with garden sauce for dinner, raided our brother’s place for a bottle of wine, and we settled in to wait out the storm. Being in a trailer in winds gusting up to 75 to 100 miles per hour (reports vary) was…interesting. Makes me wonder how mobile home dwellers in Florida ride out the inevitable yearly hurricanes.

The wind howled and the rain blasted. Even though I was really tired, I couldn’t sleep. Also, sleeping with dogs is completely different from sleeping with cats. The dogs manage to take up all the bed, pin down the covers, snore (awake or asleep), and bark in their sleep. They step on your hair and bonk you in the face with their heads and paws.

When it was finally light out the next day, I ventured home again. Third time’s the charm! I was finally able to get home. I wish I had taken more photos, but I was so nervous and freaked out that I just wanted to get home. Here’s the remains of the trees that blocked the road:

Of course the power was off when I got home, so the house was cold and dark, but the weather was so bad that I was afraid to go to work, so I stayed home that day. The power was out from 8 am on January 4 to 3 pm on January 7. It went out again all day on January 9. I had yet another adventure that day, trying to get to work. A huge eucalyptus tree had fallen across the highway, blocking it. I went back home, and on the Ridge, met a fireman who told me it would be cleared soon. So I went home, waited an hour, and then tried again. This time, I was successful. It’s been a pretty rough year so far.

A YEAR AGO: Dental problems. Ow!.

FIVE YEARS AGO: The truth about cats and dogs is not always pretty.

TEN YEARS AGO: Be careful what you wish for.

FIFTEEN YEARS AGO: Delicacies by the Bay.

TWENTY YEARS AGO: More adventures in dog-sitting.

Gloomy New Year to Me!

My New Year’s Eve plans were, admittedly, modest. Watching the Leafs play; watching the ball drop in Times Square; having tourtière for dinner; and drinking some sparkling wine was just about all the excitement slated for Chez Suzy that evening. But not even those small goals were achieved, because the power went out at 5:00 pm and stayed resolutely out until well into New Year’s Day, making celebrating of any kind pretty much impossible.

Not that I felt like celebrating even after the lights came back on. My landlord Danielle came by on New Year’s Day to inform me that she is raising the rent $300 a month. Between that and the payment for the car I had to buy last month, I will somehow have to come up with an extra $500 a month. Not sure how I am going to do that, or if it’s even possible.

My good friend A told me that in her native China, if you didn’t make and eat dumplings on the Winter Solstice, you were risking woeful misfortune for the New Year. Unfortunately for me, I didn’t get that newsflash until the Solstice had passed. A thought that if I did it soon thereafter, it would still stave off the woeful misfortune. So I made and ate my dumplings a couple of days late, but the gods do not seem to allow for a grace period when it comes to woeful misfortune. I have marked Dumpling Day on my calendar for later this year, so maybe 2024 will be better. Assuming I make it that far.

A YEAR AGO: A better and brighter New Year’s Eve.

FIVE YEARS AGO: Welcoming the New Year.

TEN YEARS AGO: Greeting the New Year in San Francisco.

Twenty YEARS AGO: The perils of dog sitting. Maybe not what you think.

Megan and I were planning to go to Candlelit Shopping in the Village, but Mother Nature had other plans. She decided, quite reasonably for the season, that it was time for wind and rain, which is not good shopping weather unless your chauffeured limousine is following you down Fifth Avenue with all the Christmas decorations lit up.

We may not have had a limo – OK, I admit it, we didn’t – but we did have a chauffeur, in the form of the ever-patient Rob. He dropped us off at our favorite seaside bar, which is the perfect port in any storm:

It was warm and cozy, and we could observe the weather without participating in it, as well as enjoying the view of the storm-tossed sea. I think the ocean is beautiful in any weather.

We settled back with a sparkling kir royale each:

accompanied by a delightful cheese platter with quince membrillo:

and chatted with each other and the bartender. As always, it was a happy place to spend an evening, and I have to give our Plan B an A.

A YEAR AGO: ‘Tis the season for successful Plan Bs and visits to the bar.

FIVE YEARS AGO: The sparkle of Candlelit Shopping.

TEN YEARS AGO: The amazing lunar eclipse not only affected me deeply, but turned out to be the moment I lost my friend and beloved former father-in-law, Ed.

TWENTY YEARS AGO: My first visit to the gym.

November got right down to it, starting off with a storm on the very first day of the month. Needless to say, the storm took the power out with it, though luckily for me, it both went out and came back on while I was at work.

The second day of November brought an encore, with the power once more going out again, this time for a longer period of time. PG&E stated on their website that it was due to an “emergency issue”, but I never learned what the emergency or the issue was. At least the lights were back on by the time I got home.

The Ridge quickly acquired its winter look of redwood needles on wet, black pavement:

As often happens when the weather is stormy, the light was beautiful between storms. I stopped off at Little River to take some pictures of the ocean:

I turned my attention to the nearby cove:

and was quite surprised to see a naked guy frolicking in the surf:

mostly because the water is so cold. Surfers wear wetsuits here, and hardly anyone plays in the icy water in bathing suits, let alone birthday suits. Maybe it was bracing.

A YEAR AGO: John rescued some tiny kittens, who now all have happy homes. Yay, John!

FIVE YEARS AGO: Halloween with our favorite girls.

TEN YEARS AGO: Trick or treating with our favorite kidlet.

I was surprised and confused by an unfamiliar sound when I woke up on a Sunday morning. It was rain! And it was real rain, winter-style rain, just a few months early.

Clyde and Dodge were sitting together on the bed, like a matched set, when I woke up that day:

They scampered downstairs, eager to go out and play, until they saw the rain:

I tried to take some pictures of the rain, but it proved to be surprisingly difficult, like my attempts to capture the beauty of the moon. Maybe I need a real camera instead of an aging iPhone 7. This was the best I could do:

Thought it may be hard to tell from the photos, we got almost three inches of rain! That’s a good start to the season.

A YEAR AGO: Some home improvements.

FIVE YEARS AGO: Playing tour guide.

TEN YEARS AGO: Thankful for the little things in life.

FIFTEEN YEARS AGO: A delightful visit to Detroit.

TWENTY YEARS AGO: Nearly finished with going through Dad’s things and getting ready to go back home to San Francisco.

This year’s lilacs

Spring has definitely sprung in Hooterville. The air is softer and full of birdsong, and fruit trees are foamy with blossoms and buzzing with busy bees. Lilacs, irises, and California poppies are blooming. I am still wearing a coat to work, buttoned up in the morning and unbuttoned* in the evening, and in the mornings, I have the heat on in the car, while in the evenings, I have the car window open. Seasons here are a little more subtle than in most of the country.

I have found over the past few years that I appreciate spring more and more. At this point, I would rate the seasons from best to worst as: spring, fall, winter, and summer. If I still lived back East, I think fall would come out on top, because of the glorious leaf colors and the delightful, cool respite from the horror of summer, always my least favorite season. I hate the heat. I always have.

When I was a kid, we were lucky enough to escape the muggy and buggy summers in upstate New York by fleeing to Maine the minute the school year dragged to an end. There we enjoyed the cool, foggy summers, much like the summers in the Big Town on the Mendocino Coast. Very often, the Big Town is fogged in all of my working day, while back home in Hooterville, it is sunny and bright. The sunshine comes at a cost, though, making it up to 20 degrees warmer than it is on the foggy coast.

Fortunately, my current abode is insulated and less of an art project than my previous Hooterville home of many years, which was like living in a tent. It was freezing cold in the winter and boiling hot in the summer, especially up in the sleeping loft, where the heat went to party and after party. Despite the quirks of the house, and the beauty of the house I live in now, I still miss the old house. There were a lot of great memories there, and it was such a cool and unusual place.

I do enjoy the winter, with the sound of rain and peeping frogs and the bright breasts of robins, who winter here, and the dramatic spouts of passing whales. It’s nice to read with a cup of tea and a scented candle, cuddled up with the cats. I enjoy the coziness and feeling safe. When I was a child back East, I loved skiing and playing in the snow and the violet shadows of the trees on winter afternoons and the distinctive, white light in the house after a snowfall. I have always loved Christmas, with its sparkliness and joy.

As for summer…well, it’s something to be endured. I used to love the long summers in Maine when I was a kid, that glorious feeling of freedom with three school-free months stretching ahead. I’m glad I enjoyed those days when I had them. And I do still enjoy the changing seasons, no matter how subtle.

*Also the name of my current favorite lip gloss, which I’m wearing right now while eating Lifesavers for breakfast.

A YEAR AGO: Some updates.

FIVE YEARS AGO: Some happy encounters.

TWENTY YEARS AGO: A bad mail day.

You know how sometimes we get Junuary, when the weather is more like summer than winter even though it’s January? We had that in February, though I can’t come up with a clever portmanteau for that one. There were record highs in southern California that weekend, and possibly here, too. Certainly, it was warm enough to venture out without a sweater or jacket of any kind, and that is a rare thing here any time of year. You get kind of programmed to have a sweater or jacket with you at all times. The last time I went to LA, I brought my sweater with me everywhere and I never needed it. Not once.

Not only was it suddenly (though temporarily) summer, Megan actually had a Saturday off for once. Pressing Rob into service, we headed to our favorite seaside bar, where we sat at a little table in the garden at a comfortable distance from the madd(en)ing crowds:

We enjoyed the always excellent company of a Mandarin Blossom Cosmo (me) and a Buddha’s Hand Lemon Drop (Megan), as well as the beautiful view:

As the sun set into the Pacific, the moon rose over restaurant:

and the lights began to twinkle on the deck:

It was a beautiful end to a beautiful day.

A YEAR AGO: Some thoughts on love.

FIVE YEARS AGO: It was raining water outside and love inside.

TEN YEARS AGO: Remembering my much-loved American grandfather. I will miss him 45 years after his death. I think I always will.

TWENTY YEARS AGO: Farewell to the glamorous Princess Margaret.

This was a year of milestones. Jessica turned 18; Jarrett turned 40; my blog turned 20; Megan turned 50; she and Rob celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary, and we mourned the 20th anniversary of our father’s death.

We also mourned the devastating loss of Megan and Rob’s beloved dog, Star. We knew she was sick, but the end was sudden. She has left a huge hole in their household, and we still miss her. But a new dog, Millie, brought joy to our lives in late summer, especially to Stella, who was missing Star much more than we expected. Stella and Millie love playing together, and it’s heart-warming to see how happy they are together.

I read 110 books this year, an improvement over last year’s paltry 86 (assuming my record-keeping was accurate that year), but falling short of the record high of 118 in 2010. I seem to have developed a love for Canadian graphic novels. I devoured all of “Clyde Fans” and every Michel Rabagliati book I could get my hands on.

This was also a year of successful culinary experimentation, in which I learned how to make my own Canelés de Bordeaux, Chinese BBQ pork, lemon chicken, har gao (shrimp dumplings), and pork and chive crystal dumplings.

Here’s all the news I saw fit to print this year:

January: The New Year begins. Come along on my commute. It’s a pretty one. I stepped down from my high office (or possibly my high horse) as the library board Chair, though I remain on the Board. High office is not for the likes of me. Also, it was completely perk-free, as far as I could see. I might be persuaded to try it again if a tiara and a limo were involved. Getting to work was an adventure. Swooning over Frank from afar, and remembering the inimitable Buddy, my first cat love. Frank is still doing well and is his fighty and adorable self. A magical encounter on my way to work. A friend told me that she thinks it was Dad checking in with me. I hope she’s right. And I hope he’s wrong and I see him again one day.

February: John’s rescued kittens. My proudest achievement. Thinking about love. Such an unusual thing to do around Valentine’s Day! A fun trip to the South Coast. I always love it there.

March: The heart-breaking news of our beloved Star’s terminal illness. Jonathan and Rio were off having adventures. When I heard how long they were going to be gone, I knew they would not be here to say goodbye to Star. Unfortunately, I was correct in this. Despite knowing she was ill, her death was sudden, merciful for our darling Star, but hard for those she left behind, including Stella. I still miss our beautiful Star. Megan’s place is not the same without her. I had not realized that she was the heart of their household until she was gone. Dad’s 90th birthday came on the heels of Star’s death.

April: Kitty updates. Getting my hair done and getting an Easter basket cheered me up. My blog turned 20! Can you believe it? And Jessica turned 18! Can you believe that, too? Remembering a wonderful visit with my beloved friend A at her home in Amsterdam in 1994. This month’s theme seems to be the swift passage of time and what we lose along the way.

May: Things were a little too exciting for Dodge. But it didn’t stop him from enjoying his 5th birthday. Making Tourtière from a friend’s family recipe. The joys of a beautiful spring. Megan turned 50, a reason to celebrate! A lot of milestones this year.

June: Enjoying some time off. An excellent birthday, including getting my hair cut and colored and a little trip to the beautiful South Coast. I looked around the small, but scenic, cemetery while I was in Anchor Bay. Summer crowds were out in force in the Village. An expensive flat tire. A lovely, but hot, trip to the beautiful Valley.

July: Orange is the new pink at my house. I love my house. The always amazing Flynn Creek Circus. Another milestone on this milestone-studded year: Megan and Rob’s 30th anniversary! A visit to the Valley, where you can taste cider under the very trees the cider apples grew on. A trip to Bodega Bay, to scope out locations from “The Birds” and remember family Christmases there with Dad. A glamorous stay at the Flamingo in Santa Rosa. The joy of a concert at the Music Festival.

August: My first attempt at making Canelés de Bordeaux was surprisingly successful. I fell i love with a giant ceramic apple (yes, you read that right!) and bought it for the garden. I love it. Some extreme (and extreemly delicious) take-out. Conventional wisdom seems to be wrong when it comes to my unconventional cats. A new deck and a new dog at Megan and Rob’s place! Remembering our much-loved father 20 years after his sudden and untimely death. I will never stop loving and missing him. Ever. Getting contact lenses again. Checking out some beautiful artwork around town.

September: Another successful cooking experiment: Chinese BBQ pork. Meet Millie, Megan and Rob’s new dog! She and Stella are so happy together! I seem to have been out of control with the make your own delicacies. This time: dim sum! A really fun family dinner in the garden. A horrifying (and horrifying expensive) root canal. Just one little thing can make a big difference in a room.

October: I admit it. I’m a scented candle addict. Rainy day baking. Some mid-week sparkles with a friend, and end of week Eggs Benedict at the amazing Queenie’s. Some small-town crimes, a little too close to home for comfort. And in the miscellaneous department…

November: John stepped up his rescue activities with caring for a batch of abandoned, newborn kittens. He had to get up every two hours to feed them for weeks. I am pleased to say they all made it and were safely given to a local rescue for adoption. Yay, John! He’s my hero. Redbeard was finally caught! And Suzy’s Dim Sum Palace was open for business. Yet another crown for my collection, and not the fun, sparkly kind, either. A drink with a side of view. A quietly thankful Thanksgiving.

December: A quiet, but delicious Thanksgiving dinner. The incredible sparkly beauty of the Festival of Lights. In which I learn to make my own lemon chicken while the Chinese restaurant is closed, and enjoy a drink or two with my sister at our local bar. Finally tackling the Closet of Doom. Putting up the Christmas tree. An unnerving earthquake on Solstice Eve. A pretty Christmas Eve and a quiet Christmas Day. Having fun watching Emily in Paris with my sister.

I have no idea what next year will bring, but as this year ends, I am grateful for my family, my friends, my cats, my health, my lovely house, my meaningful work, the beautiful place I live, and the small, special moments in life that are there every day.

A YEAR AGO: A look back at 2020.

FIVE YEARS AGO: Reviewing 2016.

TEN YEARS AGO: What happened in 2011.

FIFTEEN YEARS AGO: The year of the dog.

TWENTY YEARS AGO: The last day of the last year of my father’s life.

On Christmas Eve, I stopped by the Village to pick up a few things. It was pouring as I headed down the Ridge, and I wondered whether I really needed the things I was planning to buy. By the time I reached the grocery store in the Village, it had stopped raining.

I ran into my friend Erin in the store. She, too, was shopping for last minute groceries. It was nice to take a couple of minutes to catch up and enjoy each other’s company. I like living in a place where I can randomly run into friends and neighbors, even if I am not wearing make-up and/or am oddly attired, as sometimes happens on last-minute store runs.

As I headed back to the car, the weather reminded me that in any situation, it’s all in how you look at things, whether you look on the stormy side:

or the bright side:

I took these photos at the same place, the cloudy ones looking west toward the sea and the Village photos looking east. It makes me happy to know that the Village looks much as it did 100 years ago, and to think of the generations that have celebrated together in this beautiful place.

A YEAR AGO: Christmas memories.

FIVE YEARS AGO: Getting ready.

TEN YEARS AGO: Unexpected Christmas guests.

FIFTEEN YEARS AGO: Christmas sparkle never goes out of style.

TWENTY YEARS AGO: Our 11th anniversary. Nice to see Dad’s notes and those photos. And to know that 20 years later, John and I are still there for each other and always will be.

Solstice on the Ridge

I took the photo above on my way home on the winter solstice. It was the shortest day of the year, but it was also beautiful.

It’s nice to think that we are moving back into the light, even though I know perfectly well that as soon as I get a glimmer of hope light in the mornings, it will be cruelly snatched away from me by the Powers That Be, condemning me to weeks more of completely unnecessary darkness, driving in Danger of Deer.

But I won’t think about that now. I won’t even think about it tomorrow, no matter what Scarlett O’Hara says. I’ll think about it in a couple of months. In the meantime, I’ll be thankful to be alive and breathing after the earthquake we had on Solstice Eve.

Megan and my work friend Michelle happened to be in my office around noon that day when I got an alert on my phone saying, “Earthquake activity has been detected in your area”. I had barely finished reading it before I heard the rumble and felt the strong roll beneath me. The clinic ceiling creaked, and the rocking and rolling seemed to go on for a long time.

I usually sleep through earthquakes or fail to notice them, but this one was impossible for even the most oblivious (Me!) to ignore, registering an extremely healthy 6.2 on the Richter scale, and located about 45 miles off the coast of Eureka in Humboldt, our neighboring county. It was unnerving. It was the strongest one I had felt in years. Maybe Santa was feeling a little Grinchy this year and sent us a Christmas earthquake?

A YEAR AGO: My boys.

FIVE YEARS AGO: Things were sparkly.

TEN YEARS AGO: Kittens + Christmas Tree = mess.

FIFTEEN YEARS AGO: Enough with the crazies already!

TWENTY YEARS AGO: All the kitty news that’s fit to print.

Some more updates in our heroine’s life.

Dental:

I finally got the crown on the tooth with the outrageously expensive, out of town root canal. I’d say the worst parts were the shots and the drilling that vibrated my whole head and possibly scrambled my two remaining brain cells. That might have been needed to install the post to support the crown. The dentist has a magic machine that makes the crown right there, so there’s no need for a temporary crown and two appointments. It took an hour and a half, but I did it at the end of the day and just went straight home afterwards. It was already getting dark and raining when I got home. Time for tea and my favorite scented candle, along with an episode of Ellery Queen. I can never guess who did it, even before my brain cells got scrambled.

Rain:

We are getting more of it. The night of the crown installation was stormy, with pouring rain and blowing winds, so I sadly took out the power outage box from the resolutely untidied Closet of Doom, preparing for the power to go out, which seemed inevitable at that point. I am pleased to report that the power stayed bravely on, possibly because I had prepared for it.

It was still raining when I set off to work in the foggy darkness, and I had to get out of the car twice to move trees out of the way. The Ridge was covered with pine needles, lichen, and fallen twigs, and I drove pretty slowly. Megan told me that before that storm, we had already gotten 14 inches, so that’s good. The storms can keep coming, even if they take the power with them.

A YEAR AGO: Megan started her job at Stanford. Still going strong and doing well!

FIVE YEARS AGO: The horror of hitting a dog with my car. He is still doing great. He and his owner recently moved to a farm, where they are very happy.

TEN YEARS AGO: A country Saturday.

FIFTEEN YEARS AGO: Fun in the <City.

TWENTY YEARS AGO: A delightful evening with the delightful Brian. He and his wife Candi are so wonderful. Can’t believe we have known each other so long!