Spring is bustin' out all over Sacramento

It's been sunny and clear here this past week. The trees are leafing out, it seems like everything is blooming, and the wind is blowing, spreading pollens to every part of the valley. Aside from the misery of allergies, it feels like the most beautiful place in the world right now.

Feeling a bit of spring fever, and anxious to get out of the house, Squeeze and I decided to go out to breakfast at a local landmark, the Tower Cafe. A friend had told me about their famous french toast, and when I imparted this information to the spouse, he thought trying it out was an excellent idea. We had planned to sit outside in their lovely patio area, but the wind made the morning quite chilly, so we opted for indoor seating instead.

Squeeze ordered the seasonal french toast, and I ordered the famous french toast. Obviously we needed to sample both if we really wanted to say we had tried it.

We were very glad that each order was only a half order. Each plate held a huge slab of french bread that had been soaked in custard then grilled to a crispy golden finish.

Let me pause here to say "Yum!"


Both versions were delicious, but oh, so rich. Squeeze was able to finish his, but I couldn't quite make it.



Which was better? You'll just have to sample them yourself.

Sowing seeds

There are two things you need to know about me in order for this picture to really make sense.

1. I'm fairly new to gardening, and not yet adept at identifying seedlings.

2. Last year I attempted to start seedlings indoors and they all died when I tried to transplant them. I know now several things I did wrong, but I didn't feel up to trying again this year.

This year, I'm just putting the seeds in the garden and seeing what happens. The weather is nice and warm here in Sacramento right now, so I planted a few seeds along with a couple of plants I got at the nursery.

My concern is that seedlings and weeds might appear at the same time and I, in my ignorance, might pull up the plants that I want to keep while leaving the weeds to thrive.

I saw a post over at Compost Confidential about using toilet paper cores to start seedlings, and it inspired me to recycle them for my own purposes.

I didn't need the full length of the tube, so I cut them into thirds, labeled them with the type of seedling to expect, and placed them in my garden. I planted the seeds in the middle of each circle then watered thoroughly.

Now, it may be that I've done something foolish with this, but if it works it will be very helpful to me. Time will tell.

Satisfaction brought it back

Today I realized that I no longer truly indulge my curiosity. Does this mean I'm officially old?

I'll look things up on line or pick up a book about an interesting subject, but when it comes to interacting with people, I am extremely reluctant to approach them and ask what I want to know. I distinctly remember my kids marching up to complete strangers and asking them extremely personal details. Not that I'm suggesting I would be a better person if I did the same as my toddlers had.

I'm an advocate of personal privacy, but it seems to me that there are certain situations in which it would be acceptable to pose a question or two.

Today there was a group of people protesting at the Citibank across the street from my office. I could hear their leader on the bullhorn, but I couldn't distinguish what he was saying. It happened at lunch time, so I easily could have walked over, read their signs, and asked them about their cause.

But because I am a creature of habit, I settled for snapping a quick photo, listening for a moment to try to catch their slogans, then slipping away to find a bite to eat. I had a notion that I might go talk to them on my way back to work, but they were nowhere to be found at that point.

It's so easy to let an opportunity slip away. I regret not yielding to that passing impulse that encouraged me to cross one more intersection. I hope that next time I will go those few extra steps. Would you?