Rising Stars; Turtling Cars; Quiet Bikers... and Chickens

So, how was your weekend? Ours was spent running down news tips and entertaining entertaining neighbors with strong opinions about everything from backyard chicken coops to the state of the economy -- to what constitutes an explosive device.

When the going gets tough, the tough go gardening, so Patch decompressed after what a police pal used to call a "Code 3 Week" (lights and sirens all the way) by tending to its floral friends. You can have real and important discussions with heirloom tomato plants, did you know that?

But you can't run away forever in Lamorinda, it's a small hamlet after all, and a pleasant outing spent in search of the perfect monthly martini turned into a collegial discourse with neighbors who recognized the local Patch editor's haggard and harried countenance.

Chicken coops, whether people should be allowed to have one in a community where everyone used to have one, has got everyone fired up and talking. The manager of an apartment complex in Lafayette is fighting an order to take down their coop and manager Shelley DiGionanna was surprised by the number of people who have contacted her to express their support of her clutch of clucking "girls."

Coops are like pot farms around these parts, apparently, with people who have them keeping them on the down low from prying neighbors (who may want fresh eggs, too) and patrolling city inspectors, who issue these cease and desist letters from time to time.

It's hard to understand opposition to suburban coops. Patch remembers one particularly fun morning with a Moraga couple who practice sustainable living -- the woman of the house asking her physician husband to "go get some eggs, will you, dear?" We expected hubby to fire up the family hybrid for a Safeway run but nossir, he Birkenstocked his way out to the backyard coop, clucked at their hens and removed a bowl full of beautiful, fresh eggs. And, yes, it was one of the best breakfasts we've ever had.

Lamorinda's party scene is heating up along with the full moon and the weather and if you have teenagers in your house you may have noticed their antsy pantsy, "a little nuttier than usual" shenanigans. Homes unfortunate enough to have been abandoned or to have their owners away on vacation have become ground zero for bacchanalian rituals the likes of which even Dennis Kozlowski couldn't dream up.

Patch fielded several calls from anxious parents Sunday morning after a "Miramonte Party" got a little nuts and a visit from Orinda PD Saturday night, we're told. One of the young guests was so anxious to obey the officer's commands to disperse that he apparently rolled his car. And what's up with all the overturned cars around here lately? Patch thinks Detroit should start building gymbal-mounted, perfectly round cars that always land right side up, but that's just us.

Plan on seeing more parties as commencements near. Roughly 500 Saint Mary's Gaels will receive their diplomas at the Undergraduate Commencement on Saturday, May 19, at 9:30 a.m. at SMC Stadium, while another 400 or so students will receive diplomas the following Sunday, May 20, at 4 p.m. at the Graduate and Professional Programs Commencement at SMC Stadium.

Tom Meschery, Gaels of `61, Bay Area basketball hero, poet, and educator will deliver the commencement address for the College’s undergrads while Jim Fruchterman, a former rocket scientist and CEO and founder of the innovative nonprofit Benetech, which uses technology to address social needs, will offer the Commencement address to Saint Mary’s graduate students.

And wouldn't it be fun to be Fruchterman when the dinner party wise guy slurs a "whaddarya, some kinda rocket scientist?" and you can say: "Well, yes, I am."

Speaking of alums, former Acalanes High School student Steve Rapp lit up the track at Infineon Raceway over the weekend, finishing in sixth place in the featured SuperBike race up there, according to veteran sports scribe Jack Rux.

Plenty of speed records being set around Lamorinda, too, and we'll have more on that later... right here, on Patch.