It's raining here, 51 degrees fahrenhiet and grey as a wallstreet broker. Theres a new local cafe featuring provencal cuisine. It is wedged between a Mac Donalds and a Dunkin' Donut. I was their first customer last saturday. I could have been in "A clean well lighted place" of Hemingway or a Tolouse-Lautrec painting. The owners were worried over such a slow beginning. So I ordered a full bottle of wine, an expensive vintage. I requested glasses poured for my two friends, and the lady at the next table. The maitre'de went along with my fantasy, and accepted my invitation to join us. We toasted my companions Francois Villon, Antoine de Saint-Exupery and I raised my glass to Edith Piaf at the next table. The maitre'de and I watched a oppossum walk past MacD's and casually into our gathering. With chivalrous elan, he welcomed his second customer with a plate of delicacies. I don't know about woodchucks, but possums, unlike another invasive mammal to California, are evolving culturally, if not genetically. <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />