full moom #12 plus 4 days

We are in the middle of experiencing the kind of winter rain that didn't really happen after we arrived here last January. This is day 3 of fairly consistent rain, sometimes with howling winds. Now we know what everyone was talking about! Still, the temps have been in the 60's and there are little patches of calm with some sun....not too bad for "winter."

Besides the relief of returning Obama to office, the elections in California secured both state houses for the Democratic party, and a tax proposition was passed to support education. Here's hoping those wins will come with wisdom, and that opportunities for good change will not be squandered by greediness.

I had 2 chances to travel to the LA area this past month. The first was a visit to my dear friend from residency days, Alicia. She and her husband Albey have a house in Sherman Oaks, near Albey's son's family. The house allows them to spend chunks of time with 2 incredible grandsons, who live very near by, while keeping their primary home in Moab. Alicia and I had fun "playing house," adding some things to their very nice space. And it was a wonderful chance for me to talk in depth about my "issues" with 2 people who have known me for decades. Just having time with them was very healing for me.

Trip #2 was over Thanksgiving, when Rich and I drove to visit his Uncle Rich and Aunt Jenny in Redlands. They are a delightful couple in their 80's, and since we have stayed with them several times before, the visit was quite relaxing for all of us. We enjoyed looking at old photos and hearing about Rich and Jenny's early days together in Kansas City. And we were very happy to be back home in Santa Cruz and away from the freeways of LA!

Yesterday brought a couple of new experiences, both good. There is a student group on the UCSC campus called CARE (don't know what the letters stand for...). Each quarter they have an event at one of the homeless shelters where they offer various services for the clients, like hygiene products, haircuts, foot washes, clothing, etc. Three of my colleagues from the Student Health Center and I went along to offer medical "consultations" to interested folks there. I am not sure we accomplished much besides helping people get referred to be seen at a real clinic, but it was so much fun for me to back with "my people." I made plans with the student organizers to become more involved in their future events. I am hoping this new link will give me a way to make use of my experience with this patient population, and maybe share some of what I have learned with some of the UCSC students. I feel happy about having this new opportunity to explore!

Then, last evening we attended my first "office party" in celebration of the upcoming holidays. It was fun to introduce Rich to the people he has been hearing about for the past 9 months! They really are a good group, and the event turned out to be quite nice. And Rich was a champ about it, although it was certainly not his cup of tea.

I am hoping to catch up on some home office and correspondence stuff this afternoon. And enjoy being  warm and cozy at home with Rich and our cat "kids." I think we are going to see sun tomorrow!