The weather - which has been wavering between sunny and cloudy all week - took a sudden plunge for the worse this weekend. This was to be expected, of course, since Saturday was Picnic Day.

Picnic Day is the open house for UC Davis. Each year on Picnic Day, all the departments open their doors and drag out their very best finery for all the world to see. As the name would imply, the festivities often are scheduled to take place outside. And ever since I was in college and actively participating in Picnic Day, it's been fairly common for the weather to be perfectly lovely up to the day 8before*, followed by clouds, chilly weather, and often rain on the day. Naturally the day after usually reverts right back to perfectly lovely. And this weekend was mostly no exception. The sun ran away by the end of the week and Saturday the skies opened up and poured buckets of water all over the Sacramento area.

Since we decided to forego going to Picnic Day this year, due to feeling a tad lazy, and also because of the weather, the rain didn't bother us too much. It also provided a great source of amusement. This is because when I came home Friday, the backyard was full of narrow trenches for the irrigation system being put in. So after the deluge yesterday afternoon, by this morning the trenches were full of water. It's our very own little canal system! If I'd been even slightly creative I would have whipped up a few paper boats and set them saiiling around the yard, while singing "O Solo Mio".