Late July

It's been a series of highs and lows of late, both literally and figuratively. There was my exceedingly warm birthday in the middle of July that, traditionally, was neither hot nor very blue-skied along this part of the California coast. Given the toasty forecast, I threw caution to the wind and held a BBQ in my backyard and it was glorious. -no long sleeves, no goosebumps. Last week, I had a serendipitous meeting in my hometown with a former colleague from 20 years' back. She happened to pop into a shop that a friend of mine runs while I was there making chit-chat. I should say that I bump into people from seemingly almost all decades of my life living very near where I grew up, but this particular former co-worker, originally from Minnesota, bounced around the country a bit before returning to California post-pandemic and landing in the small city in which I grew up. -kinda nifty! 

In May, my husband was laid-off from a job he'd held for more than a decade. He has since rediscovered his love of fishing. The hubs grew up fly-fishing in Colorado. We live near the Pacific Ocean. There was a slight adjustment to be made before he felt confident in his efforts surf-casting, but his near-tireless efforts have paid off--

Striper, approx. 26", caught 7/31/26

Yesterday was gorgeous, so we took a bike ride up and through Golden Gate Park en route to the Dahlia Garden as it is in the early stages of blooming. It's an annual must-see. Here is some of the bounty--