January 12, 2023- There was this long journey, made by someone dealing with an injury, the journey was a solo one, with only an intermittent stop, for someone to check on the person’s condition. Then, the road continued. The destination was reached, around 4:30, this afternoon. I had the honour of helping the individual get settled again.

January is ever a surprising month, and this year is already a year of surprises. More rain and snow has fallen, in California, than in any winter in the past thirty years. Lake Cachuma. a key reservoir near Santa Barbara, that has been rather low, for several decades, is now full to overflowing- becoming so, just in the past month. I suspect the same is true for other southern California lakes-though not yet for Lake Mead.

The rhythm, the pattern, of winter in the western United States thus far this year suggests a 1924 song by George Gershwin. “Oh, what a mess you’re makin’.”, sang Tony Bennett, as Joe Bari, in 1949. Oh, what a mess is being made now. Will the solutions that come out of the current mess, whether it is made, or they are found, in California, in Kenya or in Brazil, be equally as fascinating and impressive in their execution.

Here’s Tony Bennett performing “Fascinatin’ Rhythm” with Diana Krall, in 2018.