Monday, April 26, 2010

Almost Like Seattle

Since I was born in Seattle and my Mom and Dad grew up there mostly, I know a little about Seattle weather. So even though I have lived mostly in California, New Mexico and Hawaii ever since I still remember Seattle weather and just how beautiful it is because of all the rain whenever it is sunny which isn't very often. However, having lived in California mostly since 1952 when I was 4 I don't expect to have Seattle Weather in the San Francisco Bay region. However, sometimes during big El Nino years it is much more like Seattle weather and much less like Northern California typical weather. This was one of those years when even Southern California got quite a bit of rain. The good news is that there are no brush or forest fires out of control in California. The bad news is that when we get this much rain the wild oats and every other wild plant and weed under the sun gets big even flowers that only bloom once in 5 or 10 years during an El Nino year, we get really awful fires usually starting sometime between June and August. So, once again the good news is most places got enough water to take them out of any drought conditions and most of the lakes and reservoirs are full or close to it. So water is less of a problem then many years. However, the fires can be so expensive and the state likely doesn't have money to fight them. However, I suppose we should just count our blessings and deal with all the rain which comes at least once a week now. I know all of you from places where it is cloudy most of the time might be jealous. However, where I live on the coast this time (February to May) and September through early November is usually our sunny season. However, this year there hasn't been much sun and by June the fog comes in whenever the temperatures go above about 80 to 85 Fahrenheit and bring the temperatures down to the 50s through the 70s. Though this keeps the pine and redwood forests alive for thousands of years it also can be a very dreary summer. So basically wherever you live I guess you have to take the bad with the good. The good news is that I live on the Northern California Coast where the air is very clear and fresh right off the ocean most of the time after traveling over 5 thousand miles across the Pacific Ocean. So I never get tired of the oxygenated pure air here and the starry starry night when the clouds leave because there are almost no city lights and we can see the whole galaxy on a clear night while sitting in our hot tub outside in our backyard year around.

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