Thursday. Lights out before ten to then awaken at six and get ready to head out for breakfast. It had clearly been raining last night, wet streets and such, but it wasn't clear if it would start raining again and so took the car, on another day without the East Bay Times. We are learning to live without the East Bay Times.

So far, so good, until I'd parked the car and turned to grab the camera. No camera. I'd totally spaced out and forgotten to take the camera and the reading glasses, but didn't put two and two together (the camera sits on the same shelf where I keep the reading glasses) to realize I'd also forgotten the glasses until I'd fed the parking meter for an extra half hour so I could dawdle over the papers.

I have forgotten the reading glasses in the past. Maybe once or twice in these last several years, but how do you forget something as large as one of these cameras? Had I walked, I suspect I would have realized I didn't have the camera over my shoulder, but why not a similar realization when I got into the car? Place the news papers on the passenger seat, put the camera on top of the papers?

OK, an odd start, a somewhat upsetting start, to the morning. Managed to make out most of what I attempted to read in the Chronicle, but gave up on the Times as their type face is smaller. Home to wrestle with yesterday's entry. Depressing wresting with yesterday's entry. A less than successful start to the morning.

So are we in a funk with all this?

We are treading water. The sun, at least, seems to be coming through the clearing clouds. The weather people are saying clear to partly cloudy through Sunday when they're forecasting rain. A lot of rain. For the Cherry Blossom Festival Parade. I think we'll be going to the festival itself on Saturday in anticipation we'll miss out because of rain on Sunday, but at least there's sun today and maybe a chance to get outside and clear the head and remember to remember.

Paste a note on the apartment door to remind you to check as you're leaving?

That thought briefly occurred and it was a little scary. We're not really worried we're heading down a dreaded black memory hole, but where will this be in ten years? If we have another ten years?

In space city.

Later. Over to the lake with another lens on the D500, getting lucky to find a cormorant landing and diving to the bottom of the lake for nest making materials. And so a series of pictures, most of them in focus, but really only a couple of interest. Still, better than yesterday. Better is better. Picked up a grilled chicken sandwich on the way back to the apartment.

Democracy Now! had an interview with Stephen Cohen this morning about the retaliatory missile strike Trump ordered on the air field in Syria in response to the sarin gas attack that's dominated the news, Cohen putting it in a perspective that made me even more nervous about this president of ours. So I listened to the interview again after returning from the lake. I say more nervous because Cohen, who's Russian views I've learned to respect over the years, is running by his own admission more than a little scared. Just the way to start your afternoon.

Evening. Watched Democracy Now! again and then went to lie down to see if I could find something I wanted to watch on the tablet. Didn't find anything, but killed the time until eight when I ended up watching Charlie Rose through to the end and then to bed.