Paddleboats and Geese

Inexplicably, we were both really tired last night and fell into bed with no idea how we were going to rearrange things during the bathroom remodel.The situation was remedied sometime between four and five am when a plan formed itself in my mind. There was no going back to sleep at that point so I got up and started executing it. 

We had to take our car in for service at 9am and John, being somewhat OCD about time started lobbying to leave before that. In my sleep deprived state I kept confusing moving our possessions around, followed by killing two hours until the car was ready, with going on holiday. Worrying about forgetting something crucial, being late, waiting around...all seem to be a part of embarking on a holiday, but that is something we haven't really done in a long time.

I explained my demented state to Crystal at the Trail House and she said, 'You're always welcome to be homeless here'. 
'We never feel homeless here' I said. 
She provided a little paper cup of foamed milk for Spike which he proceeded to eat in its entirety while we sat there. He's not particularly food driven, but he does love his paper products!

We walked a few blocks to Howarth Park which connects on its eastern end to Spring Lake. We wandered up the hill to Lake Ralphine, a little manmade lake with an island in it which is home to swans, geese, ducks and a number of cormorants sitting in the trees. There is also a boathouse which is open in the summer for kayak and paddleboat rentals. I liked the contrast between the brightly colored paddleboats and the rusty waterworks to which they are tethered. The geese apparently liked them too, because there were several of them standing around on top of the boats

Russian River Brewing, of Pliny fame, is making and releasing a special beer at the same time as they release Pliny the Younger (the one for which people stand in line for hours for a sip). It is based on one of four recipes, an IPA, published by Pravda (Ukrainian) Brewing on Facebook with the request that European breweries keep alive these recipes . Russian River will 'add their own special twist' to it because there is some ingredient they can't get here.  All proceeds will go to Ukraine. Here is a link to the story in the Press Democrat, our local paper.

As always, the ordinary people on both sides of this pointless and destructive invasion are the ones who suffer. And the Russian people are being kept in ignorance of the appalling actions being undertaken in their name....