Because it was so clear, we stopped on the way home to look up, even though my walking buddy is not that interested in the stars. If Saturn is to the south, I think we did spot it, and also Pollux. I will check the maps again before the next walk. It is hard to really look if there is only a certain amount of time for a walk, and an errand right after. Even with all the light pollution, it was lovely.

Subjects covered: heart transplant phenomena, , NDEs, black labs, April Fool jokes, car repairmen, The Lovely Bones and how it’s equally riveting the second time around.

We gave the fence with the vicious barker (hard to tell, but maybe a black lab mix) a wide berth, wondering if it was the right fence, and suddenly, there he was! He had a companion who sounded much smaller, and not quite brave enough to stand up there for anyone to see. Near my house, we found the cockroaches, who did not care for my flashlight, and headed for the crevices in the sidewalk. A for sale sign caught our eye, and the flyers weren’t all gone, so we learned the price, which will surely be bid upward.

Is almost impossible while walking at a brisk pace, although we could look up during stops for inhaling deeply of other people’s dinners and the fragrance of their lemon and orange trees. Dodging the debris on the sidewalks is tricky enough with the head down, and the bumps in the paths so easy to see in the daytime make us stumble at night. We resort to walking in the street at times, but that is the most perilous of night hazards.

But I have an idea of what might be visible if conditions are right.

May be my salvation for a quick dinner tonight. If I had buns, I could have chili dogs, but the cupboards are bare. There are apricot walnut scones made yesterday, a bit overcooked.

At the restaurant in Monterey, I ordered shrimp louie, which came with artfully sliced cucumber and tomato along the side of the plate. There was a mystery decorative substance, reddish orange, a bit like carrot, but mushy. Wasn’t watermelon. I asked a son to taste. He did, and spat the word ‘papaya’ in withering disgust.

Years ago, I bought a papaya from a vegetable stand. The elderly man said I was in for a treat, they were just ripe enough. When I served it, no one would eat it because it smelled like barf.

Butyric acid is to blame for the distinct vomit odor that also occurs with parmesan cheese. But I’ve not been able to find much linking it to papayas.

I’m looking at it there on the shelf, having just had the cream cheese pie. Someone gave me a bag of Russell Stover sugar-free solid chocolate eggs. I should crush them and sprinkle over the sugar- and fat-free ice cream. But not today. Today I still haven’t gone to the grocery store, and dinner prospects look bleak again. There is tuna salad, but I had that for lunch. Not tuna on rye or white, but tuna on plate.

The diet continues, the walks will pick up. But with the walks will come more food posts, because I’ll be hungry. Perhaps I will have to go back to the sugar-free Jello.

Some would say a waste of good fries, but others would beg to differ, adding that a few ladlesful of hot gravy would be the crowning touch.

Although he suffers the humiliation of being compared to a raisin, the mighty Hogzilla is exhumed and his size sort of vindicated by no less than National Geographic.

On the other hand, if they had tossed it in the fire, wouldn’t it have burned for seven years?

The last slice. Better to have it now than after dinner tonight, although there is another night walk scheduled. I will check the night sky charts before leaving this time.

Fish stick dessert, worm cookies, and other April Fool treats from Allrecipes.

The Peacemaker score, Han Zimmer.

On a summer evening, it can be very peaceful. At times, the quiet is punctured by sounds from the nearby shooting range, but mostly, it’s the water, the birds, a few fishermen, a few rowboats, and the occasional deer.

Traffic soundtrack, Cliff Martinez. The music from De-Lovely was not quite to my liking.

Not that we ever have much luck at the reservoirs (Stevens Creek mostly), but warnings have been posted regarding the mercury content of the fish.

First the finger in the bowl of chili. Now this.

It is one thing to hear a dog barking behind a fence, and quite another to see the dog’s head over the top of a fence within inches of us on the sidewalk. Which got the walk off to a startling beginning. Then we peered through the chain fencing at the junior high, trying to see what the dark masses were, that turned out to be portables.

We slowed down in front of the house where the residents were obviously having beef stew. A house or two down, we stopped, and tried to determine what was being cooked there, but it was elusive. Meaty, steamy, potatoey. From another house came the smell of bread, but not the homemade kind. More like a purchased bread being warmed up.

We never stop talking unless we smell something wonderful. There were no cockroaches under the beam of my flashlight, hopefully the neighbors stomped them all.

There was discussion of Easter dinners, rhubarb desserts, pies, sex offenders, priests, gardeners, roses, daffodils, and egg dyeing.

Found in the side yard near the house late in the day, should have used the tripod.

Delovely, the soundtrack.

Like eating crunchy air, but tasty, cheese-flavored air. That is a radically different experience from eating cotton candy.

A story told by Pacific Northwest Indian tribes describes earth shakings, land displacement, and tree uprootings that may have been the magnitude 9 earthquake of 1700. Scientists find correlations between the myths and fact, while evidence points to a resulting tsunami in Japan.

A still image doesn’t show you as well as a movie just why it’s called what it’s called. Quicktime needed.

Going around and around and around.

Looking in the freezer for something to thaw, I find very little. A package of puff pastry. The no-sugar, no-fat ice cream. Low-carb fudgesicles. A few link sausages. Juice concentrates. Egg roll wrappers. Miscellaneous small pieces of ham. Peas. Phyllo sheets. A garlic packet from a bag of garlic fries. A lot of bones for broth-making.

Nothing inspiring for dinner.

6.3, info from the USGS.

A look at their lunches compared to those of other countries, and what chef Jamie Oliver is doing about it.

A sculpture show along the Sydney coast, with archives dating back eight years.

The eggs were very difficult to shell, but tasty.

Is more than a little messy. The tomato fell out. The cheese slid dangerously close to the edge. The pickles fell out. The lettuce came out in clumps. But it was good.

I only ate half, thinking it was about 1200 calories, and checking just now, it is 956. That’s more than the new Burger King breakfast sandwich, but I haven’t eaten much all day.

Anansi, his six sons, and the great globe of light.

A forgotten spill, oily tracks all over the floor. Out comes the Swiffer. Now the enduring of the chemical-fresh aroma. It’s not as bad as a dropped mayonnaise jar, then there’s the broken glass mixed with the goo. The worst was the broken thermometer, chasing mercury around in the days before we knew mercury was not to be chased around.

Living in the Bay Area has been like living in a cloud lately, but perhaps not quite as organized as this one.

The 26-day marathon, night-singing tree mice, telepathic email, and many others.

From the Beeb.

Watch out for those pesky head injuries.

Quite a few of her works can be seen at the Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery. The Queensland Art Gallery features a slide show of her beaded sculpture.

The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, very informative, highly entertaining. Definitely not a book to dine by.

I was out of contact lens cleaner, and wouldn’t you know, in order to get to the eye care aisle, I had to go through the candy aisles. Lots of the Peeps soft baskets, all forlorn and rejected. Who knows, maybe they were happy to be rejected, hard to tell with Peeps. Upside down bunnies and ducks. Truck baskets. Creme eggs. No more Dove eggs. Lots of coughing shoppers. One tantrum.

Last week, we found black seed pods under a tree at Target that would have been great photo subjects. However, we elected to get them after shopping, and of course we forgot. Tonight, I remembered, except it was very dark, and even with headlights shining, I couldn’t find the pods. A helpful man and his son happened by, and asked if I’d lost something, like my keys. Why else would someone be leaning over, picking up things, and saying, ‘Nah, that’s just a leaf.’ at 8 p.m. in a parking lot. There were tons of pods the other day.

I would imagine the interview process must have been interesting, one where you hope there are at least 12 people waiting to talk to you, each with samples on the desk to work through. Are there brainteasers about chocolate tasting? Do you have to show your work on a whiteboard? Surely there would be second and third interviews, since a phone one would be out of the question.

After this much chocolate, wouldn’t the stuff in their veins be brown?

Heath bars, Mounds, Almond Joy, Almond Roca, Mr. Goodbar, Tootsie Rolls, 3 Musketeers, Hershey with almonds, Payday, Butterfinger, Milk Duds, Peeps, licorice, peppermint, cinnamon Red Hots, Starburst Chews.

That I saved from Easter shopping are the Dove eggs. Things were pretty much picked over by the time I got to the stores. But there were Milky Way eggs and Snickers eggs, which are probably 75% off today. The only thing I would want would be the plush animals, but it’s nasty out.

Images from an exhibition in 2004.

According to the USGS , today’s Indonesian quake measured 8.7, putting it right up there among the ten worst.

A big bowl of leftover beef stew, because it is raining yet again, after a very rainy Easter. Not only that, the winds are blustery enough to knock off the remaining blossoms of flowering trees. If it weren’t for the flowers, this could be a day in November.

One half-gallon of Denali vanilla and one quart of Double Rainbow Ultra Chocolate are gone. There is an empty spot in the freezer where they were, and one in my heart as well.

I did buy some sugar-free, fat-free Dreyer’s vanilla, but have not had but a few spoonfuls. If it is not so great, I will make floats with diet soda.

Otherwise known as the shortspined thornyhead, it is startling to come across at the fish counter.

Knowing what we need, when we need it most.

From the BBC.

Boiled eggs that have subtle touches of blue and lavender on the white. With mayo, because that’s allowed.

At Monterey Bay Aquarium.

From Science Daily, news that virtual reality is becoming more of a funded technology.

After roasting two ducks today, my supply of duck fat has grown. I need lots to make the duck confit someday.

My son the potato fryer has outdone himself once more, producing two large trays of perfect fries, with help from my other son’s girlfriend, who also made the two cherry cheesecakes. Someone was doing taxes. For sides, we have asparagus and sugar snap peas mixed with bean sprouts.

We will eat while watching Iron Giant. Two of us have not seen it, three of us absolutely love it.

Lots of peas this morning at the Mountain View market - snow peas, snap peas. While there were a few empty stalls, most of the vendors showed up. Got kiwi fruit, baby bok choy, broccoli, and forgot strawberries on the way out. We sometimes run into neighbors, and catch up on news, as in why there were so many emergency vehicles in front of so-and-so’s house a few weeks ago.

The crowds parted momentarily, and I was able to get close.

The bunnies are working the late shift.

We took many, many pictures at Monterey Aquarium today.

A portfolio of his work can be found here.

I planted a lot of pansies in front of and around bulbs this year. Three more bags of bulbs wait to be planted, one each of double-flowered yellow daylilies, tuberous begonias, and dahlias.

It smells like a holiday, but with an undercurrent of ocean air. In a minute or so, I will start the chowder, as we’ve all been out, and there’s no bread of the sort that will take to garlic butter.

Tomorrow there will be the cooking of many eggs.

A few nights ago, I dreamed that my mom served up slugs. Since I was a child in this dream, I had to eat what she cooked, and there were no alternatives. (I think what prompted this train of thought was the mention of eggplant, which was posted earlier.) The slugs were dark, and lost none of their slippery character. I resorted to the childhood trick of putting several things in my mouth but not swallowing. But this was such an unholy texture that I spat them all out on the floor. They moved around. My mom was not pleased.

Clam chowder, garlic bread, and a decadent chocolate dessert. But tonight, I will be lucky to have time to cook the crabs. There are more errands to run. There is Easter grass to find in the garage. I had forgotten that another kid comes home tonight with his girlfriend.

At the Asian store, the crab tank was almost empty. The last time I was there, the crabs were stacked on top of each other, there were so many. Then I saw the sign, ‘Crabs, 1.69 lb, Easter special’. Of the few left, most had missing legs. I got 3. Which is not quite enough for 5 people.

Luckily, I decided to roast the 17 lb turkey early today. That’s enough meat to serve at least 15, but no sides have been prepared.

But the rain has been good to my baby tears.

Dinner must be easy tonight, as there will be several errands today, and a very bad case of spring fever has set in. The drab bird we dubbed ‘brownus birdus’ years ago is hunting for nesting materials. The slight scent of cylamen mixes with the stronger one of freesia. A little black-headed songbird is looking for food. Apple blossoms are beginning to open. It is not a time to be spent over a hot stove.

Once the crabs are bought, all that will be needed is a big pot of boiling water, tongs, a family member or two to oversee the prep work, and a loaf of crusty bread.

If you have petunias in containers, and if there is shelter from cold in your yard during the winter in the Bay Area, they will bloom in the spring. A roof overhang will do, or the temperate zone under mature oak trees.

In the days before Sluggo and other iron phosphate snail/slug deterrents, we had a golden retriever and cats. The concern was that the snail bait available resembled dog or cat food. Search- and-destroy snail missions were the tasks of small boys, who called upon the assistance of a tool that could be wielded. A lightweight bat, something between a wiffle bat and a regular one, was dubbed the ’snail bat’, and off they went.

After many years of service, the bat resides in the garage, stained with past glories. I hesitate to bring it forth as the ‘cockroach bat’, being reluctant to carry a weight on my walks. But a roach might deliver the same satisfying splat as a snail.

This would be the diet, caffeine-free Pepsi or Coke. Any more and the slight remnants of caffeine, despite the claim of none, will serve to keep me awake at night. Sometimes this soda is the highlight of the food portion of my day.

Lots of birds, notably the extra-cheery one that has moved to a neighbor’s tree this morning. The wind chime that signals balmy weather, not the one belonging to the neighbor in back that sounds ominous. The drone of a plane. Someone down the street doing some heavy-duty stapling. No music of the usual kind because there is a kid in the house asleep.

Yet. On night walks, we find them scattered up and down the street, but so far, they are not coming in the house or garage. Yesterday, someone put a note in the mail slot, announcing that they encountered as many as 300 cockroaches on their night walks, and were instigating their own extermination (stomping) procedures.

My walking buddy and I may have to join the crusade, but I am trying to picture killing that many roaches with my current shoes, the ones that are almost new, very clean, with the big toe box. Of course, there’s always the snail bat. But that’s another story.

Once again, they are coming in at the corner of the window where I work. All the cables are down there, and when they start on their journeys, they wind up here on the laptop, the desk, and me. And yes, the bite is sharp and highly unpleasant.

This invasion is confined to a relatively small area (I just woke up, and haven’t checked thoroughly), and is not as disturbing as the last, when the contents of my kitchen cabinets all seemed to be alive and moving. I used the homemade boric acid solution , then bought the largest size of Terro ant bait I could find.

My Good Friday day off is not looking good at the moment.

The Pharaoh’s chicken is also known as the Egyptian vulture. In order to eat an ostrich egg, it will throw stones to break the shell. Not many birds can do this.

Has been purchased and will not be brined, although I hear brining is an excellent thing to do with poultry. When I have a vessel big enough to comfortably hold a 17-lb turkey, I will brine.

I am now considering egg salad as a side dish, or maybe deviled eggs. When put to a vote, the choice usually veers toward fried potatoes.

Alas, several appear to be high-carb. But on a positive note, a recent study shows that a high cholesterol count means your mental abilities are better. But don’t go eating a dozen eggs before that mid-term.

Through the window that has not been washed in a long time. The mate is on the fence near the birdhouse that is too snug for doves. The one on the wire had some trouble balancing, possibly because it is great with egg.