Brrrr - It's Cold in Southern California

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Hello again.....not much to tell, except that the temperature has fallen - into the 30's last night. We've had the heat on....and Spencer has just put another log in the fireplace. We had two days of rain.......rain in California brings everything to a halt. The home owners that were affected by the fires in September were worried about being affected by the rains..... the heavy run off has no vegetation to help divert the streams. Of course the rains fill the viaducts which are plenty in the L.A area - the run off from the hills travels fast down into the low lying areas. The viaducts carry the swiftly running waters and can be very dangerous. They don't have sewer and drainage systems like we do, thats for sure. Maria loves to do her errands when it is raining, no lines ups in the bank, no line ups at the post office. It snowed up in the mountain regions, and although we can't see it from here, David says from the other side of the valley you can see the white on the tops of the mountains. In fact, the pass...the highway running north from L.A was closed to traffic last night because of the roads. As one can expect, Californians are not used to this type of weather. It is nothing for us hardy Canadians who suffer through heavy rains and snowfalls for a few months of the year.

Verne and I have been walking.....even the downhill is so steep that my knees hurt at night!! We did an hour walk the other day before the rain, and another hour walk today. The sun came out in full force today, but it is still jacket weather. We have spent a few hours in the Ikea Store....we love that place....mostly we spend so much time, because we are forever getting lost, the store is so big! I have bought loads of candles for Christmas - plus Verne and I like their restuarant....both of us had a meal, coffee and split a cinnamon bun for $8 for the two of us. We are enjoying walking around Burbank and finding interesting places to eat!!

We were at Spencer's Martial Arts class to see him pass his tests to obtain his next level belt. He had to break a board with his foot - which he did. The ceremony and testing for the class was 2 hours, but so enjoyable with the Sensai giving "life lessons" to the participants as well as the audience. It is the best thing for Spencer....he knows all those moves!

We went down to the Market on Saturday....of course the whole thing is mostly fresh fruit and veggies. Grapefruit, oranges, etc. The oranges were wonderfull. I bought 10 pounds of naval oranges for $3. Then we went to the square where the city had brought in tons of snow for the children to slide on and play in as part of Burbank's Christmas celebrations. The kids were having a grand time, but funny to see snow and palm trees together.

Tomorrow Verne and David have a private tour of the annimation dept. at Warner Bros. Studio...plus lunch and museum tour. Then tomorrow night, they head downtown L.A. for a special squash tournament at the L.A. Athletic club where they will see some of the worlds top squash players. Squash seems to be a passion of David's and he is to MC a top match when they come home from holidays. In fact, he's playing squash at the moment!

The Christmas tree is up, the lights outside all up. Lots of wonderful light displays around town. I'll take some photos later.
Must go......just sitting here looking out over a sparkling valley....time for a wee glass of Kahlua!!!!

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Photos

L.A Under Storm Clouds
Storm clouds were gathering over the city.

And then the sun?
Storm clouds, fog, then the sun as it was going down...then came the rains.

And then it was pink.
The skies are wonderful at night, storm or sunshine

Spencer breaks a board!
Part of Spencer's Martial Arts test.

Snow, kids and palms.
I wondered how many of these children had ever seen snow.

Comments

[Carole]

Snow in Peterpatch
Hi Linda and Verne - you are missing our first big snow storm up here in good old Canada. (At least first on Baker St). Bob I know is itching to get out with snow blower (up before 6:00 am but I stayed in bed til now (8.00 or so). Busy days, Louise and I headed to Cobourg yesterday to pick up our tickets for the skating in London (now there is a snow place). So glad we did b/c today is a white wipe-out. Say hello to everyone, hope you get warmer weather soon so you can send it up here to us. Have fun and have a drink for me too. By the way, as I am typing, we are having a thunder and lightning storm (plus blowing snow). Go figure eh!!! Love Carole and Bob