I love seeing flowering fruit trees every January; seems like it happens here ridiculously early, and I’m always surprised.

But we are officially in a drought in California. We’ve had no rain here at all for months.

The governor has declared a state of emergency, and it remains to be seen what effect this will have on the public (after all, most of the water in California goes to agriculture, lawns and golf courses, that kind of thing).

So these dry, oddly warm, balmy days in Northern California (imagine T-shirts in January—I’m wearing one right now: it happens to be the Moveon.org Obama shirt that I no longer like to wear in public!), I think people are feeling an underlying fear. Fear of the unknown, of what might be around the corner, climate-wise.

Mark Morford said it better than I could in his latest column for SFGate, “Fine Weather for Creepy Melancholia.” He was at the beach sunbathing for his January birthday…

The rest of the country is freezing, of course. And I am grateful for this “nice weather,” this early spring which feels like summer, but still a little unnerved.

Another thing I am grateful for: being included on two vibrant new sites for lesbian authors and readers, Sapphica Books and IndieLesfic.com! Read more about it on my News page.

How has this winter been for you?