This past weekend Southern California was hit with it’s first tropical storm in 84 years. After years of drought, Mother Nature decided to have a bit of fun with us by sending Hurricane Hilary and a 5.1 earthquake. The earthquake was minor by our standards but a good many shopkeepers had a mess on their hands.
I shed a little tear for one Ojai wine shop that was featured on the afternoon news. My sympathies to all those who had casualties. As far as weather is concerned, August is usually the driest month of the year. When Hilary landed in SoCal, records were set.
Living in the North West San Fernando Valley, I’m very familiar with winds. Typically, gusts range around 40mph during Santa Ana events. You pull in your patio cushions, any light weight furniture and shore up that wobbly tree. This time, however, I will admit I was a little nervous about the winds with all the warnings from local news.
Meh.
Being a bit of a weather nut and a huge freak, I always make sure I have supplies if the forecast even calls for drizzle. It’s not the actual weather that makes me turn into a prepper, it’s how my co-residents start behaving. If you’ve lived in this area, or even visited during rain you know SoCal peeps don’t understand “weather” like the rest of the country. No one slows down on wet roads. They don’t mind flooded intersections with the poor pedestrians trying to stay semi-dry as they head for cover. Don’t get me started on securing shopping carts so they don’t go sailing into parked cars. God bless Instacart.
People freak out. I’m just a freak, there is a difference.
With supplies stocked and a great bottle of rosé, Bené and I parked it for a bit on the patio to enjoy Mother Nature in all her glory.
In all honesty, for the majority of residents it was basically a rainy Santa Ana wind event. Downed power lines and trees were expected and plenty of flooded streets plagued anyone who was dumb enough to go out. It cracks me up how people think they can outwit Mother Nature. Never going to happen. The rain was significant. My own personal weather station calculated we received over 5 inches of rain in under 24 hours. For us, that’s a lot. I really need to look into a couple rain barrels. If this is a sign of whats to come this winter, I want to take advantage of it.
Overall it was pretty freaking gorgeous. The freshness of the air was amazing, The temperature was sublime and the combined sound of rustling leaves and heavy rain was so soothing. How lucky am I that this was my experience?
My sister sent me this meme afterward…
My hope is that you all came out of “Hilaquake” unscathed and find this meme as funny as I did.
Be safe and be kind.
