Thanks. A lot.

For lots of things, I'm thankful. In no particular order . . . Barack Obama. Davis, a town still small enough to have edges to ride my bicycle beyond. Baseball in general, the San Francisco Giants in particular, and the proximity of AT&T Park. Netflix. UC Davis, which gave me 31 years of employment and now provides me with a pension and health insurance AND dental insurance AND vision insurance (how did I get so lucky?). Trees. Dear family, great friends, good neighbors. Movie theaters within walking distance. Ditto bookstores. The Co-op. The Perfect Chair, and a warm bed, which I am now headed to.

P.S. Speaking of fall color, as I was yesterday, here's the view out my back window . . .

Riding to Vacaville

Stu and I have been talking on and off about doing a ride to Vacaville while this fall weather is still with us, and I don't think we could have picked a better day than today. It was still a bit chilly when we started off around 9:30, but we hadn't gone 5 miles before I was stripping off the knee- and arm-warmers, and even the vest on the return trip.

We've had no real rainstorms to speak of so far, so the trees still have most of their fall color—the brilliant yellow of the walnut, the orange and red of the Chinese pistache, and the garnet of the ginkos, arrayed against the greens of olive and valley oak. Coming back into Winters along Pleasants Valley Road, the sun slanting into a grove of mature walnut trees made me think of light streaming through a cathedral window, filling the space with gold.

Bonus points: a 36-mile ride banked against tomorrow's highly likely overindulgence in mass quantities of food.

Cy x 2 x 2

The Giants' starter Tim Lincecum won his second Cy Young award in as many years this past week, a historic achievement—never before in the 54-year history of the award has a pitcher won back-to-back Cy Youngs in his first two full seasons in the majors. He's also only the fourth National League pitcher to have won in back-to-back years. The first to do so was Sandy Koufax, back in the 1965 and 1966 seasons.

I was lucky enough to get to see Sandy Koufax pitch a few times at Dodger Stadium. Like Timmy, Koufax combined power, athleticism, and huge talent in equal measures, making him one of the most exceptional pitchers ever to play the game. Koufax and Lincecum couldn't be more different as men and even as ballplayers, but they share that ineffable, undefinable but unmistakable "something"—electricity, charisma, a compelling presence—whatever it is, I'm on board with it.

So here's to you, Timmy. Congratulations—you are in august company, right where you belong.

P.S. Don't cut your hair!