Thunderstorm in Lebanon

Crackly Dry

The picture is Aurora Borealis over Whiteknife.  Here in San Diego, much of our day has been spectacularly windy and quite dry.  I'm sneezing and my lips are dry.

We are on fire watch, as is most of southern California.

On that note, a bit more dp (disaster preparedness).  The Red Cross (redcross.org) sells a variety of prepackaged dp kits for people like me who don't like to be re-preparing every three months or so.  You can get them for your car, workplace and home.  There are also organizations that sell packaged water that will keep for a few years.

Bit number two: have at least one fire extinguisher and know how to use it (1. Pull, 2. Squeeze).  

West-Coast Hurricane

Today Hurricane Norbert is hitting Baja California.  We are in the middle of a world-wide economic crisis.  Governor Schwarzenegger has announced the arrival of our wildfire season this weekend.

Time for a cup of coffee.  Make it a good one.

New York Times Building Struck by Lightning, June 10

Video: Myanmar Cyclone

Video: Lightning Strikes House in Dallas

Rain

Quote of the day:
“I’d rather be reading the Republican party platform or similar, if the main character in the movie version could be played by Hannibal Lector.”
--Frank Van Alstine

We southern Californians have spent the last year quite concerned about our worsening drought. It looks like we have to worry no more.

We’ve been getting quite a lot of rain this winter. In fact, we’ve had so much that there was some fear about mudslides, especially in areas that burned during the October fires.

There have been a couple of slides--one of them may have been caused by a water-supply leak. Other than that, our major problems have been clogged drains and hundreds of traffic accidents.

I think we’re seeing more rain-related accidents than in past years because of higher average speeds. Cars are built so much better now that we often don’t realize how fast we’re going until we start skidding.

We live right on the rim of one of San Diego’s many finger canyons and I occasionally imagine us sliding right down into it one day. The chances of this happening are teeny-tiny. The very first thing we did after we moved in six years ago was have the property properly graded and water drains installed.

But I still think about it. Slides are one of the risks of living here.

The much-bigger risk is drought, and so I’m heartened to see healthy snowpacks accumulate in the mountains and reservoirs rise above normal levels. It's so good to see the earth turn green. Fiesta Island has burst alive with growth.

Let it rain, let it rain, let it rain!

Now if I can only get the front downspout drain cleared so that water doesn’t pour onto our driveway.

Dead Shrub in the House

Quote of the day:
“How can I compromise when she doesn’t do what I say?”
--Rene Balcer and Eddie Feddiman, from a script for “Law & Order.”

We had a lot of fun getting a Christmas tree yesterday.

It was 60 degrees--a little nippy for San Diego (get out the ear muffs)--and a crisp, clear, sunny day. There were a few other shoppers at the tree farm, but it was far from overrun. And there were a few requisite barnyard animals in attendance.

After about 30 seconds of becoming overwhelmed at having to choose among so many trees, Merrie said, “Let’s get this one!” And we did.

The helper was right there to carry it to the shaker (a mighty fine invention), the bundler, the sawer, the cashier, the car.

Then there was putting into the Scion hatchback, which happens to be one of the very smallest cars on the road.

But there we were, driving home with 7 feet of tree in the car, with the hatchback closed. The tippy-top of the tree separated Merrie and I in the front seat. It smelled good.

Then out of the car and into the living room, in almost one continuous motion. The animals were fascinated. Translation from kittyspeak: “For ME?”

It’s Christmas, I guess.

Rain, Rain, Go Away. Not.

Quote of the day:
“If you can’t tolerate your worst, at least once in a while, how true to yourself can you be?”
--Benedict Carey

It’s been raining in San Diego, and more is to come in the next few days. I haven’t heard anyone complaining. Seeds are germinating all over, as in the photo.

It seems that people here are very aware of and serious about our drought--and the ongoing fire hazard.

Every time it rains, there is a predictably large number of freeway accidents. The Highway Patrol invariably makes the announcement that it cannot respond to all the bent metal and scattered plastic. If you have an accident, you have to fender for yourself.

I don’t know about other cities, but accidents in the rain in San Diego are usually caused by those who assume the laws of nature don’t apply to them, especially when they’re in a hurry.

At 60 miles per hour on a wet road, your car is officially classified as a hydroplane. There is water between your tire and the road. As oil gets mixed with the water, things get interesting.

With average freeway speed being 80 mph, it’s sort of amazing that more people aren’t killed. If they were, at least the person on the other end of the cell-phone conversation would know something was wrong. Isn’t the modern world wonderful?

Our Drought is Severe Plus

Quote of the day:
“You can no more win a war than you can win an earthquake.”
--Jeannette Rankin

New Rule of the day (apologies to Bill Maher):
No one is allowed to be intransigent unless he can spell it.

I usually don’t watch morning TV, other than to quickly check that there hasn’t been an international catastrophe while I was sleeping.

This morning, though, I casually flipped on the “Today” show. Question: how old is Gene Shalit? Hasn’t he been around since the days of J. Fred Muggs?

Weatherman Al Roker showed a drought map that used color coding to show how dry different parts of the country are.

It struck me that the five levels of drought were labeled Abnormally dry, moderate, severe, extreme, and exceptional.

The mid-point of drought measurement is “severe.” The New Oxford Dictionary defines “severe” as “very great, intense.” That sounds pretty bad to me.

Yet there are not one but two measured levels beyond “severe.” I thought maybe this was hyperbole. But then I realized this is science, after all.

To see the drought monitor map, click here. It shows “exceptional” drought from central Alabama through the far western tip of Virginia. “Extreme” drought is shown in several areas, with the biggest being southern California and southwestern Arizona.

More and more people must be concerned about this, or Al Roker wouldn’t be talking about it on the “Today” show.