Sunny today - how odd it seems to write those words. 2008, so far, has not been sunny - but today it was and its a court holiday so I went for a walk on the ranch trail this morning for the first time since the operation. The trail winds back and forth for about 1 mile on the first half, laid out to try and go thru a variety of microenvironments. The garden, a meadow, the fir forest, blackberries on a hillside, dense forest, thick blackberries, the old spring, more forest, another meadow, down the old road, up through the firs to a plum grove (wait till they flower) up under the powerlines with their on planetary system, and follow the road back.



I've often thought that we have flowers in bloom all year round on the ranch. Here's the one I saw today - a small "meadow flower" at the edge of the garden path.

The Doctor said (or my sweetie said it perhaps) stop and get out of the car every hundred miles or so and walk around a little bit. Good for your health.

I stopped at Dora Creek. Here's one of my series "Waterfalls of California"

Mount Shasta, just south of Yreka on I-5.

My Doctor says the plan suggested for weight loss while eating at restaurants is this: when you order also ask for a take-home box. Put 1/2 the order into the take-home box, then eat the rest. I tried something like this at the Purple Plum in Yreka where I could have gotten 10% off if I had remembered to show my Best Western room key. But i didn't do that. I did get the meat loaf dinner and the take home box. I had a great dinner and the next day a full lunch, perhaps even more than I would have otherwise had for lunch. Score one for the plan. But I left after the Plum stopped letting people in, then realized I had left the take-home box on the table. The doors would not open so I had to go bang on the front window to get a waitress to see the box - she did but I felt like the guy in the horror movie about to be eaten by the monster while the patrons of the restaurant ignored the peril I was in.

But here's the tip: I woke up at 5:30 a.m. Not because I'm really into early to bed and early to rise (and your gal goes out with other guys, as the song says) but because the previous room guest left the **** alarm clock set and the maid did not unset it. The tip is this: first thing when you get a motel room. Unplug the clock. You'll never figure out whether or how to change the alarm setting. Just unplug it and forget it.

Stayed at the Best Western in Santa Rosa, abandoning the Motel 6 because it has no broadband internet. The BW is way over town, as Ray Charles said (way cross town?) and it looks like any other strip motel. Once you get settled in you can see advantages, like the landscaping outside the big floor to ceiling glass door. But its got one of those windows for late night check-in where you're outside and the guy is inside and you slide stuff through a little slot. I never thought of this kind of security against walkup stickups as indiciative of a nice neighborhood. Kind of makes me nervous about staying there at all.
Naturally the wi-fi failed about 1/2 hour after I got there. They had a hardwired room (most do) and it failed too. The clerk was really nice and got tech support going and in another hour or so we were back on the internet. I got lost driving to court - it turns out that Santa Rosa's freeway exits and entrances are not all paired up. Sometimes you can get off but not back on - and the Santa Rosa/Corby exit for the BW is one of those.

Good room otherwise. Large comfortable bed, good desk space for working, bath tub, and the whole thing was spacious. I did hate to change rooms when I can only carry 10 pounds at one time - that kindof draws things out. Perhaps it's good exercise.

No problem getting to Yreka on Route 96 up the Klamath river. Well, there was a lot of snow alongside the highway, and the temperature was in the mid-30s and falling, and it was raining for a while - but in the end, no problems. Lots of snow in Yreka, making the sidewalks a bit tricky, but the roads were ok.



Driving to Ukiah was a snap - took a while. At Patronas I had the lamb pizza. Its a regular pizza (for them - very thin crust) with cooked onions and slices of lamb on it. Odd idea but great taste. You'll find it under "flatbread" in the "shared dishes" section of the menu. I recommend the Petite Syrah. Took a diet break and had the pecan/date crisp for desert. Ummm. I walked there and back from the Best Western so no doubt I worked off any extra calories.

Yesterday afternoon the doctor cleared me to return to the courts, which I'm eager to do - or at least my conscious mind is eager. Last night I dreamed that I was on a jury for a case involving a current client who I was representing. I determined that I would have to turn the case over to another attorney since I was on the jury. But I had gone home for lunch - home to Alderpoint - and now I was going to be late getting back to court and the judge was going to be upset. As I started to drive away my wife came out in the front yard frantically calling me to stop because our next door neighbor had a legal question for me. I didn't stop, but drove off only to find the road blocked and a rough detour necessary. As I started the detour a cap broke off my tooth and I accidently threw the broken off part out the window of the car into the mud. Then, luckily, I woke up.

This afternoon I start a three county court tour with a trip to Yreka where I have a couple of cases pending, then off to Ukiah for a massive recalendering, wrapping up the three day trip in Santa Rosa with a prelim. Its great to be back, or at least, my conscious mind thinks so.