The Doors Are Open, Spring Is Here

      Happy Vernal Equinox! Spring is finally here! Although, that wasn’t much of a winter. We had a couple of days near 90. I hope that’s just a fluke. We’re expected to get some days in the 80’s next week. Even the seasons don’t know what’s going on! I am happy though. I like when everything starts coming back to life. Except the gophers! I can’t stand gophers! Evil little buck-toothed vermin! My backyard has so many holes, I’m afraid to walk back there because I might twist my ankle! We had a whole bloom of Johnny Jump-ups growing in the yard, and the bastard-ass gophers took them down. Whoa, whoa, whoa, when I started this, I said I was happy, now I start in with the gophers, and look what happened. Sorry.  I am happy. I’ve been able to open the house up for the past few days, to let the heat in. I wish there weren’t so many dogs in the neighborhood, ruining my peace! Sometimes I feel like I live in a kennel. I’ve only ever heard these many dogs barking all at the same time, when I was near a kennel. It’s not just today either, it’s constant. It’s unnerving. Part of me wants to complain to the HOA, and part of me wants to… Oops, never mind, nothing to see here, I was just talking about how happy I was. I mean am. I do like the change of the seasons, as I’ve probably mentioned to you before. I think it’s important to notice, and take stock. Animals become twitterpated, flowers start to bloom, people start to think about outdoor gatherings. Regardless of all the “celebrations,” I think it’s good to keep an eye on what’s really happening: Spring. The time of rebirth. If we were farmers, it’s time to plant. And I see that as a metaphor for what seeds we’d like to sow. What do we want to put out that we hope we get a return on? I’ve been thinking about this all day, and, I’m on to something.

     My wife and I are going out to a fancy dinner tonight. Both Equinoxes, and both Solstices, we pick a place to go and have dinner that we’ve never been to before. It’s the only time we really “go out.” Especially by ourselves. We occasionally go out to eat, but nothing like on the season markers. Those are our 4 definite times. On our birthdays and such, we normally have a group, we don’t usually do anything just for each other. So, the seasons dinners are our only “big deal.” Tonight, we’re trying a new Brazilian Steakhouse. It’s the only one near us. I hope it’s good. The only other 2 are downtown, so having one close to us would be nice. Nobody I know likes parking downtown, and Lyfts are expensive from here, especially if you need more than one. My parents love Brazilian Steakhouses. We go every other year or so. My wife and I are kind of doing reconnaissance. Sometimes, before we take my parents to a new place, we like to go see if it’s worth it first. Tonight is one of those times. My parents are not as adventurous as they once were, so sometimes, recon is necessary. I’m excited. I thought about going tomorrow. Friday is usually the night I don’t cook. But, since practice got cancelled, and it happens to be the Equinox today, it seemed to all work out. However, UCSD made it to the tournament for the first time ever, and they are playing tonight, and we’d probably like to see that, but, some things are more important. Plus, practice was cancelled Tuesday as well, and that night, SDSU were playing, and I was glad to be able to see it. Until I actually saw it! It was a disaster. I don’t need to see another one of those. Anyway: today is day one of the tournament, and 6 games in, we’re in first place! We’ve picked 5 out of 6 right so far! Yay!

     Last week was kind of a trip. We decided to go to a little place near us called the Casino Inn. We’ve been there a couple of times over the past couple of years. It used to be a dive bar that served food. They were known for their burgers. But now, it has turned into mostly a restaurant. It still may seem a little shady to some, but for us, it has a cool vibe. They had a corned beef special, I was thinking about what I wrote you last week, and decided: I had to try it. It was the most amazing corned beef experience of my life! I have never had any better. I almost teared up! Not only was it the best corned beef, it was one of the best things I’ve ever eaten period! I’ll never look at corned beef the same way again. Sunday, I went to jam with Lance. It was a beautiful day, and he has a cool piece of property, so it turned out to be a cool experience. We had never been to his house during the day. I took Susan with me, just to have something to do. We ended up doing a bit more drinking than playing, but it was alright. Usually, I don’t drink when I’m practicing. And I especially don’t usually drink when I’m trying to learn something. But, it was our first official “hang out,” so I decided to stay loose and go with the flow. Good thing! We agreed on 3, but we didn’t get started until almost 5! His son was supposed to join us, it’s very important to him that his son be a part of it. I’m contributing to their project. His son is Cole, he’s 22, I’ve known him since he was probably 7. This was to be the first time we played together. I didn’t know if we were waiting on him, or what. He eventually showed up around 6, saying he “overslept.” We got to play 3 songs, before he had to leave. He seemed excited, but man I hope it’s not like that every time we make plans. I thought I’d be there for 2 hours, not 4. But it was fun.