Winter Homecomings

I spent the past eleven days in California.

Direct sunlight is a mood-enhancer.

Sweater-weather is a delight.

But I was glad to be back.

So glad, in fact, that I didn't balk when our flight arrived at 1 a.m., instead of midnight, after approximately 18 hours of travel through four different airports.

And I was pleasantly calm despite the discovery that I had left my lights on, causing my battery to be dead and requiring us to attempt to recoup sleep in the car while waiting the 2 hours for the battery-jumper to arrive.

It's the air here.

It simply suppresses irritation at things beyond control.

Today's theory is that the air here is so crisp, so pristine, that it serves as an ever-present reminder of the value of quality: quality of life, of friends, of boyfriends, of roots, of dreams, of the stuggle to maintain one's slice of utopia when lucky enough to find it.