Under the Baked Potato Tree

We've been having a little taste of springtime around here lately which can make it very difficult to stay inside on a beautiful day. I remember when Lisa and I first moved out to California from the east coast, for a long time I held onto the notion that a mild, sunny day was wasted if spent entirely indoors.

Today is one of those days. I find myself torn between hitting the trial on the trike and heading over to the pool. Those are my two major activities and I usually expend all my energy doing them and have little leftover for anything else.

I still can't get used to this strange physical condition I'm in. If I don't have the weightlessness provided by the pool, the reclined adrenaline supplied by the trike or the slow, steady repetitive motion of either, I feel just awful.

Yesterday, I didn't have to choose between land and water. As I was leaving the Y after a swim, I got a message from Lisa to meet her and Sheri for lunch down by the marina. After a quick sandwich, we went (I cycled, Lisa and Sheri walked) through Cesar Chavez Park to seek out the owls again. Sure enough they were waiting for us, undaunted as ever. We were so glad to be able to share them with Sheri.



Sheri spotted this guy perched beneath what they dubbed "the baked potato tree" (Burrowing owls are pretty much the size, shape and color of a prize-winning russet). Lisa crept under the branches to get this picture.

This outing ended up being a very short ride for me but a milestone all the same — a day in which I didn't have to choose between the wet and the dry.

That's all for now. The sun is shining, my back is aching and the trail is calling my name...