belated, but that's ok

 I'm "doing" St. Pat's dinner here on Sunday. It is still hot and there is NO air conditioning in my tiny oven-like home. Getting lots of help, thankfully. Today Heidi and I buy the corned beef at Robert's. And bring up the extra table and sit in between. More later...

no longer silent

 Dolores Huerta (age 96) is finally able to talk about the ex-hero Cesar Chavez. This whole thing is sickening and now we scramble to change names (I'm guessing) on quite a few streets and buildings here in California where he led the Farmworkers Union back in the 70's. For shame, Cesar.

late lunch by the Bay

 Scott, Nancy and I went out to Mission Rock yesterday for a late lunch and some cool ocean breezes. The heat wave continues through Friday, or so they say. So nice to have family here for a few days and they were not missing the Chicago weather. 

BBQ weather here

 Doug and Barb invited me to their deck last night and the city was starting to cool down, thankfully. We are having an unusual heat spell this week. I tried a new fake beer and decided that O'Doul's is still the best. Their garden is a gorgeous jungle, the food was delicious and we chatted away until dark when I left to return to my hot house and hungry cat. (You can almost see Fred the squirrel in the garden photo.)

Oscar fun with pizza

 Like clockwork. Nicole, Meredith and Heidi joined me for the smooth, no-surprises Awards ceremony last night and we had a good time discussing the actors and what they were wearing. Conan does a fine job hosting, as did I.  The dishes were done and I was in bed by 9pm. Applause, please.

thank you and RIP

  I was sorry to see that Mark Bittner died on March 1. He cared for and wrote about the wild parrots here in San Francisco and his book (2005) and documentary were best sellers. The beautiful (and noisy and messy) wild parrots have proliferated in the City and we love them because they are another colorful part of the craziness that we celebrate here. Thank you, Mark.

and yes, more flowers

 The top photo is from yesterday's neighborhood walk and the bottom two are from my very own garden. I have no idea what these flowers are but they have NEVER bloomed like this. The gift of rain and now gorgeous sunshine.