Tiny Acorn

This little acorn has survived the festive season on the kitchen windowsill. Photographing it was a bit like adjusting a lady's hat to just the right angle, especially when the cap fell off half way through the exercise. There is a pattern on that hat as ever smaller acorns grow out of the ones beneath. I don't think it's fractals but something similar. I've decided to glue the cap back on and move it to the shelf of natural curiosities above my desk.

Lots of festivities planned this week, not the least of which will be a night spent with old friends from Berkeley here, with OilMan making his patented barbecued brisket, and dinner on Thursday with Kelly and Maureen, whose house we occupied during the fires. Beth and Norman were our backup if we hadn't been able to go to Sebastopol.

 I was musing as we spent the day together yesterday  that Dana, Jim, Peter and I have become quite good at hanging out with each other. Will was at school when the rest of us were together in Sebastopol during the fires, but he's home now, and he's always seemed happy to hang out with OilMan and me. The six of us were happy to spend the day together without the worry of fires burning in our neighborhood. Jim cooked steaks, scalloped potatoes, and green beans with crispy shallots. Dana made a compound butter with herbs for the steak and a ginger cake for dessert. It was all delicious and festive.