I can almost see February 14, touch it, smile at it. As long as I don't let my mind wander, all will be good.

But it does wander. What parts of health care will suffer in California's $14 billion budget deficit? Does it make sense to push a $14 billion health care reform proposal when you're dismantling the departments that would implement it?  Los Angeles Times columnist David Lazarus says it's time to alter or repeal Proposition 13, to save the state's finances and restore sanity.

February 14, 36 days and counting. Listen to it coming. Resume happy breathing.

More wandering. Health care spending in the U.S. reached $2.1 trillion in 2006, accounting for 16% of the nation's gross domestic product. But an analysis by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine found that the U.S. had the highest rate of preventable deaths among 19 industrialized nation. Spend a lot, get a little. Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez, under the headline "Down the health care rabbit hole," details what happened to a healthy woman who moved from Santa Monica to Studio City.  Just because she changed ZIP codes, Kaiser raised her insurance premiums.

Yeah, but  February 14 is sliding into view. It's reassurance, a break from the lunacy.  Yes, I've made a quick note that February 14 is Valentine's Day, so I'm covered. But, sweet ode to joy, it is also the day that pitchers and catchers report to spring training.