Thursday, September 20

Beautiful Day


Today was one of those absolutely gorgeous California days. The morning was drizzly and cloudy but the sun later broke through and shone over a clean crisp sky. Even the view from the parking lot at work was stunning. It's hard to believe it was 115 degrees just a few weeks ago. I'm sitting here in my favorite sweats and stocking feet. I don't believe I've worn these sweat pants in over 7 months. They feel great!

There is a rare September storm on the way and I can't wait. One of the many pleasures of being a Californian is the luxury of enjoying rain. It's so rare that you never mind it. I, for one, always look forward to rain. It actually feels like fall. I'm not foolish enough to believe we're over the heat. I'm sure we have several weeks of heat before it feels like fall and stays that way.

In anticipation of the rain, a friend and I "kidnapped" another friend who needed a new tire for her car. She's been tooling around on her spare tire for over a month and that's just plain dangerous, especially during the first rain following a long summer. For those of you who may not have lived in a draught area, allow me to explain: the roads around here accumulate a lot of oil and dirt during the summer. The roads are terribly slippery during the first rain of the season.

After informing our friend that we were taking the tire issue into our own hands, we followed her to CostCo, where she dropped off her car, then headed for a nearby Olive Garden. (By the way, I'm not ordinarily a big fan of Olive Garden but the chicken scampi I enjoyed today was delicious!) After lunch, we still had a few minutes before the car would be ready so we dropped by Target so I cold pick up a b-day gift for my brother. We pulled right up to a great parking spot, as we had for the Olive Garden, ran in and out in 3 minutes and somehow managed to get a free $10 Target gift card with my purchase. It was a great afternoon. After I dropped my friends off to pick up the car, I headed back to work. I later learned that my friend was charged only $1 for her new tire. Her old tire was still under warranty and the $1 was for a recycling charge. There wasn't even a labor charge. How great is that?! We had such great luck at every turn today. I love days like today!!!

Tomorrow night we're supposed to be hit with a big storm. It sort of cracks me up because any cloud that brings a drop of rain also brings on the "Storm Watch" alerts on the local newscasts. It's embarrassing but mostly hilarious.

Now, the big decision is what to read during the rain. Hmm... What a wonderful dilemma.

3 comments:

shandon said...

Ah, the first fall rainstorm. Time to sweep the leaves off the roof so the rainwater doesn't dam up and start leaking into our bedroom. Pray I don't break my neck.

Seriously: I love SoCal's subtle autumns.

Anonymous said...

This is the season I wait for all year long. I love the crisp air, the changing leaves and the beautiful clouds in the sky. Oh yeah, and I fall in love with my sweatpants all over again!

Anonymous said...

It's kind of funny to read the comments about Fall from all of you Southern Californian's who really don't get a real Fall. Those of you who love that kind of weather would LOVE Fall in the Northwest. The colors...the crisp mornings (I've already run the heater 3 mornings this week) the mix of showers and sun. Gotta love this time of year. Enjoy your dot of rain. Think of me this winter as I'm enduring day after day of light rain!