Are the clouds usual

Well, yes, actually the cloudy weather is usual. When it gets really hot inland, it sucks the marine layer in from the coast and keeps us at moderate temperatures.
I'm honestly not complaining because my last PG&E bill was over $300.

Remember what Samuel Clemens once said...about the coldest summer of his life was spent in San Francisco....darn, I wish I could find the exactly quote. If you know it, post it in the comments.

Town Counsel or Console Me

Ok, I'm an idiot, I admit it. I really don't know who is on the Town Council let alone mayor of Los Gatos. Sure I voted, and at the time, I read all the biographies. But the truth is, my head is in the sand about all of this. I really don't know what the issues are, what their goals are, or even who they are.
And I consider myself politically active.
I'm so ashamed. Time to start acting locally and get my head up & looking again.

What's with all the type A personalities?

So, I was complaining about trying to ride my bicycle with all the insane drivers. And of course, I had nothing but good experiences the rest of the week. People were giving me wide berth. I do appreciate that.

It got me to thinking, though. What are we all in such a hurry for?

Think about this for a second. You're in a rush to get ahead. But who are you getting ahead of, and why? Where are you going? Some of the best times are spent in the moment. The ability to look at someone & genuinely understand them. The moment when the rollercoaster is just about to go down that first drop.

The end of the race is death, and I'm not in any hurry to get there.

Hot hot hot hot hot...ouch

Ok, so I made the mistake of walking around outside barefoot the other evening. Well, my daughter had learned to ride wtihout training wheels as I may have mentioned (is it obvious that I'm a proud parent?) and every night after dinner without fail for the last 4 weeks, we have gone outside so she could ride her bike around. Ok, so it's 98, and I go outside and I'm running around with her until such a point as I realize "Ok, this was not one of my brighter moments." I had her do her loop around the school while I watched, and then we went back home so I could put on my Tevas.
Then the three of us bicycled around the school in the oppressive heat and by the time I got home, my brain was more melted then a soft serve cone in direct sunlight.
It's cooling down a bit...I think we were only 93 instead of 98.
The corn isn't doing well not because I don't water it daily (sometimes twice a day) but because when I let my cat out (15 years old and a spitfire), she goes over & chews on it. Today, she pulled one of the better ones out entirely & it's sitting there with its little roots exposed. Oh I was not happy. She got no table scraps tonight.

Happy Solstice

I hope you're all having the best time today, the longest amount of daylight in the Northern Hemisphere.

I'm hiding in the house working but hope to get outside and go for a walk or a bike ride later.

Bicycling Along Los Gatos

So, you'd think that Los Gatos would be a perfect town for bicycling in, right? Wrong. The streets are narrow, and there are so few bicycle lanes. You can't imagine the number of times I almost got creamed by a psycho in his Porsche on his way to Starbucks.

Thankfully, the Los Gatos Creek Trail cuts through the center of town if you really just need to go from one side to the other.

But if I wanted to bicycle down to Borders, it's not worth the stress of the narrow roads and insanely rude and self-absorbed drives.

But don't get me wrong. There's a lot of insanely rude & self-absorbed bicyclists out there too. (they're probably the same drivers who nearly mow down the commuting bicyclists.) On College Avenue, it's 1.5 lanes wide, and certain times of the day, the sun hits just right to be completely blinding. And there's a blind corner after the first big uphill segment.

Imagine the fun & excitement when you go around the blind curve and 4 bicyclists are coming around that blind corner...4 abreast.

Or you're driving up the hill and get stuck behind them 4 abreast & they're screaming to share the road with bicyclists. Yes, SHARE, not have the bicyclists HOG the road any more then the car should HOG the road.

The problem is the person, not that they're walking, bicycling, motorcycling, or driving. Get a grip people. Courtesy goes a long way.

Gardens

We started corn seeds in an egg carton back in April, and I planted them in the ground in May. They're probably 3-5" tall at the moment, which isn't going to give me fresh corn for the 4th of July, and I don't even want to extrapolate when it will be as high as an elephant's eye.

I've heard that it is possible to grow corn around here, and I'm watering them daily. I think it's just not gotten hot enough for the plants to really sprout.

Yesterday, we planted some flower seeds (four o'clocks and California poppies) in some flower pots. Hopefully those will sprout soon. It's definitely fun to get your hands dirty.

Growing up, we were always successful at growing cherry tomatos. I'd get such a prolific crop of them. We'd also grow lemon cucumbers, and that's about it. Where our strip of dirt was didn't get that much direct sun. It was on the West side of the house, but there was a large hill that would block most of it, and it was below the level of a retaining wall. Still, a garden is a garden, and it teaches you marvelous real life lessons.

You can't cram it all in at the last minute and expect a bumper crop, and sometimes you can do everything right, and it still doesn't work out.

More thoughts on Bookstores

It's funny...when Barnes & Noble and Borders started getting really big, people thought it would be the death knell of independent bookstores. Funny to look back and reflect. We still have some independent bookstores that are niche (i.e. Hicklebees), and we lost the mid-sized chains like Waldenbooks, B. Dalton, and Crown.

Of course, Amazon had a huge impact as well since you can get whatever book you want within a few days.

The interesting thing about Amazon is that they weren't the first online bookstore. bookstacks.com was the first, and you got in by telnet'ing. So for all of you out there with a good idea that you think has been done, don't sweat it. Just do it in a bigger way and become ubiquitous.

what's with the weather?

Ok, you're probably tired of me ranting about the weather, but dammit, what's with the weather? It didn't get over 67F today, and it's JUNE for the love of pete. I am so not used to a mild June like this. I want to wear miniskirts and tanktops. Enough with my jeans and sweatshirts already!!!

And what do you call the rays of the sun that stream down from a broken cloud cover?

Burger Pit

There used to be a Burger Pit between the Wherehouse Records & Tapes and Oldsmobile dealership. It's now PetFood Express and Moore GMC, and the old Burger Pit is an abandoned building. The parking lot is used to store new GMC cars and trucks. It's sad really. I asked someone once why he didn't open his restaurant there, and he said that the person who owed Moore wouldn't allow it. So then I have to wonder why they don't just raze the darn building & turn it into more showroom parking lots...The council had their knickers in such a knot about Swanson Ford closing....

Premium Coffee At McDonalds

Ok, so the latest is that McDonalds now had "premium coffee." I was totally skeptical since they changed from regular coffee to expensive coffee years ago, and it was undrinkable. They fell under the Peets/Starbucks idiotic mantra that stronger coffee tastes better. No, it doesn't. Thanks. Give me a flavorful properly roasted coffee any day.

Well color me surprised that it was actually pretty tasty. Do I think it's worth the price? Enh. But it's better thne it was.

I remember buying large cups of coffee from McD's drive through for cheap when I'd go on long car rides, and it was surprisingly mellow and suited the purpose. Some day, maybe we'll get back to regular tasting coffee.

Vasona Park and Sailing

Yesterday, I spent the afternoon at Vasona Park near the boathouse. I remember back in the 70s, you could take a series of lessons down there starting with canoe and moving up to the large sailboats. I think they were things like Dolphins and Sunfish. My brother got to take lessons (and I didn't, boohoohoo). They don't do sailing lessons or rent sailboats anymore, but they do rent canoes and paddleboats.

The water level is pretty high right now making for some very nice boating.

Mural at Carl's Jr.

So, I'm heading home and I remember that I need catfood. Well, I don't need the catfood...the cat does. I swing into PetFood Express, buy the catfood, and phone home to find out what I'm making for dinner. Husband wants leftovers redone but this time with an exciting side dish. I head into Trader Joe's (love that store), and find a frozen veggie pack that will do the trick. The daughter calls and she wants Carl's Jr. Ok, chicken stars one night this week won't kill her arteries.

I'm standing there waiting for my order remembering when that building was a fruit & vegetable store, and I'm blanking on the name. Martini's Orchard? Anyway, I look at the wall and there's a beautiful mural of Los Gatos in an artists rendition of downtown 1880s. I'd seen it before thousands of times, but this time, I really looked at it, and wondered what was life like back when you had to take a train for long hauls. What was life like with a slow pace?

Today, everything is hurry up and wait. How many of you get impatient waiting for microwave popcorn to be done? And that's only 3 minutes of your life. It would be fun to put aside the cellphones, blackberries, treos, laptops, autos, and just go back to walking for a day. Just to remember that we're humans, not androids.

Youth Science Institute

Just in case you're not aware, there's a Youth Science Institute (aka YSI) that has a branch in Vasona Park. They have lots of cute classes like Hike & Bike, Radical Reptiles, etc.

Boy I sure wish they had that when I was growing up. We'd ride our bikes down to Vasona and spend the day playing around the creek, looking for lizards, etc.

Happy June Day - School is almost over and Aldo's

Hey, early June used to get me so excited because school was almost over. As a parent, I'm flipping out because school is almost over!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Right now, I'm busy with the end of the year parties and activities. Tomorrow is Pioneer Day, and I'm in charge of teaching 36 8-year olds to cross stitch. It'll be fun. I wish we'd done that when I was in 2nd grade.

And apropos of nothing, I went to Aldo's for dinner and had yet again the most perfect meal. I truly recommend them for special dinners or lunches. They're such a warm and friendly place with perfect food.