All things considered, anyway, even if the wild horse advocates are claiming the drought’s

“exaggerated”. Well, it ain’t; no rain this entire normally wettish month and none out there for the foreseeable. A week back in Benicia already wherein first up the dryer died, then to Vallejo

to get the truck hosed down, next morning Oakland collecting the Roll Up paintings all while spring prematurely/disconcertingly sprang.  Lots of yellow flowers everywhere as afternoons

warmed and something every day; hourlong phonecalls, hourlong zoomcalls, lunches…

but not a drop beyond those moist morning fogs.

We are getting ready for another show at the library – not this one – the Benicia Public Library;

The much-delayed resuscitation of the ’45, not driven* since its clutch replacement in December, revealed that the brakes had mysteriously locked up in the meantime so I ordered

a floor jack; just another thing…like water heaters, batteries, washing machines and “Shetland”,

hard to stay away from though the slide-winnowing project called for attention as well;

Long Valley, 1973 [above], Dufurrena Rim**, 1975 [“Voyages of Exploration”, ca.1971 – 1986]

the “High Road” at The Dip*** and

Wall Spring, 1997.

Benicia, dry January 2022

Chill bright mornings but most days warm enough by noon for the industrial luncheonette, Friday night the continuing winnowing [old State Police Station, Malheur County Oregon, 1977],

quietly into the night, memorious.

*Following my Wall Spring Chair Incident in December I was unable to access low lying vehicles for over a month.

**A person may have to scroll a little NNW from Thousand Creek Gorge to see the actual rim on that map.

***Thanks to old Bill at Bruno’s Texaco, both long gone, for pointing out to me that the dip on the High Road was called “The Dip”, 1995.