Rocky Trails

We had a nice break in the weather today, although the weatherman keeps telling us it isn't over yet. I think several years of drought has caused the forecasters and newspeople to lose touch with the reality that used to be winter. The weather we are having doesn't seem that different from what we used to call 'normal'.The main concern in our area is falling trees which are blocking roads and causing power outages (Why, oh why, don't they put power lines underground instead of replacing wooden poles with more wooden poles?)

We took advantage of the temporary lack of precipitation to go have a look at Spring Lake. The park is closed to cars but despite signs warning of flooded trails nobody is preventing people from walking there. We stuck to the paved paths which were perfectly passable and enjoyed our first walk around the upper reaches of the park which we hadn't walked in a long time. I was struck by how rocky the terrain is and instead of taking pictures of the muddy lake I took pictures of the newly formed pools amongst the rocks. Spike enjoyed himself meeting lots of dogs out for a walk with their people. The days when we didn't know if he was on the attack or just curious when he lunged madly at other dogs are blessedly over, and he has proven that all he wants to do is have a quick sniff and move on. 

There was an interesting article in the paper this morning about Tani Cantil-Sakauye, our recently retired California Supreme Court chief justice. She began her career in judicial law in 1990 when she was appointed to Sacramento municipal court by Governor George Dueukmejian in a culture that was overtly dismissive of women. She worked within systems, making her name based on her work and by working within systems she tried to make more accessible to more people.


There were no majority female prosecutors to copy. So the people that shaped me are the people I decided not to be.
--Tani  Cantil-Sakauye

I think that is a really notable quote. The first person I would decide not to be is Kevin McCarthy, the newly 'elected' speaker of the house of representatives. Things don't look good for him or the normal functioning of the government as he seems to have sold his soul to a small group of right wing extremists who are holding the government hostage.