wind – Ink, Yarn & Beer

Blown Away

There is an expression, “An ill wind blows no one any good” that comes to mind today. Perhaps we had an ill wind; perhaps not.

We had no electricity for two days. The reason was the fierce winds flying through drought-ridden Southern California. We didn’t get fires, although other places did. Winds were recorded at up to 38 mph in my area. No trees fell, luckily, but a few branches and dirt are all over the place now. Our electric company, So Cal Edison and others, have a program called PSPS – Public Service Power Shut-off. The purpose of this program is to keep power lines downed by winds from starting the types of fires that rage through dry country and burn entire towns, such as Paradise, CA, a few years ago. Inconvenient if you like electricity, but better than burnt-out cities.

Living without electricity has become an almost eerie event. By this I mean we are so lost without it – and without the internet! It is as if you are picked up and plopped down onto a desert island. We passed the time reading books by flashlight and Kindle-light. Fortunately, the electricity doesn’t power our water or water heater. Our stove top works with gas, which we can light with a match, even though the ovens are electric. We also had to do dishes by hand and are now, with the electric back on, have access to washing our clothes, our dishwasher, and so on. The phone service, though, was delayed by a few hours, and with that, the internet.

Despite a lack of electricity, I managed to do some rather bad watercolors by flashlight, and cleaned up some piddly crap.

My life is back to normal.

Life is back to normal, too, in Washington, DC! I hope that our new President can turn around this country’s divisiveness, handle the pandemic, and lead us out of the mess of the past four years. I hope we find a return to cooperation rather than “me, me, me” and “no, no, no”.

TTFN.

Thoughts Before the Big Blow

Politics, weather, pandemic. I think it is all making me even crazier than before. We can expect 40 mph winds on Tuesday. The temperature will be cooler than the 90F of yesterday, so hopefully less chance of fires. It’s like the end times so many look forward to, but not me – I like my life! Still, there is an interesting bit of stress going on that I can only equate to living in a war zone of some sort. We just don’t know what is going to happen. I wonder if what I am feeling can be equated to what people and families went through when WW2 was beginning – a sense of unease and that the fabric of life is not what you think it is supposed to be. It’s a very strange feeling.

So, the Big Blow. Some areas are going to get 80 mph winds – not quite hurricane strength, but certainly strong. People in the midwest have gotten those just recently along with a lot of snow. That doesn’t sound pleasant at all. Can you imagine your roof flying off? I know that several years ago parts of Great Britain got them and villages were cut off and food supplies and other stuff needed coptering in. At least here we have a lot of things, and the stores are open. And no snow. Even further back, upstate New York had horrific blizzards, and livelihoods were lost amongst the farmers, especially dairies. Cows died because they couldn’t be milked without electricity.

I’m just blithering around thinking about things. Nothing profound, but I have finally had a few minutes to sit down to reflect as I have been really busy today. We had to get some tools for Josh’s car project, so we looked at plants and bulbs and seeds. Then I talked with Am, our aunt who has been working hard in the hospital caring for Covid patients. She is doing really well despite it all, and it was good to have a chance to hear how things are. Then, off to buy some computer stuff – our keyboards are worn out, and as I had to replace my old computer last week, I am still catching up with it, installing software on it, coordinating printers and scanners. It is a pain but now that things are sorted, this is my first post using the new computer, keyboard, mouse, etc. No new monitors as I got those awhile back for my birthday. Luckily, I know a fair amount about computers so it is not challenging, just time consuming.

The studio, though, has been the scene of upheaval. Computers need cords and such, and while you are down there sorting things out, you better get into the dust and debris that lurks under the desk. I did, and while it wasn’t awful, it was good to sort stuff out by vacuuming and untangling cables. Now I need to place things back where they belong so I can find a paint brush or a camera. Finally, sewing – the new space is working out well. I’ve made an apron and two pairs of jammy pants for Josh; time for me to get something!

Despite all the external upheaval, things are pleasant around here. We are fortunate to have good family and friends and good health. Not much to gripe about at all.

Time to get out on the bike for the next adventure!

High Noon and Hope

Sometimes the sun is relentless, heat is oppressive, but today, the fear of wind-whipped fires is no joke. In SoCal it has been a dry summer and fires are raging, not just nearby, but up north. We were awakened this morning to phone calls of closing of schools and potential power shut-offs to prevent further fires. The winds could blow sparks and ignite fires miles away. Let us hope things don’t get to the point of being evacuated – which we have been fortunate to avoid thus far over the years – but off I go in a bit to clean up and to begin sorting out what to take. The wind is about 30-70 mph, depending on where you are, but it is strong enough here, and so filled with dust and ash, that all the windows are closed. The wind I so love is now an enemy.

Busy Morning

I am not sure where things will end up. This morning I woke up to the smell of smoke filling the house. Somewhere, a fire. The sound of the winds was up, curling around the house and howling. It is fire season and Santa Ana wind season in my neck of the woods. Phone calls from SoCal Edison warning of potential power shut-offs and calls from the school district letting us know schools are closed. I am drinking my coffee to wake up enough to figure out what to do. Writing all this is a way to clear the fog from my morning brain to make a list of what to pack in case we are evacuated.

Confused, Hands, Up, Unsure, Perplexed, Young

A Sunday in the Sun, Wind and Rain

Weeks go by and it seems you go nowhere interesting. A trip to the market, and then a walk around the neighborhood. Oh, other things happen, like a phone call or a visit with a friend, but still, life seems uneventful. Not that I want a lot of “events” – they don’t usually bring good news – but I do like a change of scenery. So, when it happens, and the wind is up, the sun is out, the rain is falling on you, rainbows come and go, and you are pounding away on wet sand, head in the wind, life is pretty darn good. Accompanied by the esposo and friends of yore, it makes for a wonderful day. End it with someone’s excellent cooking, how can you complain?

A few weeks ago, our friends Doug and Sheelah, up in Carpinteria, invited us to visit. I’ve been friends with them since before forever, and the town they live in is a small beach community north of us by about 50 miles. I lived there when I was in college, on an avocado ranch where the laborers sang Spanish songs at 5:30 a.m. – a nice way to wake up, along with the clucking of chickens and the crowing of roosters. The beauty of Carpinteria is that it is blessed with a wonderful state park that runs along much of the city itself, moving from wide flat beaches to bluffs which overlook a seal rookery, which is home to mothers, fathers, and newborn babies in the first part of each year.

Sunday afternoon was a windy, blustery day, with remnants of storm clouds gusting in from the north, white caps out to sea, and an occasional wild sprinkling of rain. The sky, though blue, bore thick clouds, and the wind was fierce enough to blow fine sand in rivulets in front of you when your back was to the wind, and fill your eyes and mouth with grit when you were facing it. The cold, too, was biting (for us thin-blooded Californians), and an insulated, windproof jacket, along with hats and hoods made you a lot more comfortable than not. It was so cold, Sheelah went back home and changed from a down jacket to a windbreaker, hat, and long scarf. We waited in the wind for her.

As always, a beach is a treasure chest. Shells, rocks, driftwood, flotsam and jetsam. Sheelah found a beauty of a stone, a jasper veined with white, and a clam shell.

The bluffs host a variety of things. Ranches and small industry, railroad tracks, piers to launch boats for the oil rigs offshore, trails, and seals. Here we began our ascent onto the bluffs.

From here, we continued along the pathways, weaving near the edge of the bluffs and inland, the Pacific on one side, the flat land on the other. Trees vary from native Monterrey cypress (I think that is the correct name) to eucalyptus. The trees at the edge are twisted and tormented by the winds.

A bit away from the shore, sunflowers are already in bloom beneath the old eucalyptus and other coastal trees. The brilliant colors are so welcome after months of drought and brown, dried, dead plants.

The seal rookery, or sanctuary, was not very populated when we looked down at it. The tide was out, so perhaps were the seals; as well, the storms of this season may have discouraged a lot of sex in the sand and babies on the beach.

The Carpinteria Seal Sanctuary is observable from the bluffs. Pupping season begins in December. Above the sanctuary are benches and paths so the seals may be seen, but left undisturbed (one hopes) by humans. This video shows the seal sanctuary as I have seen it in earlier years.

As our earth changes and populations increase and resources lost, such sites are increasingly more important for wildlife. Below is a view from the cliffs. We saw about 4 or 5 seals, well disguised as rocks. The sanctuary is an important area for wildlife. I’ve been here in other years, and there are mothers and babies everywhere, fat and floppy on the sand.

All along the way, to and fro our 3.5 mile walk, there was much to see, whether on the phone lines or in the camping area of the state park. People were out and about, running, bicycling, and just enjoying a brisk, beautiful day.

Not a bad way to spend a Sunday afternoon! Doug and Sheelah are wonderful people and great friends to spend time with. We feel pretty lucky to live in such a beautiful area and have the blessing of wonderful friends and family nearby.