The Golden State Of Mind

Good morning and greetings, February fans.  Well, it warmed up around the central coast last week, with sunny skies and delightful warm breezes, as the daytime highs got up into the mid 70′s.  The mornings are still cool and crisp, but nothing like the relentless battering weather conditions in Boston, where this month, the snowfall has been absolutely insane, with one blizzard after another.

If you like Super Bowl of snow, then Massachusetts is the place to be in February, as over six feet had fallen in 17 days.  We’re talking about 77.3 inches of the white stuff coming down in a little over two weeks, making it the snowiest February in city history.  It’s like the Mexican drug cartels had taken over the Weather Channel.  It just keeps coming down.

Now on the local front, let’s take a look the conditions we had back in January, where our fair city of Santa Cruz recorded no rainfall for the first time since 1893.  Holy smokes!  According to local meteorologists and my urologist, this has never happened before.  We were rolling on the winter front, with 43 straight days of peace, love, music and UV rays.

How dry was it?  A halibut knocked on my door asking for a drink of water.

Now January is usually the rainiest month on the central coast, where we expect to receive around 6.3 inches.  And looking north to San Francisco Bay area, the conditions were just as bleak, as there was no measurable moistness, which the National Weather Service declared it as the driest month on record, tape or CD.

It was the first time in 165 years that the Bay Area recorded no January precipitation.  If you want to do the math, that’s going back to 1850, long before women started lining up accusing Bill Cosby of any sexual shenanigans.

The only signs of precipitation in the Bay Area was at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, where the Golden State Warriors were raining down three pointers against their opponents.  At the all-star break, Golden State have compiled the best record in the NBA, with an outstanding 42-9 mark.  The dream season continues to roll along, and the only question Warrior fans want answered is, “Is this going to be our championship season?”  Stay tuned.

Now why am I bringing up February’s fabulous weather conditions?  Because back in 1974, before there was history, the internet, and Bruce Jenner was all man, I made my first visit to the Golden State.  Back in February 1974, the central coast was experiencing the same type of delightful weather patterns, with sunny, clear days and highs in the lows 70′s.It seems I had landed in a cold water paradise, where the redwoods got along with the sea.  Who knew?

Now why Santa Cruz?   I know some of you know the story, but it’s worth repeating.  I had first heard the name, Santa Cruz, in the summer of 1972, while attending the summer session of the University of Colorado.  I met a lovely young lady from San Francisco on my first night in Boulder, and I explained to her that I was a refugee from Syracuse University, fleeing the winters in upstate New York.

I told her I was in search of the “kind” weather, which coincidentally was how Boulder was advertised. “If you don’t like the weather, wait ten minutes.”  After she heard my story, she smiled brightly and uttered the magic words, “You should go to school in Santa Cruz.”

Was it kismet?  Was it fate that I had run into this blonde, tall glass of water who went on to become Wilhelmina model?  Well, sitting here in Santa Cruz forty three years later, I guess it was.  Because at that point, I didn’t know Santa Cruz from Jose Cruz.

So after a quick jaunt over to the European continent and the tip of Africa, I returned to the continent, where I then boarded a plane in New York and was deposited in the Golden State, specifically onto West Cliff Drive. My manifest destiny was complete.

I slept like a baby that night along the edge of the continent, and liked it so much that I extended my stay along the cliff to 14 years.  And the rest, they say, is history,  just like Stephen Curry winning the three point shootout in fine fashion on NBA All-Star Saturday night.

For today’s photo replay, we are returning to the evening of December 30.  There wasn’t too much cloud action in the sky, but as the sun started to dip between the clouds and heading for the horizon, I took out my zoom lens to capture the drama up close and personal on this night.  It’s just a kiss away.

On to some late night humor.  “Despite the Brian Williams lying scandal, NBC News led in the ratings last week. Although I should note the figures were reported by Brian Williams.  There’s a rumor that NBC is going to have Tom Brokaw fill in temporarily as the NBC News anchor. When asked why, a network spokesperson said, “Because the only other NBC person we have is Bill Cosby.” – Conan O’Brien

“It’s been reported that Beyoncé wore $10 million worth of jewels to the Grammys. When asked why, Beyoncé said, “I didn’t want to bring the good stuff.”  An old pair of shoes once owned by Justin Bieber has sold on eBay for $50,000. To be honest, they’re a little tight on me.  A Saudi Arabian prince has said that oil may never again rise above $100 a barrel. He said it’s gotten so bad he can’t afford to buy his wife her own car that she’s not allowed to drive.” -Conan O’Brien

“Once again it’s Fashion Week here in New York City. The top models of the day are very, very skinny. I did the math on this — it takes about a dozen models to actually create a shadow.  A woman in Manhattan went into a seafood restaurant, bit into a hunk of fish and got a fish hook in her mouth. I hate when you go into a restaurant and you’re the catch of the day.” -David Letterman

“Pot growers in the state of Washington have a problem. Supply there has outstripped demand and they have a lot more marijuana than they can sell.  Washington has more pot than they can smoke, which might help to explain why Pete Carroll called for a passing play on the 1 yard line.  The pot surplus is so bad in Washington right now that the governor is saying they may have to deploy Willie Nelson to the area.” -Jimmy Kimmel

So birthday wishes go out to my brother Paul, who turns the big 60 on Sunday.  He says he’s not concerned about turning sixty, and by early June, he’ll actually be able to say the number out loud.  Here’s joy to you, my brother.

So we’ll catch you tearing it up in the backcourt, but once again, not being named as a replacement on the all-star team.  Aloha, mahalo and later, Monta Ellis fans.