What is so rare as a day in June? A globally-warmed day in this particular June, everyone in habitually foggy San Francisco out on the streets and looking amazed. That’s the thing about living in a cool and windy city…when things change one appreciates the difference. Does this include me? Yes, meteorologically. And can I transfer this awareness to the task of looking forward to the drive to Palo Alto?

I don’t have to drive. Jane has volunteered to do this. What the hell, I say. Why not? After all, the motorway takes us right along the San Andreas fault, so I can stare out the window and muse heavily upon life’s capacity for imminent destruction. It’s me. Go figure.

Go tell it on the mountain, while you’re at it. After all, our trip will take us along California’s coastal range, forested slopes bursting with greenery in the midst of the drought. Never mind that they’re not actually bursting. And let’s forget that Santa Barbara is bursting into flame, at least at its periphery. Because, what is so rare as a drive in a day like this one…in June?

Because there’s only one day to find out…this day. The longest Saturday remaining in 2016. What do you say to that? It’s never going to get any longer…2016 Saturdays, so carpe diem, I say. I say other things, but can’t remember them, age being what it is. I am prepared to give it the vehicular college try. Stay tuned for the full 70-mile (round-trip) saga.