to California, December 10 – 13th [still a while ago, innit?], with barely time to unpack,

get a haircut, catch a cold…

Sunday found fog along the straits, shaky bikeride…Monday went to the new Two Hews location but Bill still didn’t have power to the shop so I figured it would be better to leave the Tundra unfinished until times less fraught…

Early Tuesday I began to notice things weren’t exactly perfect and became even more muddled as the day progressed but somehow managed to load out what subsequently proved to be

pretty much all we needed to load out for the next two months. That done we stumbled down First and forced Gaby to open up the dining room for us on an otherwise empty Tuesday at the Union; two glasses of wine and a grilled chicken later it was home to bed, occluded.

December 13 bye bye to London the E Street dog and

at 10:37 exactly out da door, L driving all the way as I stared dumbly at the winter haze and

can’t remember whatever else..but Donner, barely any snow,

lunch [not shown] in the Truckee Safeway parking lot where we’d stopped for grapefruit [seemed like whatever it was was going to turn into a Throat], down the gorge, east

outa Sparks, up 447 to Gerlach in late brash light,

the Post Office and

our gate in exactly five hours despite the stops

to unload unpack and next day nominally well enough to walk about.  Hopefully…but not

well enough for our semi-annual dinner with the neighbors.

There were Winds,

days cold and bright wherein

I managed watercolors, [very] small forays to studio, the repo

and, after Dave and Abby left, to the Parker in the ’82, driving blind into the sun, cold.

While L. took afternoon walks towards the playa I sat on the porch “taking the air” like an invalid

[Seen around Storm Queen; “Necklace” and “Insinuation”, distantly…

“Hercules”

“Refugium”

“Grey Matter”

…and the road.]

and we postponed our departure a day hoping to avoid

some nasty-looking weather out east which proved prudent; the weather, at least, improved

as predicted.

Thursday up came the sun…

as could have been foreseen.