I don’t buy into global warming, or climate change or whatever they are calling it these days. To me, it’s all weather, in some ways it’s predictable, in others it’s not. What has been happening these last few years in California is predictable and following a pattern.
Simply put, we get rain in the winter, then we get a few years of drought, we always have fires, but at some point, we have massive fires all over the state. The following winter we will have an abundance of rain and snow, then come the mudslides. Maybe back to regular rain for a while and then the cycle repeats.
So this year is the year of massive rains.
Capturing rain on camera isn’t easy, believe me, it was pouring! I was supposed to give a tour to high school students. We planned on meeting in Pershing Square. I stayed across the street under the overhang at the entrance to the Starbucks in the Title Guarantee building. We all huddled there until the rain cleared a little and then it was off on a tour. Most of the tour was fine, towards the end the rain started again.
Thanks to the rain, there wasn’t a line at Eggslut in Grand Central Market. I finally had my chance to try thier famous sandwhiches. My verdict? Meh. Not worth the wait. It was a fine egg sandwich, I’m glad it’s off my bucket list. Sure, if there isn’t a line I’d get another, but it certainly isn’t worth the hype.
The first picture was taken at noon, this one at 2:30. Ah, LA Blue skies! Now, you have to understand, photography is all about how you frame the image. the the left and behind me there were still gray ominous clouds, which later that day dumped more rain. But this is the sky we are famous for.
A few days latter and I’m on the northern rim of the San Fernando Valley, in a neighborhood called Porter Ranch. Hiking with a friend, enjoying exercize, good company and great views. The haze over the valley is haze, not smog, within the hour it had lifted.
The first part of the walk was on city streets, we looked down over this horse path, our hike was a circle, so coming back would be on this path.
And here we are. The hill sides are still covered in the old dead chapparal, but a lot of new growth is happening because of the rain.
Look at the size of the boulder that fell from the hillside. We saw a lot of evidence of mudslides. Most dragged down the litter that people have thrown, this one brought down some rocks and a large boulder.
See, the haze lifted, back to our glorious blue sky!