This year’s Macula Society gave me a chance to reconnect with friends and colleagues over a one-night stay in sunny Coronado. I arrived early Thursday to catch the morning sessions, then grab lunch with a clinical trial sponsor before taking a ferry ride with friends across San Diego Bay. We reembarked on the same boat back to join my UCD and Duke crew for dinner. My talk on day two was well received, and I opted for solo dining instead of the gala to make an earlier flight home. I was not immune to Melody’s cold, unfortunately, and my symptoms came down hard that weekend, forcing me to miss the Paul Hom Health Fair and binge my way through an unexpectedly excellent first season of Paradise. By Monday I was back on my feet, which allowed me to power through an action-packed week recording a meeting debrief in a studio, petting pythons with Westley at his school’s STEM night, celebrating my student’s first-place win at UCD Poster Day, and cheering on our resident Christine at the ARC Orchestra concert. Last weekend, we drove down to Oakland to revisit the Mammoth Bonsai Auction at Lake Merritt, where we splurged on a striking corokia cotonester draped over a rock, and massive crape myrtle that barely fit in the backseat. We stayed on theme with dinner at Soba Ichi before returning home for tax season and spring gardening, which included planting a new “golden nugget” mandarin tree in our backyard. We celebrated Pi Day with three pies from Ikeda and dinner with my friend Parisa’s family over Indian curries. With cake and tarts they brought from Ettore’s and mochi donuts from Tomo using our new food-saving app, our spring is kicking off with plenty of calories that will hopefully burn off with our new Peloton subscription.