June 26, 2007

• I Love a Rainy Night

   

  The weather has been absolutely gorgeous here for the past week. (Let’s face it, it’s pretty much gorgeous most of the time.  Not too hot, cool at night and no humidity.  What more could we ask for??)

  Answer: RAIN!!  (No, I’m not talking about the Korean Pop Superstar…though he is coming to Los Angeles on Saturday, which I know Kimsoon is excited about…as are many many others!)

  

  The rain I’m referring to is the stuff that falls from the sky, or rather, in the case of Los Angeles, doesn’t fall.  Los Angeles has not had any measurable rainfall since last July.  To wit:

  Driest Year on Record Appears Likely.
  Weathernotes for Wednesday, May 30, 2007.

  There’s a little drizzle around the Los Angeles area this morning, but it would take much more than a light mist to make up the nearly one foot deficit in Los Angeles rainfall. Los Angeles’ rainfall total remains at 3.21 inches for a water year that began on July 1, 2006 and will end June 30, 2007. Normal rainfall would be 15.14 inches.

  If Los Angeles (USC) receives less than 1.21 inches of rain between now and June 30th, this water year (July 1, 2006 to June 30, 2007) will become the driest since recordkeeping began in 1877. According to the NWS, the average rainfall in Los Angeles in the month of June is 0.06 inches, so a new record dry water year appears likely. This would break the record of 4.42 inches set in the water year of 2001-2002.

  After an email exchange with Allen tonight I realized how much I miss thunderstorms in the midwest.  There’s nothing like falling asleep to a hard pouring rain and thunder and lightning.  It’s magical really, and something we don’t get to experience in Los Angeles.  Like the fireflies I wrote of earlier this month, thunderstorms were a part of childhood lore.  Every year about this time they would start in full force.  The combination of the hot humid air in the lower atmosphere and cool air in the upper atmosphere, formed a “perfect storm” so to speak.  Maybe I’ll have to get one of those machines at Sharper Image that mimic thunderstorm noises.  Anybody have one?

  By the way, if you’ve never heard what the rain in a good strong thunderstorm sounds like, the next time you take a shower, turn the water on full pressure, hold your hands flat and tight to your ears, and put your head under the shower stream.  Experiment with the sound by increasing and decreasing the pressure on your ears.  It’s fun! (I’m easily amused!)

  So anyway, tonight I walked the dogs to Beverly Hills.  It was a gorgeous evening. 

   

  

  We met a very nice lady named Paula at the park.  Her dog’s was named Leonardo, and the three dogs played together for quite some time.  When I told Paula that I was just dog-sitting for Ruby & Garbo, she realized she had met Garbo 4 years ago when he was just a puppy and Seth & Jessica had just brought him home.  We got to talking, and it turned out she was from South Africa but had lived in Australia for quite a while as well.  We swapped stories about Cape Town and Sydney, and with my thoughts of thunder and lightning storms tonight, I dug out this photograph I took in Cape Town, South Africa about 8 years ago.  I took it with my Canon Elan IIE 35 mm camera.  To get the shot, I was perched precariously on a median between two fast moving highways, with my tripod balanced ever so carefully.  I almost fell once, but I got the shot, as any true photographer would!

  

  So, here’s today’s song of the day, dedicated to Allen…where it’s hot, humid and stormy.  It’s a totally cheesy 80′s country/pop riff, but it’s appropriate to this post.  LOL.

  ---

  You’d expect something that involved Paris, driving and a bitchy girl to end up with a jail sentence…not the case:

  

  ---

  And last but certainly not least…

  Happy Birthday Daniel-san

  Who would have ever thought that a chance meeting at Dulles Airport and all those adventures in Portland each time I visited, would result in such a lifelong friendship.  (I looked at the photos and our first trip to Multnomah Falls was 7 years ago last week!)  In my never ending quest to find embarrassing pictures of our group of friends on their birthdays, it wasn’t as easy with you Daniel, but here goes: 

  

  

  NYE – My house 2003

  

  Hard to believe you don’t drink!

  

  Lord of the Rings Premier, Munich Germany, 2001

  Happy Birthday & Dicken Schmatz my dear friend! –Carey

  ---

  • 4:49 am
  • 12 Comments