Santa Ana winds

I am waiting on renders at work so i can sneak in some posts.

I have now switched to Beach Cruiser mode instead of skating around the hood due to my thankless ankle. But a new danger has revealed itself. The winds are up to 60 miles an hour. which in places like NYC, have always meant watch out for flying debris from off the sidewalk. Here its the debris from above that is dangerous. Palm trees shed some really large palm stalks and often they come tumbling from like 100 feet above...in the dark. they land in the middle of the street and on cars, and on people. right now, the streets are covered with the palms, which are sharp and stick up in weird angles. it looks pretty much like a small tornado came through.

Another bit of excitement created by these winds is, of course, wild fires. I was driving up and over the mountains heading north on the 405, when suddenly the left lane is a line of Highway Patrol cars racing north with their lights and sirens at full blast. As I peeked the hill and saw into the valley, I was met with an image that immediately reminded me of the huge smoke pillar downtown on September 11th. I have seen forest fires before, once in a valley i was staying in in Napa, and at other times, on road trips mostly out west. but this one was clearly in a city. or at least the edge of the city. there are houses set right into the middle of the fire, and you can see all the lights of the fire engines and police clustered in the area.

And thousands of us, maybe millions, all driving to work, thanking fate that it ain't our neighborhood we are looking at. It's like being right next to a disaster, but not in it.