To be fair, this morning's legislative conference of the California Professional Firefighters featured almost all of the state's constitutional officers wearing red and gold aprons and serving breakfast to firefighters who had gathered from around the state.

But no one's presence was more noteworthy than the guy scooping scrambled eggs: Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The governor's unpublicized appearance at this morning's event seems to be the true epilogue to the story of his 2005 political meltdown. After all, it was the firefighters' union-- along with unions representing nurses and teachers-- that formed the alliance of powerful opponents to Schwarzenegger's ballot initiatives. Those union members doggedly followed the governor everywhere he went during that campaign, including fundraisers on the east coast. And firefighters were some of the most prominent faces in those TV ads that kept slamming the guv.

Fast forward to this morning at the Masonic Temple in downtown Sacramento, where the governor walked into the room laughing and joking with CPF president Lou Paulson.

(Full disclosure: I was there to be part of a panel discussion on state politics; the event was closed to the press in general).

I asked the governor, as he walked in, about the change in feelings. Schwarzenegger smiled, and said that he has always gotten along with firefighters.

"We just had different opinions," he said.

The governor then donned an apron, and served up some humble pie... umm, eggs actually. Truth be told, though, the firefighters were there having to eat a little humble pie. After all, they were the ones who worked so hard to try and elect Phil Angelides in the 2006 gubernatorial race.

For now, it seems, bygones are bygones.