Well, here we are together for the last photo blog of 2007. And in honor of today’s winter solstice, which means it will be the shortest day of the year, this will also be the shortest blog of the year. Short and California Suite as I prepare to head out to Palm Desert for ten days of peace, love and movies.

Winter solstice officially begins in the northern hemisphere at 1:08 am on Saturday the 22nd, which is 10:08 pm on the west coast. Following the winter solstice, the days grow longer and the nights shorter. On December 21st there will be 24 hours of daylight south of the Antarctic Circle, 24 hours of darkness north of the Arctic Circle, and 24 hours of reruns on the networks because of the holidays and the writer’s strike.

A birthday greeting goes out to my old pal Steve Margolin who turns 55 on Saturday. He has been a tremendous friend as we go way back-basketball in our childhood, midnight runs for beef lo mein and sweet and sour chicken in Chinatown, New York and sweet pastries in the bakeries of Amsterdam-he is my oldest friend who I knew before there was history.

Here’s a winter solstice joke courtesy of my no-look passing son Jason. The doctor told his patient, “I want you to take one of these orange pills with a glass of water first thing in the morning; then I want you to take one of these yellow pills with a glass of water immediately after lunch; and I want you to take one of these green pills with a glass of water last thing at night.” “What exactly is the matter with me?” asked the patient. The doctor said, “You’re not drinking enough water.”

I hope these blogs have filled you with California’s magnificent beauty, inspiring, thought-provoking information and most importantly, lots of laughter. So enjoy this lovely Stockton Avenue sunset from November 29th and have a happy and healthy holiday season. Sunrise Santa Cruz will return on January 7th with a blog I guarantee you will enjoy. 2008 is going to be wild and I’m glad all of you will be along for the ride. Mahalo, aloha and I’ll catch you in the new year.