A boozy lunch at the office Christmas party and something about the "jewel of Oakland."

The lake is a slough is a tidal estuary, and it once formed the basis for the city of Oakland's sewer system — quite Modern and Hygienic! — the lake is ringed by lights and joggers and Canada geese, the occasional pelican. The lake is ringed by hundred-year-old houses framed in redwood cut down in the hills where eucalyptus now grows. The lake is the country's first wildlife preserve, established in 1870. The lake is a mirror, reflecting the lights of the buildings downtown, turning the city's gaze back on itself. The lake is a slough is a tidal estuary, and most of the city's run-off still passes through it.

So it's not part of the climate change series, at least, I don't think it is. Maybe it's part of that burgeoning body of work — Writing About Oakland. I hear all the cool kids are doing it.