The Wayward Wind

• Starting suddenly and with the sharpness of an unexpected 60 mph slap, the Santa Ana winds are once again blasting through the valley on route from the desert to the Pacific. The trailer across the bottom of the TV screen on the weather channel is issuing a string of warnings: “Stronger winds in and below canyons and passes”, “Sustained winds of 40 mph with gusts exceeding 80 mph” and “Strong winds affect high profile vehicles” (that would include me except I’m not on the road today). At the same time as the Santa Anas carry grit, dust and miscellaneous debris, the winds drive the temperature up. It is 70+ degrees here in Hemet and over 80 in Los Angeles. I’m sure emergency personnel and homeowners alike are once again cringing in fear of fire.
  

• Here in the park, awnings were hurriedly rolled up and secured to avoid them being ripped from the sides of RVs. The wind has tipped bicycles, lawn chairs and garbage cans, and is blowing laundry and assorted tidbits down the street. Flags are flying straight out as if frozen in place and many will have ragged borders as the threads of their hemmed edges give way.
  

• The Santa Anas are also testing the springy resilience of 60-foot palm trees. My poolside lunch was disrupted when the palms, swaying precariously back and forth began relieving themselves of shaggy out-dated fronds and pelting dates toward the ground like rock candy pounding down from a punctured piñata.

• Propelled by the wind at his back and grinning from ear-to-ear, my neighbour Tom went gliding by on his bicycle. He's searching for water aerobics equipment that the wind scooped to neverland after he and Donna mistakenly left it outside on the patio.

• The wind is strong enough to be noticeably rocking my motorhome from side to side and end to end. It is not, however enough to faze a dozen yellow and orange finches who are enjoying a meal courtesy of feeder bags hung by my neighbours in close proximity to my window. The finches’ ability to land precisely on the wildly swinging bags and hold their positions is a tribute to the strength of birds’ toenails.
  

• The only real impact on me is that Happy Hour will today be celebrated indoors.