The days end so soon now, but some of the early sunsets with clouds of all shapes augmenting the evening have been remarkable. During the firestorm that swept across Sonoma/Napa the sun was an eery blood-red for weeks with a smokey tangerine sky engulfing it, the air smelling like a gone out but still smoldering campfire. Thank God, things have normalized a bit now, and that some rebuilding has begun.

I was patiently waiting in the 15 item or less check-out line at the supermarket, having dutifully lined up with merely a few apples and some milk. Inserting my ATM card into the checkout machine I inquired of the cashier what I need to do in order to get a little cash back. Still looking down at the screen the reply I heard was: “you need to go to a bank”. I burst out laughing and looked up into the totally straight face of the cashier. “Just kidding, the cashier smirked at me”. It is ordinary moments like this, that make life fun.

Feeling cooped up in the apartment, I decided to go for a ride down to the water as the afternoon was a surprisingly warm one, especially for December. I was rewarded by a beautiful sight: the water was almost flat with only small ripples here and there. In the distance I saw two kayaks, several feet apart gliding across the water, as the kayakers dipped their paddles into the bay sporadically in order to achieve a slight forward motion. I could tell that they wanted to proceed as slowly as possible, in order to savor the still waters and warm afternoon. Just two little kayaks, close together like a pair of mourning doves on a telephone wire. As I watched them, mesmerized, a huge flock of pigeons suddenly flew up just above me at a sharp right angle, having been startled by something, and thus disrupting the tranquility of the scene. The riff-raff of birds, I chuckled.

Have a blessed and peaceful Advent season.