Showing posts with label rain. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rain. Show all posts

Tuesday, January 05, 2016

El Niño

 
Sneaking in one last BBQ before the El Niño deluge begins!
 
Funny Facebook photos to the contrary (see above), the weather phenomenon, known as El Niño, is no laughing matter. Despite our historic drought, no one wants it to rain day-in and day-out. After all, perpetual sunshine is one of the reasons most people live in Southern California.

Today was our first El Niño storm. TV news was full of rain footage of jack-knifed trucks on the freeway and water-damaged buildings—what Tim likes to call "weather porn." Closer to home, at the end of our block, we have the Ballona Creek, a cement waterway that, most days, has no more than a trickle of moisture running through it. Not so this afternoon. 

 
 Last week: a truck driving down Ballona Creek

Storm waters today: Ballona Creek bike path 
flooded on the right
 
I had Tim take a "before" photo last week, when the creek was so dry a truck was able to drive along the water bed from the beach to Sepulveda Blvd. It's a completely different story today. See for yourself:

Hear the water roar: rain-swolen Ballona Creek
at the end of our block 

Friday, January 22, 2010

January 2010

Happy New Year!






Although we’ve done some fun stuff this month--including taking an exclusive members-only tour of the Grammy Museum’s small but fabulous “Elvis at 21” exhibit with renowned photographer Alfred Wertheimer (the exhibit is a must-see for early Elvis fans)--the new year has pretty much been spent finishing up the garage project. We painted inside and out, plus bought a great neon Coca-Cola clock as a centerpiece for what I’m now calling our “garage clubhouse” (cue Tim to roll his eyes). But then the rains came, squashing all desire to complete what little cleaning and organizing still remains. I hope to post photos of the finished project by mid-February.










Rain, rain, go away:

Just when I was going to gloat about wildflowers blooming while the rest of the country sits under two feet of snow, our weather turned cold and nasty, forcing us indoors. Because, of course, when it rains in L.A. it doesn’t just rain, it pours, often causing damage of biblical proportions--or, at least, that’s what the local media would have us believe. Our own street usually turns into a small lake, while the otherwise benign Ballona “creek,” which runs at the end of our block, becomes a raging, frothing river. For a week, I’ve been cooped-up inside, leaving the house for only the most important essentials: food and the one-cent frame sale at Aaron Bros. Art Mart! Our two toasty cats have become our favorite indoor accessories.

Here’s hoping February is a lot more sunny and productive . . .