December 19, 2006

The Halcyon Days

windstorm.jpg

Here we have it, the famous windstorm of '06. You'll note that the 100 foot tree is snapped rather than uprooted. Just imagine the force that must have taken! 8 hours of non-stop tree-toppling-nerve-wracking-up all night wind. This was preceded by a deluge of 2" of rain for an hour which had me sweeping 200 gallons of water across my basement floor to the drain for 2 hours. It needed a good mopping. I'm lucky my power didn't stay off more than 20 minutes... since 1/4 of the city has gone 3 days in freezing temperatures without any electricity.

And today's main problem?... finding a parking spot at the shopping center... not to mention finding the elusive perfect gift.
Xmas! Such a pain! Who needs it?

Best rule I've discovered... "Buy the first thing you see". It works about the same actually. This whole Xmas illusion is created by advertising.

How about a Holiday devoted entirely to engaging in irritating and expensive tasks to be performed in overheated, overcrowded spaces... with a ticking deadline and multiple impossible obstacles to overcome before finally making it to the finish line whereupon in the emotional spotlight of the season one is rewarded with a feeling of personal failure and the impossibility of things being the way you'd wished they might be?

No wait... they already have a Holiday like that. They call it Christmas...
LOL! At least the brandy & eggnog ought to be spot on.

So there... Scrooge has spoken.

Snowman2.jpg

Actually I'm very much looking forward to the timeless days of the Holiday. Working on a great new book... which will relish all the timeless days it can find.

The Halcyon Days, my favorite... that time between Xmas and New Years. The Halcyon Days encompass the fourteen-day period centered on the Winter Solstice when the sea is commanded to be calm and the wind light by none other than Aeolus, keeper of the winds and one of the lesser Greek deities.

Whew! I'm ready for that...

6 comments:

tlchang said...

20 minutes! You are very lucky. We were among the three-days-it's-freezing-in-the-house set. Some of my Woodinville friends are still without (probably until Saturday). Luckily, our basement did not flood as well...

John Nez said...

Oh gosh... good luck with that.

It's supposed to be another storm tonight... but smaller. It's been one tough winter and winter hasn't even started yet!!!

tlchang said...

Maybe the weather can all calm down since winter has NOW started! I'm voting for that. No more national-news weather for the rest of the season!

Happy Solstice.

Anonymous said...

Hmm...where did my comment go? This old/new blogger account thing is being weird tonight! Anyways, I'm with ya on the winter holidays. You can call me Grinch... :0)

Anonymous said...

Was that tree near your home John?
Did you hear it craaaaccckkkk!

Scary when you see the force of nature and realise how small we are against wind and storm. Glad you were saved further damage.

John Nez said...

Not my yard! That was in a nearby park. Must have been an amazing noise.