Whoo-ya! I don't have another class until next Wednesday morning. So, tomorrow a.m. the three of us are off to the coast for some sunnin' and funnin'. I don't plan to hit the computers during that time, but I do plan to have a huge blog blowout when I return.

(It may turn out to be panting and ranting about the heat, I don't know. Last night was the first night this year where we slept with only a sheet the whole night through.)

(And, a bit more about the past few days, because if I do this vacation up right, I won't remember what happened this week. I mentioned Ian and Caroline, and a bit of our activities. We took them out to El Tule to look for mescal and to form their own Northern Californian opinion on the size of that mighty cypress. After about half an hour of sampling mescals around town, Caroline spotted a sign, "Carnitas" -- we rushed over and took a sniff, then immediately plopped down and ordered a medio kilo of carnitas with all the fixin's. Oh, so very very good. Perhaps not the best Passover meal for all present, but our enjoyment of a mighty fine plate of perfectly prepared pork trumped any (minor) religious concerns. Tule is such a cute little town, with its manicured lawns, roses, and topiaries, and they have a pretty good selection of booze. One of the mescal vendors even gave us little bags of worm salt. Drink up!
We also introduced Ian and Caroline to Tamale Lady and her incredible tamales. We lucked out last night, as she had Oaxaqueño-style, wrapped in banana leaves. We spent several evenings sitting on their roof deck, watching the sunsets, the stars, the lights of the city, the full moon, and silent thunderstorms backed up against the mountains to the northeast. Such a Californian thing to do, watching the sky and drinking wine. So very, very enjoyable. They're leaving this morning, and I miss their company already. So long, guys!)