today is sunday, march 10th.

on friday afternoon, there was a brush fire in the gully behind our house. i think i was the first to spot it. i was on the upstairs computer, and i happened to hear a bit of crackling coming from the gully. when i looked that way, i noticed a plume of white smoke coming up, and as i went to the window, i could swear that i heard a bunch of kids running. i called the fire department, and then i went to my backyard to watch the spectacle. the fire was actually quite fast, and in 5-10 minutes, i could see the flames start to lick up the sides of the gully, not far beyond the wall of california grass that lined the rim of the gully. a tree near the edge of the gully ignited. soon, my neighbors and i were spraying the grass with our water hoses, in preparation for the fire's arrival. just about then, the fire department arrived, and drove directly into the canal, and put out the fire from there...

yesterday, there was the whole eat-the-street thing on the street above ours. i was actually looking forward to having a relaxing day at home, and heading up to the event for lunch and for dinner. but it turns out that we were invited to a friend's son's birthday party, and i volunteered myself to help out with games. so for the majority of the morning, i was trying to plan out some last-minute games for the 5-year-olds who would be at the party. most of the games i put together, it turns out, weren't used; the kids were disinterested, and the parents weren't willing to corral the kids (they were just kind of sitting around and eating and talking), so only a few kids did what i had planned anyway. i stayed at the party for pretty much the whole duration, from set up to clean up. not the most relaxing way to spend my day off, but it was for a good friend.

which brings us to today, a rainy sunday. i've got nothing much to report beyond that. sorry.