The week before began breezily enough with an early walk to the water and after a visit

to Vallejo* another around the neighborhood in late light, too windy to bike.

The next day proved more amenable and was one of few not requiring anything beyond a quick trip to the USPO [though the ’45 demanded a little electrical attention to get running] but

then

Wednesday

a person had to be back in V-town, latish, for PT

and Thursday rained fiercely until noon,

cleared off in time for another run to V-town before a brief freezy/breezy ride to the waters

and back, whoa, and Friday, no day without a car trip, down to San Leandro before

a late late lunch, not much else except another quite cold ride and after dinner Benicia’s

Christmas “Open House” wherein we walked a little ways down First and so on…the big revelation being a new liquor store in the alley between G and F, called SendSips**. A cold and noisy night; we went as far as D, then home for another episode of “New Tricks”, the current go-to obsession although it looks like there may be some disconcerting changes impending.

Early the next morning brought a steady rain which lasted the whole day.  Cold, too; warm duck soup for lunch and a chance to catch up with our friend D. O’Grady, then Sunday

some nice skies…winter on the straits

with no distractions

for a couple of days anyway; nothing

to do but walk the dogs, draw, rest, eat, noodle around with paintings and not go

anywhere until, well, Tuesday

when shopping for groceries called…and then dinner out, which unfortunately entailed the Absolute Worst restaurant entree [and anyone who knows me knows I’ve eaten in a lot of sketchy restaurants down the years] I’ve ever had, bar none and at any price right here in beautiful downtown Benicia; “Pollo Ripeno” at the drastically overrated  Bella Siena. Cross THAT

feeding factory off the list! This was all while waiting for Raphael Warnock to [depressingly barely] prevail over the insult to the democratic process the Trumplican Party had propped up

in dubious incoherent opposition to him but ah, well, winter skies…and no matter what, Hunter Biden’s laptop, eh?

*All trips to Vallejo referred to herein involved minor but time-consuming medical distractions.

**Though most friendly and promising Sendsips seems more dedicated to last minute Gifts of Booze than any actual knowledge of, say, southern Italian [or any Italian, or any] wine…for that one still has to go to Oakland.