First Oriole of the Season

 Mercury must still be retrograde because OilMan and I  were both out of sorts and fed up with a long list of things, so we  decided last night that we were going to put aside our normal routine and do something fun today instead. He didn't play golf and I put my knitting away (maybe for good). We drove through the greening hills...even Fountaingrove is showings signs of life...there are ferns growing under the burned trees, some of which look like abstracts,  limbed sticks with tiny shoots of green showing at their bases. The vines are leafing out and the prognosis for them is good. The majority of vineyards suffered little or no permanent damage.

Kathy put us through our paces and worked on our rusty bits.... I told her I rarely look up medical conditions on the internet because all that does is tell me I'm going to die, but I broke my rule and discovered that a number of people reported a rash following the flu. Kathy's theory is that it is the body's attempt at detox, perhaps even smoke from the fire. That was sic months ago, I protested, nut she said toxins can be stored in the liver for that long. I have a feeling that I will never know what it is, but if it's my glass of wine, I'll just have to put up with the itching....

We had fresh crab sandwiches and a whole order apiece of fabulous fries with chipotle dip at Handline in Sebastopol, and watched the weather change from sunny and cool to rain. By the time we got back home the sun was out again, and OilMan changed the sugar solution in the hummingbird feeder.  Within five minutes we had a visit, the first of the season, from Mr Oriole. Despite the vagaries of spring weather, I think he gives me hope that spring might be here, although the newspaper says we are going to have two more months of rain. If we do, it would be highly unusual, but the reservoirs are filling up, which is always a good thing....

The final pleasure of the day was a surprise visit from some Berkeley neighbors who were visiting Spring Lake and realized they were very close to our house. It was lovely to see them and get caught up with life on Magnolia street.