Hi All,

On the list of things we've covered over the past few years, I don't think I ever told you how much I hate to drive at night in the rain. I was reminded on my way home tonight how I felt about it. As I approached the north end of Petaluma tonight it was raining so hard I could barely see the road, but is seemed as dark as the inside of a black dog, meanwhile the signal lights were way to bright. The on coming car headlights are bright enough to give you a head ache except for those few who for some reason forgot to turn them or, or they think driving with running lights is ok. In my car, it sits too high so the wind loves to play tricks on me when I drive and with the soft top I can hear every drop of rain, but I still keep my right window open just a tad, because I can judge how fast and what direction the wind is blowing. Along came a big truck and I could see the water spray behind him. I got a firm grip on the steering wheel and closed my eyes for must a moment until he went by. Otherwise, when the water spray hits the car, I want to flinch.

As I was approaching the City of Cotati this red Volvo station wagon rode up to the stop sign on my right. It was as if the driver could barely hold the car back from wanting to go further and faster on its own. Talking to myself as I do from time to time I said, "Hey Mister, you better get ahold of that Volvo!" Further into the back roads I remembered Don always telling me I was supposed to be averting my eyes to the white line on the side of the road and as these are country roads, most of the time that white line is missing. I thought for a moment that the guy in the fast Volvo probably came by and took it with him.

Ah, it was good to see the driveway tonight. I got out the car and hurriedly got my garbage can and put it out on the street before that son of a butcher next door could park out there and block my driveway and take my can space.

I hope you enjoyed this bit of storytelling. It's quite similar to a marvelous program I saw on regular TV last night. It's called PorchlightSF. It's a regular part of the literary scene in San Francisco. Every month a group of six interesting people take to the stage and make their delivery for ten minutes on some very interesting topics. For those attending AGU this year, you might give it a second or third thought for what to do on a Monday night.

Petra

http://www.porchlightsf.com/thismonth.html

• Porchlight SF