It is amazing how quickly the weather changes here, a scant quarter mile or so from the Pacific Ocean. I left to run a few errands yesterday, and returned home about an hour later only to find a huge, seething cloud hovering over Isla Vista when I exited the freeway at the top of the hill. My first thought was - fire! my apartment! until I rolled my car window down and peered out catiously, nose first, seeking out the harsh aroma of burning, destructive smoke, but finding only a delicate mist. The lingering smoky behemoth was nothing more than a super-fast marine layer that clearly took my jaunt into town as an opportunity to form and loom over my home, acting as a beacon of sorts for my return.