Weather

It's currently 71 degrees and cloudless, at 6:14 p.m. Pacific Time on May 1. A Sunday. Does it get any better than this?

It's funny how weather affects us. As one of many things in your life that you absolutely do not control, it can make you happy, irritated, depressed, expectant or for me right now, eager to just go drive somewhere.

I still remember driving with my family after dinner to get ice cream in our Austin Healey roadster when I was just a kid. That image is still powerful. Sometimes we went to Ted's for hot dogs, too--our first fast food experience.

There are the 97-degree summer days that make me want to do lots of nothing--or seek out air conditioning to huddle inside. There are heavy rain days, which can either give me cabin fever or conversely, make me feel like I'm communing with nature as I hear the wind and smell the fresh rainwater. I like thunder and lightning--I don't fear it.

Fog can make me feel claustrophobic--or exhilarated, depending on what type it is and where I am. Surrounding me every day in the Summer in San Francisco, it's depressing. Visiting Monterey on a weekend it can be an exciting change of pace.

Seeing our California hills covered in a green carpet is an annual Spring treat--and it lasts for a very short time. That time is already about to end. Get ready for a change to gold--which then gives me another association.

When it starts hitting 80 degrees outside, it feels like it's time for school to be over--but unfortunately, it has been--for a long time.

Wish I had that Healey today.

Brown Again

Well, it's 2011 and the state of California has a new governor. I remember Jerry Brown from 1974 -- the blue Plymouth and low key approach seemed cool at the time. He was only 37 when he was elected, and now he's the oldest governor the state has ever had.

I say, let's see what this lifelong public servant can do to get us out of the mess we're in. I have no political skills whatsoever (although I always study the voter handbook before I vote). That means that I expect our leaders to go in there and do the job we've hired them to do. So I respect them for giving these huge challenges a shot but also think they're a little crazy (and probably egomaniacs too) to even try it.

More as it happens.

Governor Brown, Part II