It’s really winter here now. You can tell by the daily rain (it began last Sunday and has been going ever since). We’ve had about 10 inches in December, and half of that or more in the last six days. The creeks that run down from the hills and cross the Berkeley flatlands to the bay are rushing full and loud (sometimes in the open, like Codornices Creek, above, just below Live Oak Park; mostly in culverts, so most people don’t suspect they have a small river running right through the middle of their block in the rainy season).
But this isn’t a winter without respite. We always see breaks between storms, hours when the weather clears. This morning, for instance. The clouds blew off to the east, and suddenly it was sunny and warm. Everything started to dry out. The air was washed and clear. I walked past a spot where Kate and I sometimes go to sit and talk and drink coffee on Saturday mornings, the yard behind the big middle school up the street, and you could see clear across playground, the town, and the water to the Golden Gate.
The clouds closed in again late in the afternoon, and it started to rain just before dark. The forecast for tonight, tomorrow, and the next several days is the same: Rain. More rain. And then some more after that. I’ll be looking for the breaks.