Spring in Berkeley, Part 2

Here is a happy collection of some of the things I enjoyed during spring this year:

Succulents! They are all over Berkeley and I think they are lovely.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie. Delicious! We love it so much that I stocked our freezer with rhubarb. Now we can enjoy it all year. 

Taking walks across the UC Berkeley Campus with Will. I love the living bench above.

The warm spring weather brought out more Berkeley Characters, and who doesn't enjoy that? Take this man, for instance:

Do you think he can do magic?

While we're on the subject of UC Berkeley, let me tell you how much I enjoy Morrison Library. I went there a lot this spring. I usually prefer to call it "The Enchanted Library."

When you enter the library at U.C. Berkeley from these doors, you immediately run into this figure of Mark Twain. To get to Morrison library, you simply turn right at Mark Twain. (And in case you were wondering, those are some sort of protesters in front of the library. This is Berkeley, and there usually are. It's a true stereotype, and a fun one at that. I think that day the demonstration had to do with the memory of the Armenian Genocide.)

I can't tell you how impressive and scholarly the Morrison Library feels when you first walk in. You'll have to forgive my photos since I took them from my phone. I didn't want to pull out my camera and disturb the quiet!

Laptops are not allowed in this library, so you can open a book and read for hours without hearing people typing away. The room is lit by chandeliers and natural light from the window. It's the sort of room to have classical busts and a portrait of George Hearst hanging above Persian rugs.

A balcony overlooks the main part of the room, and it has little reading coves with tables and chairs. The walls are covered in books of all types from all sorts of authors. The books are all beautiful and the pages smell the wonderful way that old books should.

The first few times I came, I brought my own book and had every intention of reading it. I never did, so I stopped. There are so many enticing books that are already there. I like to go to the library when Will has class, then I browse the shelves, pick up books that look interesting, and just read at my leisure until Will calls later that afternoon. I get pretty excited about such days, can you tell? Well, if you're in town or visiting us sometime you should join me.

Enough about that. Obviously, that's a very enjoyable place to be!

Last but definitely not least, I enjoyed when Will baked me a cake because of a bet we made.

He chose the apron. I adore this man!

The deal had to do with the game "Portal," which I'm sure I'll post about later. Basically, cake is significant to the game, and since I beat the game Will had to bake me my choice of cake.

Strawberry with Rainbow Chip frosting. It was perfect! Mmm...

Mikey, Courtney, A.J. and Tom

These guys came to help us eat the cake. They also happen to be among my favorite things about spring. And every other time, really.

I hope next spring is just as sweet!