Back in Socal and looking over what a week of hot, dry Santa Ana conditions do to greenery. We’ve got dead and dying plants, lots of downed branches and just a general mess. Other than the truly native plants, it’s getting harder and harder to keep things alive here. I should explain that the previous owner planted many (hundreds) exotic, non-native plants and trees here, and as the drought has deepened these last 18 years it has taken its toll. There’s always something old and established dying. Saw this LA Times headline after I had posted: “Western megadrought is worst in 1,200 years, intensified by climate change, study finds.” Yikes.

We ended our Cabo week with a great lunch at Flora Farms, a five-star restaurant in a most unusual place. Hidden in a little valley a few miles from the Sea of Cortez’s coast, accessed off some rough dirt roads, it’s a farm, an art colony, a BnB and a superb restaurant. Farm-to-table eating at its finest. Flora Farms will be a regular stop for us in future Cabo trip years.

I missed watching the Super Bowl yesterday, as we were in flight during the game. To be more precise, I missed getting together with friends to watch the game. The phrase “there’s always next year” comes to mind, but these days that phrase sounds pretty dumb. Every annual tradition lost or missed has the potential to be…sadly final.