Isn't that what we humans love to do? It's what I love to do. Who's got the coldest, hottest, wettest, windiest, most-unusual-for-the-season, most-inconvenient, most-"perfect"...When we lived in the San Diego area, there was precious little to talk about--you might say it was the "samiest". On the other hand, it seemed like, during the 8 years that Rachel lived in Boston, there were at least three "Storms of the Century".
Drizzle rocks your world in San Diego. I hear they've had plenty to chat about this week, though. The Boy has been playing his little tricks. Mostly benign stuff--heavy rain, hail, thunder and lightning--but, as usual, he's made a few messes in the process. Two sets of friends have just returned to their homes after evacuation from mudslide-prone fire-damaged slopes in the LA area. I also heard about little tornadoes and waterspouts, freeways flooding and ocean bluffs eroding.
Up here, we have more interesting weather as a matter of course. It's one of the reasons we like it. Average annual rainfall is 54 inches--a lot, compared to San Diego's 8 or so. That includes some snow, of course. This week, for example, we had incessant rain from the weekend on, turn to snow on Wednesday, then rain some more. Last night and all day today, though, it's been snowing--above is a shot taken through a kitchen window this afternoon. Snow is the biggest fun for me, especially if the power stays on. I wasn't even crabby this morning when I came home empty-handed at 7:20 after a 40-minute hike through 5 inches of snow to get the paper. It was so pretty, I was just glad I had the chance to spend the time outside. Tomorrow, however, I'll probably give the delivery folks a little longer to make it up to our boxes on Greenhorn.
It was the wind that kicked up a little more fuss for us, this time. Very strong winds are not uncommon, but this one packed some extra muscle and figured out a way to get under the steel siding on our house on Tuesday and nearly tore it off in one section. So in the driving rain, Tom and I scurried around the property to find some heavy lumber to prop up against the loose panels. Here's a shot of our handiwork. So far, so good. We'll just have a little reassembling to do whenever the storms let up.
Anyway, I hope that where ever you live, there's been enough interesting weather to have a good chat about but not so much that you'll be groaning about any disastrous effects or serious expense.
I guess we're awaiting some big rain. That's cool. I think we haven't had any since, oh, Tuesday. It's a good thing we love rain because it hasn't dried out around here since Thanksgiving. Wait til you see my next mushroom pics. Alice would feel right at home.
Meanwhile, the residents of our beautiful county are still busy providing daily entertainment to go with my morning cup of tea--
"1:40 p.m.--A caller reported two elderly motorists in Mustangs were driving at an excessive speed on Richardson Street." [Alright!--geezer drag racing! Hey, if Mick can still bring it...]
"6:32 p.m.--A woman from the 14000 block of Hemlock Drive reported the theft of a purse from a vehicle. She called back to report finding the purse on her back deck." [*sigh*--probably a more realistic scenario to look forward to...]
[...or this]"10:49 a.m.--A caller from the 100 block of Glasson Way reported the theft of a walker."
"12:14 p.m.--A woman from the 11000 block of Lime Kiln Road reported she and her mother were in a verbal argument about which shirt she should wear. The situation was mediated when the daughter agreed to dress nicely when she went to town and only wear her flannel shirt at home." [Um, thought she was calling the fashion police, I assume...]
"1:05 p.m.--A caller from the 100 block of East Main Street reported an 'angry artist' was in the lobby." [we're touchier than we seem--watch yourselves]
"11:14 p.m.--A man from the 400 block of East Bennett Street reported he and a friend had gone to a hobo camp [in a time machine?] to donate blankets and his friend was now lost. He was described as wearing all black and being 'as big as a house'. The man later reported his friend had returned home." [hope he hid the "police blotter" page from his large "friend" next morning...]
"10:47 p.m.--A caller from a business in the 100 block of Mill Street reported a man named 'Creepy Paul' grabbed the caller's buttocks and wanted to take 'them' into the bathroom. He was gone when officers arrived." [shocking a guy named, "Creepy Paul" would say something so, er, creepy...]
"9:10 p.m.--A woman from the 200 block of Dorsey Drive reported a wild kitten in her residence. She was advised to give the kitten back to her friend." [yeah. Imagining the look on the dispatcher's face...]
"8:37 a.m.--A person came into the police department to write out complaints about ongoing world concerns." [...and again. Just covering all the bases, I guess...]
"10:20 a.m.--A caller from West Main and Squirrel Creek roads reported Hope was lost. Hope was described as a very friendly American terrier. The caller reported at 11:29 a.m. that Hope was found." [what about Sanity?"]
More soon. They've been piling up!
Hey, a definite sign of winter! How did I not know about this festival? Check out the cool pics!
http://www.ebaumsworld.com/pictures/view/80520574/
And, in case you missed it's making the email/FB rounds recently, here's a fun story. Keep a hanky close by...
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/09/28/assignment_america/main5347232.shtml?tag=pop
Just thought you might want to see a few pics of our visit with Mike and Rachel--am I right? He's been out here visiting from his home in Chicago and, on their way to spend a couple of days skiing near Truckee, they hung out with us for a day or two.
They arrived Tuesday evening. Rachel had to work most of Wednesday (Kronos!), so Mike, with exceeding good nature, let me drag him around to show him the garden, thriving vermiculture bins, HUGE mushrooms in the yard, favorite books and other fascinating features of our lives here.
Plus, I needed help to transform our Shopsmith Table Saw into the Shopsmith Band Saw, so we spent some time out in the shop staring at the instructions (which might as well have been written in Chinese) before finally succeeding by staring at the actual pieces. Mike is a building contractor/finish carpenter and knows from tools.
Wednesday evening, we went to dinner at a tapas restaurant (Club 141) and had a great time in a cool place with delicious food including, of course, some lovely mushrooms.
Thursday, they packed up and, dressed for a ski day, posed for a few photos. After, that is, having to gasp once more at the giant mushrooms. Seriously large mushrooms (that's Rachel up there getting a closer look at a huge chanterelle). Of several different sorts.
It was fun, went by too quickly and we look forward to more times like it. Though, if Mike shows up next time with a laptop, claiming a need to "work" all day, I'll know I maybe overdid it just a bit...
First, there was just a bit of Christmas left to celebrate. I had thought I'd get to Fresno to see Mom and maybe Terry the week before Christmas, but I was too busy sewing. So, I drove down and back on this last Tuesday instead. Terry had to work, but Mom and I had a nice afternoon! We went to Macaroni Grill for lunch, which is where our lovely server took our picture.
Then, I don't know. I was tired of red. Our tree had only been decorated a week. But I was done, so on Wednesday, I undecorated. More than many other years when the immediate loss of Christmas decs, music and festivity seemed to leave a bit of a hole, I've loved getting back to "normal" this year.
I always love the new year. I guess most folks do. And I love the Rose Parade as a way to kick it off. So nice on the big HD TV screens (if one can't actually be there)! Since our move here, it's been a challenge to find the channel that shows the KTLA feed without commercials. It took 32 minutes to find it this time--an unforgivable lack of planning on my part. 
I didn't really miss any whole parade features, but there was some confusion as I surfed from one channel to the next during the first two ad breaks. And where did I find it? Fox. Seriously. My ONE reason to sit on channel 40 for more than .25 seconds. HGTV shows without breaks, too, but they just don't have the cameras and sweet viewpoints of KTLA's crew.
Said it before. Love Edwards. Endure Eubanks, though he knows horses. I could never choose the favorite float, but loved the origami dragon, Albuquerque balloons, and all the Chinese and Mexican floats. Raul Rodriguez is my hero. Also--the blind marching band from Ohio and the Kyoto band dancing Thriller as they were playing it. 'Nuff said--this year, anyway.
Both on New Year's Eve and Day afternoons (that can't be right), we went to see movies. Good ones! On the 31st we went to see Avatar. Loved it. Yes. I know. The story was hackneyed and heavy handed. The acting--a little over the top. Who cares about that peripheral stuff? For 2 1/2 hours, we were privileged to inhabit an "other" world. 3D is amazing, for one thing. But the Pandora world Cameron and his cohorts created was breathtaking! If you know me, you know that I will gleefully suspend any semblance of reason to be swallowed up in such a fantasy. It was over all too soon. If I had more thumbs (and some days it seems I do), I would point them all up.
And, yesterday, we went to see Sherlock Holmes. We've read all the stories several times and treasure them. We love the BBC's productions with Jeremy Brett as well-done and faithful renditions of those Doyle stories (even though Mr. Brett had the bad form to die before they finished the entire series-grr). That said, we loved the movie. Loved it! Gorgeous to look at. Funny. Smart. Fast and noisy. Loved it. I am always strangely fascinated by that late Victorian period (more about that some time) and I wallowed in the atmosphere created. We are Downey, Jr. fans, but I couldn't quite put him in the roll--at least, not as I understood the stories. But, now, I might read the them a little differently. Hmm. All thumbs up, again.
So, here we are, again. We'll see what happens next, right? Happy new year!
Isn't that what we humans love to do? It's what I love to do. Who's got the coldest, hottest, wettest, windiest, most-unusual-for-the-season, most-inconvenient, most-"perfect"...When we lived in the San Diego area, there was precious little to talk about--you might say it was the "samiest". On the other hand, it seemed like, during the 8 years that Rachel lived in Boston, there were at least three "Storms of the Century".
