Slow Sunday Scenes in the Village: Mixing it UP

Southern California can be a funny place, you know? It has, probably, always been populated by wishful thinkers, and this time of year has always been the best time to see them in their element. It may have been around 70 degrees by 10:30 this morning, but tomorrow is December 1st dang it, so it is time for Uggs and heavy sweaters, beanies and gloves. Then there are those, the realists, of contrary opinion who ride by wearing thin lycra and little more. Unsurprisingly, most folks this morning were somewhere in between, even us bicyclists, many of whom had started out some two or more hours earlier knew to wear windbreakers. It is the season to layer.

You know, i can't tell you how many times i've turned around mid-ride in order to snap a pic of something i noticed in passing. This morning there was a portion of street that had been painted purposeful pink with the fallen flowers of a couple eucalyptus trees. I thought of making a u-turn, but then with the next thought, didn't. Nor did i stop for any of those amazingly colored trees, bedecked as they are right now, in the most brilliant reds and yellows. A nice mix whether as a backdrop while looking up the street, or as a colorful litter between street and sidewalk. Another nice mix was the variety of riders out today, from people picking up items at the farmers market, or local small businesses, or those out purely for recreation.

the mrs. wasn't sure this Christmas cactus i had picked up at Noren's Nursery would make it home; it was a bit precarious, but it did make it