No Snow here in Southern California

Did I ever mention how much I LOVE my little condo in southern California? 

Minuses - close enough to the 5 ( I-5 for the east coasters) so that the traffic sound is always there. But when I close my double-pane windows, I pretend the waves of sound are the sound of the ocean. 

Positives: I love seeing gre

en all the time even if it's palm trees and bamboo, ice plant and other strange growth (instead of grass). 

Flowers all the time - different ones for every season but always there. (no snow to shovel. I've had enough of snow shoveling for a lifetime. If I want to see snow, I can see snow on the 6,000 feet high mountains just an hour away.) 

I love being near my grown children and able to see them and their spouses (spice?) often. 

I love my one-level condo with no stairs and its walk-in shower.
Hurricanes (Cyclones over here in the west) never hit this area.
Of course we also don't have much rain, and when we do the inhabitants panic because all the oil deposited on the roads during the dry weather lifts and causes hydroplaning.
My oldest daughter kept encouraging us to move here and we're glad we did.

Harbingers of Spring

Okay. It's 45 degrees out (cold for southern California) and I'm hearing the song of birds that usually announce the arrival of Spring in Maryland (in March or April). It's a sound that always made me happy when I lived there. So, my initial reaction is -- Maybe they are announcing that it will finally get warmer here?
(of course my first reaction was, What are they doing being so cheerful in January?)

Spring Fever

Such a change in the weather from snow, snow, snow just two weeks ago. A welcome change, but still a shock to the system.

We went from running the woodstove and multiple electric heaters 24/7 to turning everything off and 'thinking about' opening up the windows. Only thinking. We're not foolish enough to actually do it.

On the other hand, teens are walking into our library in shorts and tank tops. You have to wonder -- what are they thinking? 50 degrees still isn't shorts weather. (do I sound like a mother?)
-wendieO