Sometimes we just need a little help finding the way.

>> After long being shuttered due to budget cuts, Monterey’s historic adobes opened again with regular hours earlier this year, and last weekend the Monterey State Historic Park announced expanded hours for public tours. Through this summer and fall, Custom House Plaza’s Custom House and Pacific House Museum, and the First Brick House in Heritage Harbor will be open 10am-4pm Friday-Sunday and Monday holidays with a $3 entrance fee and walking tours at 10:30am, 12:30pm and 2pm ($5 for adults, free for kids). There will be special house tours for Larkin House (464 Calle Principal), Cooper-Molera Adobe (525 Polk St.) and Robert Louis Stevenson House (530 Houston St.) Call 649-7172 or go to www.mshpa.org or www.parks.ca.gov for more.

>> A couple weeks ago, Squid Row comic strip artist Bridgette Spicer was chumming around with fellow comics artists, writers and readers at San Jose’s Big Wow! Comics Fest. Next week, during the monthly First Friday Artwalk in Oldtown Salinas, she’ll be signing and selling her new book, Down But Not Out on Squid Row, at Downtown Books & Sound (435-4636) 5:30-7:30pm on June 6.

>> Ricki Vincent is coming. And he’s bringing his puppets with him. “I don’t look like a guy who plays with puppets,” he writes by way of introduction. He’s 6-foot-2, 300 pounds, bald, bearded and tatted. But he’s done puppetry street shows, public access TV, created works for the stage and taught the craft to young people. He’s lined up some local workshops, is shopping around to do a puppet show based on the last 72 hours of the life of Hunter S. Thompson, and says he’ll start up street theater when he learns the ins and outs of Monterey’s street busking scene. He also says “I’m hoping to form a new troupe [in] Monterey, secure grant money and donations and open a new puppetry arts center.” To find out more, hit up Vincent at Facebook.com/ricki.vincent.puppetgeek.

>> Guess who else is coming? Maceo Oliver Ryce. My first son. His due date, as of press time, is May 30, and my wife, daughter and I are eager to receive him into this world. So for the next five weeks, I, along with my stories and Artifacts column, will be on out on leave. During that hiatus, you can email editors regarding arts and culture stories (mary@mcweekly.com, mark@mcweekly.com) – calendar events should always go to calendar@mcweekly.com, at least two weeks in advance. In the meantime, give a listen to Israel Kamakawiwo’ole’s “Over the Rainbow / What a Wonderful World.” Because there are moments when life calls for a beautiful soundtrack.