Rainy Days in California

Since it was raining too hard to go for a walk this morning, I decided to take down the blown glass Christmas balls I had hanging in the window in the sunporch. They are so pretty, I really hated to take them down, but then it makes me happy to see them again next year. John is going to redo the board they are hanging from to make it easier to hang them next year. This year was a very tedious affair of stringing the fishing line up through the hole, and then looping it around a pencil or chopstick or bunch of toothpicks held together on a rubber band. And then I decided the holes weren't close enough together, so I had another string strung from hole to hole and then had a ball hanging on that one. With every one I took down, I just hoped I was holding the ball I thought I was cutting or removing the string to, and that it wouldn't turn out to be another one that would go crashing down on the floor. I didn't get them all taken down, but I have most of them down. You can see the raindrops on the window if you look closely.
We're getting ready here to have a couple of weeks of rain, apparently a couple of cold storms to be followed by a warm storm. Right now it's snowing in the mountains, so there's great joy among skiers and snowboarders and everybody who owns a business up there. And all of us in California think it's pretty nice when there's lots of snow in the mountains, because that means there will be some water this summer.
John and I managed to "thread the needle today" went out and had lunch and went over to the gym between storms. I walked, he took his bike. Managed not to go either direction in the rain. We had a really nice sunset tonight, though, during the evening break in the rain.
We are down to one car since he totalled his truck last May, and my goal is to drive less this year than last -- which I think will be a challenge because I think I had less than 5,000 miles last year. I know I didn't drive enough to get the oil changed last year and I only spent $260 on gas all year, so getting below that will be a challenge, especially since John wants to take the car every time he goes to the gym or the grocery store, which I think is a BIG waste of gas, and that's the most polluting time your car drives anyway. Lynda came over while we were rehearsing this afternoon and brought us this giant trout she caught. Good stuff for dinner tonight!!