Sunny San Diego

Evelyn and I have been talking about the nice, gentle rain we’ve been having. We’ve been enjoying it. Trixie, too. We’ve been driving in the rain, with no problems. We’ve been taking Trixie for her walkies . . . and it’s been rather refreshing exercise.

Most of today, however, I’ve been inside. Deadline day for the paper. I only just turned the tv on and saw what is happening in downtown San Diego, up north in Fallbrook, in East County . . . that nice, gentle rain has now saturated the ground and it cannot retain any more. Floods have developed all over Mission Valley . . . which is normal for the rainy season.

So far, Escondido, being relatively flat, has not had major problems . . . but, my primary driver, who picks up the papers from the printer and distributes them to my other drivers, called to say he was going into the printer a little later than normal tomorrow as he didn’t want to risk crazy drivers, stalled traffic, and the thunderstorms that have been forecast. I agreed with him. We should err on the side of caution.

So, my friends who live on the east coast, buried up to their buttocks in snow drifts, and those down south who also have cold weather and some snow . . . we now join you from sunny California (where one week ago it was 88 degrees) with strange, and sometimes dangerous, weather.

During the day, Trixie would romp in the rainy runoff down the gutter, chasing tiny air bubbles as they floated along. She was just having a grand time and didn’t mind the misty rain. Tonight, she took about four steps on the soggy lawn and turned right around and headed for the door. She had let me know she wanted to go tinkle (she’s getting me pretty well trained) but no way was she gonna tinkle in a sopping wet lawn. (I reckon she’ll find some distant area of the carpet to make tinkle. Sigh.)

Deadline day always puts a lot of stress on evelyn and me. We’re both tired. We don’t publish a paper next week. The one week we don’t publish is between Christmas and New Years. It will be kinda nice to have a week off. No deadline. Nothing we have to do. I’m already beginning to feel like a lost little boy, not knowing what to do.

Supposed to have, I think, two more days of rain. This time, not a nice, gentle rain, but a hard rain; with thunderstorms. Escondido has had, I believe, over 2 inches of rain. Temecula, north of us, had 4” of rain as of last night and two more forecast for today. Having been so busy with the paper today I haven’t heard any updates. Sufficeth to say . . . we’ve finally gotten the rain we longed for so long (San Diego has had about five years of drought) . . . and now we’ve got too much.

We’re okay . . . but I reckon some folks are going to be suffering. Hate to think about the homeless people. Not only is it cool, sometimes cold . . . but now it’s sopping wet as well.

Nothing much cheery or funny to write about tonight. Just a tired old man, scribbling a few thoughts before heading to bed.

Tomorrow will be a brighter day. I may even have a joke or two.

See ya.

lyle