November 8 - First Rain

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Well, this is different, and probably even more different here in Landers than it was in Los Angeles by the airport. According to the radio station the Jeep found, one serving the Morongo Valley ??, it's a light rain and I'd have to agree.

I woke up around four, after seven hours of interrupted sleep, and when the sun rose, it was actually pretty (again). This time, the prettiness came from tinges of red in some clouds, which reminded me of that “desert sunrise” picture on the Landers Wikipedia page.

Also, as it turned out, it should have reminded me of that “sailors take warning” saying. Around eight I got a little concerned by the growing clouds and even though the weather channel showed nothing, that general, national station not only occupied itself more with the storms (Athena (?) on the east and Brutus on the West) than what was happening in the California high desert.

Imagine that.

Anyway, I started by moving one of the bookcases, one of the yellow ones, and by the time I had it inside and a couple boxes stacked on it, the radio was talking about 40mph gusts of wind.

Either before or after that, I'd covered the rest of the cardboard boxes outside with tarps, but the weather warning certainly got my attention. Also, it began sprinkling and, knowing nothing of the weather or the weather patterns here, I had no idea if the little smattering would be all we could expect or if it meant a huge deluge was coming.

I still don't know.

But, as of now, the outside is mildly protected and the inside is more crowded than ever. All three bookcases are inside and, while moving the white cabinet that came with the place, the one I assumed was a closet, I found some more electrical outlets, which could prove helpful.

Then again, that new outlet, which might not even work, is now safely behind the Stefania bookcase.

While pretending to work on the kitchen stuff I made a discovery. One of the small cabinets is actually pretty good sized when you open it and learn that it has a double folding door hiding one of those lazy Susan metal rack things, just like Cybele's.

Since it was designed to hold food, I emptied two cabinets that I'd first stocked with food onto it and then loaded up the cabinet over the stove with pots and pans. This was all before the rain / wind prediction, but I brought in two more boxes (the last ones I knew about) that contained kitchen stuff and moved the water dispenser and bottle back outside.

The rain came around 7:30, and it's now 8:00 with some cute little wind stuff going on. One tiny gust just wiggled the front door.

Whatever it was that I looked at to see when the rain started told me, or I read, 8:25, but I now discount that since I find it unlikely that I've done everything I've done since that first sprinkling in five minutes.

Since that first sprinkling, like I said, I moved all the bookcases inside, re-arranged the boxes to put the group near the west window under some tarps and separated the plastic containers from the cardboard boxes.

I still have no idea what I'm going to do with most of the stuff I brought with me. Of particular interest is clothing and kitchen, but there's a big space under the kitchen sink where I expect to put all the same type of cleaning crap that usually sits in places like that. Upon investigating it this morning (my first look in there), I found what may be a cutting board and a small rack that is separated into five sections. That cutting board has been cut, trimmed, and is marked for the next step, but I have no idea what it's expected use was.

Also, I just heard that it was 43 last night and (??!?) expected to be 39 tomorrow night!

I just tried it and the wall heater / air conditioner does, in fact, throw warm air into the room.

The afternoon's wind is forecast to come from the southwest, and I have no idea how common that is. Give me time.

*** 1500 update ***

Not only have I arranged for Internet service, I've also grown panicky and put some of my clothing onto a bookshelf.

Around two o'clock it was sunny outside, but sprinkling. The reason I was outside to witness that is because I laid down for a nap while listening to the radio and became increasingly worried about the upcoming wind storm.

They're still forecasting 25 mph winds with gusts up to 40, but I'm the only one calling this a wind storm. These desert people, it seems, shrug this off in exactly the same way that I used to laugh at Los Angeles “rain storms.”

My biggest worry was that some of the lumber and things I have holding the tarps down would be hurled off and break my western window. I made some adjustments, but frankly have no idea what winds this strong can or will do.

I expect to find out.

My other worry is the Jeep's paint standing up to the sandblasting, but there doesn't look to be much sand blowing around, not yet, anyway. I guess the lighter dusty stuff blows away all the time and isn't on the surface.

So, it's a little windy outside now, with some little gusts. I think I'd be overly optimistic to think that this is what the wind event will consist of.

*** 1945 update ***

The storm, or wind, showed up and is still going on. My worries and efforts to protect the windows and the stuff sitting in the yard were, as usual, excessive. While 25 mph winds, if that's what we're having, may be too strong for bicycle riding, they're not as drastic and overwhelming as I feared.

So watch, now things will change and by tomorrow morning everything will be scattered all over my lot and each and every window in my home will be broken by the hurled lumber I used to keep the tarps in place. Just you wait.