Holli Harmon

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It's An Old Joke

December 8, 2017

California does have four seasons…

FIRE, FLOOD, EARTHQUAKE, AND DROUGHT.

CA Four Seasons: Earthquake, Flood, Drought, Fire

We currently are experiencing our Fire Season.  Unfortunately, for those of us here in Santa Barbara, this has been a very familiar reality in the last decade.  Cleaning ash out of my house and studio has been a too familiar task. In light of the reality of fire, I am grateful that ash is my only problem. If you live in California, you know too many people who have lost homes.

We are in a cycle that stems from drought…dead vegetation feeds the fire and then the fire scorches the bare earth that then that becomes mud that slides off with the rain.  Rain in California usually comes down in buckets unlike the steady rainy mist that falls in the Pacific Northwest. Of course, I hope we have a rainy winter, but can it come in slow steady increments, please?  I fear mudslides are in the future if our rain prayers are answered.

And just to keep things spicy….Earthquakes are just unpredictable…there is just no way to tell when they are coming.  Although, we do have an expression….”Shake and Bake Weather”.  It seems like we get to rockin’ and a rollin’ when we have unseasonably hot temperatures. If you haven't experienced an earthquake, you can always see the evidence.  Just look to the hills.  Our mountain range was created by these events.

No matter where you live, Mother Nature is the boss.

As Voltaire says…”Men argue. Nature acts.”

Stay safe my friends. May your holidays be merry and bright.