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Wednesday, December 22. 2010

Rain, Rain Go Away!

Southern California is in its fifth straight day of non-stop rain. Five straight days of light drizzle to torrential down pour. Haven’t experienced anything like this since my days on The Rock — the monsoon season.
 “The Rock” is Marine Corps speak for Okinawa.

We don’t have monsoons in Southern California, but we do have the rainy season, which is what passes for winter here. While the rest of the country is dealing with inches and feet of snow and temperatures huddled around 0°f, we get temps in the 40’s and 50’s and, every ten years or so, great rain storms.

According to the handy weather web site provided by the wonderful people at Apple, Accuweather, we will be getting rain through today and beginning tomorrow, sunny skies until Saturday, Christmas of course, when it will begin to get cloudy again. But no rain, at least none forecast. Same thing on the Weather Channel web site. The ten-day forecast says we will be rain-free at least through the end of the year, starting Thursday. But, you never know.

The Pacific Coast Highway — the PCH — is closed in Malibu due to mudslides. That happens a lot, relatively speaking. And I would bet the bluffs along the beaches in San Diego County have been sliding down to the sand as well, a condition that doesn’t bode well for the millionaires and billionaires that own ocean front property in La Jolla along those bluffs.

Those homeowners might have bought five acres of property and after 20 years or so, they might only have four or less. Ya spend 20-50 mil on a home with acreage and an ocean view and voila! It comes with a catch! The rain and ocean will conspire to take your property away! Homes have fallen into the sea over there.

Just checked the weather in La Crosse, WI, where my youngest brother lives. The temperature is 28°f and cloudy. Tomorrow night it will be 10° colder. In Milwaukee, WI, where my brother lives, well, West Allis, it’s 25°f and snowing. Ah, the snow!

For all those living on Oakland Ave in Milwaukee, time to move your car off the street if you haven’t done so already! Oakland is a “Snow Emergency Route,” meaning, if the city gets a 3-inch or more snowfall; you can’t park on the street. I used to live on Oakland Ave back in the day! Found out the cost of living index for different areas of the country was relative; when you take into account the cost of heating a place every month and PAYING THOSE DAMN SNOW EMERGENCY ROUTE PARKING TICKETS! Not that I’m bitter and resentful or anything. Click Here to see more on the Snow Emergency Parking Regulations.

In Denver, CO, where a brother and sister live with their clans, the weather says mostly sunny skies with a bit of rain on Thursday Night. They had their annual Christmas Dinner this past weekend at my sister Lainey’s place. I’m always envious about that. Lainey make a Yule Log out of different ice creams. And of course they always have prime rib or some such delicious meal.

Sealy, TX, where another sister and her brood lives, it’s 67°f and cloudy. That will carry through Christmas although Friday it’s supposed to be in the 70’s. I forget what they do for Christmas, but with MLou (my sister) cooking, it will be fabulous! She makes THE BEST peanut butter cookies!

Then there’s Tampa, FL. Cheryl lives there. She and her church lit a candle for me that will burn throughout the Holiday season. Gestures like that remind me if why this season, above all others, is so very special. Not sure what she and her son are doing for Christmas, but it’s gotta be delish, as she would say!

The Winter Solstice occurred Tuesday, at 11:38 p.m. Zulu time. The actual Solstice itself happens at different times, and different days from year-to-year. There’s some scientific reason why, but I’m too lazy to Google it. The Solstice occurs when the sun reaches its most southerly declination of -23.5 degrees. Since the world is Euro-centric, everything is measured relative to the position of Europe, and in particular England, the dominant European Culture of the 18th and 19th Centuries.

11:38 p.m. Zulu time is actually Greenwich Mean Time — GMT. That’s eight hours ahead of (not so) Sunny Sandy Eggo. So, the Winter Solstice was upon us at 3:38 p.m. We never really notice because most of us have been so shut off from our inner clocks, out spiritual beings, the shifts in the time continuum pass without notice. But, the plants and other living creatures know these things, our biology is predicated on it.
 People with Seasonal Affective Disorder notice it, in a very real and depressing way.

Realistically speaking: in the Southern Hemisphere this would be the Summer Solstice. But, we are Euro-centric so the Southern Hemisphere experiences the Winter Solstice in the middle of their summer.

This season is about the spirit, however that might manifest itself in your life. For me, it’s my family and friends. I often think of becoming a Buddhist in hopes of getting back in touch with that spiritual center. But any religion, that one especially, takes a lot of dedication and discipline and today’s culture has assisted in letting me be lazy and insincere. That’s just the reality! Why try to deny it or even blame today’s society and culture. I have the ability and power to change — if I choose to do so.

This was going to be about the many achievements of President Obama’s first two years in office, the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell in particular, but the weather just got me started in a different direction.

Have a safe trip to all of you traveling for the Holidays!

Posted by Tim Forkes in Life at 05:01 | Comment (1) | Trackbacks (0)

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