Raining, by the way, they're saying today and tomorrow. We need the water, but this has now very much been a “normal” year for rainfall after three years of drought. Not out of the woods yet, some of the reservoirs are far from full, but the Bay Area weather noted (by me, at least) for its unpredictability, holds to its reputation. What does any of this mean? I have no idea. Less so as time progresses and I'm able to put more of it into perspective.

We're rambling here.

All this big canvas reality going on in the background - the global warming, oil shortage, ocean acidification, species going extinct stuff - continues to play out like a movie of some sort projected on the clouds. You look up now and again when something new seems to have popped up. We're in the middle of a financial meltdown (almost financial meltdown) and the US military announces we've essentially reached peak oil and production is going to start falling now and prices will increase markedly as the economy recovers. OK. See that. Hear that. Do I trade in the Element on a hybrid? On a bicycle? Replace that last incandescent bulb with a long life LED? Have a local farmer's market salad for lunch? Do I do anything at all?

I have to say it's been interesting to watch. Global warming. OK, what's that? Oh. That bad? The financial industry has co-opted the government and there will be no re-regulation of the markets, the next blow out just ahead. Why yes, watching this unravel, that's a description that makes sense. What does that mean? Would having another farmer's market salad help? An email to my Congresswoman? Another donation to MoveOn.org?

Stop.

I have no idea what others think about these things, have no idea what people think outside of my little bubble here in California. It's an unending din. I read the books. Nothing seems to change. I read more books. Ditto. It's raining at the moment, whatever tragedy we've been worrying over for our farming economy seems for the short term secure. That hellacious tornado in Mississippi over the weekend? They say the spout on the ground was a mile wide? They say storms will become stronger as the world warms. How unusual was that tornado? They report the damage, they don't report if a tornado with a spout a mile wide is in any way unusual. Hey? Maybe another one of those farmer's market salads later to cool down.

Stop.

Later. There's some nice, threatening looking early afternoon clouds out there now, but no rain at the moment. A trip over to Safeway for cat food (I'm getting a little desperate with the cat food, Ms. Emmy is going through another picky period, a stand off between the opener of cans and the owner of the opener), milk, bread, V8 and Aleve. The knee doesn't hurt, really, but Mr. H talked about an anti-inflammatory aspect mentioned by his doctor, so what the hell? A fellow can always use some over the counter pain killers in his cabinet. This is America, access to drugs are guaranteed somewhere in those first Ten Amendments.

Later still. A nap and then another nap, maybe an hour each. Not sure why. Maybe I'm getting less sleep than I'm thinking. The day has come and gone just like that. My, my. If you're not careful, life I suspect, will do the very same, just leave you standing there, brushing your jacket, shaking your head, checking for damage.