Laura in California

I am now in the international terminal of Logan waiting for the Lufthansa people to show up so I can check my bag and go through security and wait some more. This strikes me as a good time to tell the internet what has been happening in my life.

I spent the last two weeks at home. Many of my friends were still in school, so much time was spent with the family. Some highlights follow.

My mom's birthday was right after I got home. To celebrate, we drove up to Point Reyes, the home, you may recall, of the tule elk. We saw no elk, as we did not visit the elk reserve. Instead we climbed a small hill in our car and picnicked on the top of it. There was a good deal of fog below us, and very little above us, which means there wasn't a nice view, but we still got sunburned. Nevertheless, it was a nice picnic. We had croissants from the Bovine Bakery, a favorite haunt of people on bikes. Once when we were small we saw Robin Williams there.

The next day we went to the San Francisco Ferry Building for the farmers' market. We bought some whole wheat flour from a man who had ground it himself! Fancy that. For all its locavore appeal, it didn't make very nice bread. Possibly because I winged it. Kids, it's a good idea to

follow the recipes. They are there to help you.

Fat Blackie Garfield lost another tooth. He had to go to the veterinarian to have it pulled. He is now down to one canine. This makes it difficult for him to groom himself properly. This is a picture of him. It looks like he only has one eye in the picture, but that is not the case. I chose this picture because he looks especially silly in it. The vet put Blackie on a special diet. The new food is supposed to help his dandruff problem.

On Monday we decided to be spontaneous. We went to Yosemite. This is a four hour drive. I drove us up New Priestly Grade, which is kind of like Rainbow Road in Mario Kart, only it's not in space. You will be happy to know that I did not drive off the edge. There is also an Old Priestly Grade, which is even more deathlike. I used to lean toward the uphill side whenever we went down it.

California got a lot of rain/snow last winter, so there was lots of water in the waterfalls. We

walked in to Bridalveil Fall, and got drenched in the mist from the falls. This is a picture of a different waterfall. I took it through the roof of our car. It represents the clash between civilization and nature. I took it with my phone.

On Tuesday, my last day before I left, my mother, my sister, and I went to a coffee tasting. Some coffee beans dry with the fruit on them and some are washed of their fruit before they are dried, and this makes the coffee taste fruity or not. Also, peaberry means the berry only made one bean inside, not two. I learned this. I also learned how to slurp coffee so that is sprays gently across the palate. You just kind of slurp.

Then last night I got on a red-eye and flew to Boston. Whee. I didn't talk to anyone, because I like to sleep and I don't like people. But the two people who were talking behind me were both MIT students. This reminds me that I had a brass rat moment while comparing butters at the Berkeley Bowl. Actually I think it was a MIT sweatshirt moment, but whatever. It was kind of fun.

This is a picture of dusk on the golden hills of Moraga. In this picture, the hills are golden with mustard plants. In a month they'll be golden with dead grass.