The First Snow of this Season

October 15, 2009, was the first snow of this season. It only snowed for about an hour and hit the ground when it melted.

Last Sunday we decided to drive to Poe Valley State Park. As I drove to the top of the mountain I noticed snow on the sides of the road and the higher we got... the more snow. It was sooooo beautiful seeing the beautiful colored leave in the white snow.

In facts it was sooooo pretty that I had to get out of the car to touch it. The picture is of the snow I picked up.

It started raining yesterday afternoon. A few times during the night I woke up and heard it pouring down outside. It's so different here because you don't wake up to chaos.

In California if it rained, like it did here last night, I would look out of the window and see massive street flooding. People in California use the storm drains as trash cans all summer long, when it isn't raining. So when the rain begins in California it has no where to go except stay in the streets. It should go down the storm drains to the LA river, but it does not always make it there. And then there are the people who don't know how to drive in the rain and so there are tons of accidents.

About 12 years ago my mother came to visit me in Los Angeles. It had rained all night and the next morning she turned on the television and the news man said, "There were 425 car accidents related to the rain, in Los Angeles county, in the past 24 hours." My mother was shocked. I had to inform her that Los Angeles county was pretty big and there are 88 cities the news man was talking about.

I also won't hear of any mud slides here. The burned areas in Los Angeles get soaked with water and then slide down the hills.

Today we are suppose to go to a farm. We met a couple who have organic chickens and we purchase the chicken livers from them for the organic cat food that we make for our 5 cats.

When I woke up, my first thought upon hearing the rain, was that we probably wouldn't be going to the farm today. And then I realized I am in Pennsylvania.... not California.... and people continue on with their lives even in the rain or the snow.

Ciao

The Rain's Coming

I was suppose to have lunch with a friend this week, except he called on Friday and said "I am not sure about lunch next week. The rain is coming." And there was a pause and I thought "WTF". And he said, just what I thought I heard, "The rain's coming." Even after living here 23 years it is still hard for me to wrap my brain around the fact that life pretty much comes to a standstill when it rains here.

I am sure that the grocery stores were packed yesterday in anticipation of "the rain". And I am sure that if I turn on the television I will be able to catch the "Storm Watch" on any local channel.

So here's the real scoop on "rain" in California. We don't get rain from about April to October. This year the rain came much later and it was December when it arrived. During the time of no rain the storm drains get filled with trash. Then when the rain does get here the storm drains don't work properly and we get a lot of road flooding. Also, people in California drive the same way that they do when it rains as when it doesn't, which isn't good.

My Mother came to visit me about 10 years ago and it was in February. It started raining on a Sunday night. The next morning my Mother turned on the television and she was shocked when she heard that there had been 425 car accidents in the last 24 hours in Los Angeles County. This number can be a bit misleading, so to be clear, LA county covers 88 cities. Still 425 car accidents are a lot.

The first rain of the season is the most dangerous. All of the oil from the roads comes to the surface. The new channels have special segments about hydroplaning.

The biggest mess that occurs when it rains here is that the mountains that were on fire. Remember we get the "fire seasons". Well, when the burnt mountain gets soaked with rain it starts to slide. So houses will slide off of mountains and into the roads. It can turn into a big mess.

Most people don't even go to work when it rains. I have noticed that my work line rings a lot less when it rains.

A few weeks ago I was on the phone with my Honey and it was 23 degrees and snowing in Pennsylvania. He said that he wanted to call me back because he wanted to move his vehicle. He said that his new neighbors were moving in. I was shocked. I said "It's snowing. They are moving in the snow?!?!" And he said "Yes. The grocery stores are open, the mail gets delivered and life goes on."

On a recent visit to Pennsylvania we were driving around in the snow following the real estate girl and walking around homes out in the snow, all like it wasn't even happening. I was a bit surprised when I saw a school bus stop and a bunch of teenage kids getting off with short sleeve shirts on walking, talking and laughing just like it wasn't even snowing.

My friends, who were born and raised here in California, have informed me that I will need to purchase not one but two generators! My Honey who was born and raised in Pennsylvania informed me that he remembers the power only going out once and it was for about 15 minutes.

The picture is of my cat, Kitty, in my living room.

Ciao