Woman in the Middle

The wind started up again yesterday, turning into gale force winds last night. We obviously have some leaks because the wind was somehow getting into my house and making my bedroom door rattle. I finally got up and went to sleep on the couch, where there weren’t any rattling doors.  Of course, with the kind of winds we are having, it would be impossible to keep all the wind out of the house.

I looked at the weather in our local newspaper this morning. It said today would be “breezy.” Really? If this is breezy, what would wind be, a category five hurricane? A tornado?

I posted something on Facebook about the wind. So far I have 96 likes and many comments like “if this is breezy, I would hate to see the wind.” One woman mentioned that she just moved here and the wind is driving her nuts. I feel for her. We get a lot of wind in my fair city, much more than the surrounding nearby areas.  All we can tell her is drink lots of water and keep the lotion bottle near by. Our winds are very dry and everything gets parched.

Hubby was out in the back yard at 4:30 this morning. I will have to ask him later what he was trying to rescue.  Most likely a seat cushion or the cover off a piece of lawn furniture.

Needless to say, I am not worrying about my hair today. Nothing I can do, short of gluing it all down with superglue, will keep my hair looking decent when I go out of the house. Nice thing is, everyone else’s hair will look just as bad.

When the girls were little, I had a special hairstyle for days like this. I put the top part of their hair in a pony tail and then the bottom part in one as well. Then I put another rubber band in the middle to hold the two pony tails together tightly at the back of their head. Otherwise their long hair would be blowing in their face all day.  Youngest put her hair in a bun today. I saw that and said “Opted for the bun, huh?” “Yes, I don’t want to deal with it today.” Oh baby, I totally understand!

I know, I know, I live in Southern California so I shouldn’t be complaining about the weather. But, I am going to anyway. October is when our infamous Santa Ana winds start back up. Yesterday was the 25th which meant we were within 6 days of the end of October and NO WIND! But, I should have known it wouldn’t last.

Sometimes weather men can be amazing in their predictions. Maybe not often, but once in a while. Yesterday I heard the prediction that the wind would blow in at 8 p.m. last night. Amazingly enough, at 7:25 p.m. I heard the first WHOOSH telling me the Santa Ana had arrived. Anyone who has followed me since this time last year  may remember we had a particularly windy fall and winter. It would go on for days at a time. It was not fun. It is hard to sleep when the wind is blowing like crazy.

I am getting the hang of dealing with the wind at our new house. I went outside this evening and watered all the plants that get hit particularly hard by the heavy gusts of very dry wind. So, it is time to hunker down, take a sleeping pill, and hope that the patio furniture doesn’t blow away. It is also time for me to repeat regularly “Wind is better than snow, wind is better than snow….”

There was a desert wind blowing that night. It was one of those hot dry Santa Anas that come down through the mountain passes and curl your hair and make your nerves jump and your skin itch. On nights like that every booze party ends in a fight. Meek little wives feel the edge of the carving knife and study their husbands’ necks. Anything can happen. You can even get a full glass of beer at a cocktail lounge. Raymond Chandler, “Red Wind” 1938

Once a cousin of mine who lives in Memphis asked me what our “bad” weather is here in inland Southern California. I thought a moment and then said “wind.”  Yes, the weather can get hot. Sometimes it rains and doesn’t know when to stop.  But the wind…that can drive you crazy!

You know a wind is pretty bad when they name it. Ours is called “Santa Ana.” In a rare moment of listening to the TV news night before last the weatherman mentioned that the wind would be coming in the morning. Eeek! Water the plants, make sure all the patio furniture covers are securely fastened, gather up the outdoor Halloween decorations, and hope he was not right! Then, about 9:30 p.m. – BOOM! That is the sound a Santa Ana wind makes when it arrives.

We thought our new house was in a neighborhood by a golf course with nearby hills. Nope. We are in an exposed position in a wind tunnel. Surprise! So we REALLY know when the wind is blowing. And it was really blowing Tuesday night and yesterday.

I have my Santa Ana Wind survival kit ready: My glass of ice tea (to stay hydrated); a bottle of lotion (for constant application to my dry itchy skin); hair brush (because I will need a hairbrush after every visit outside); headache medicine (because it usually gives me a headache); Chocolate (because that is good anytime!).

The wind seems to be over for the moment and here is the score: Two patio chairs tumbled over, one barbecue cover and one chair cover at the bottom of the back yard bank, and the lid of the outdoor cushion container ripped off its hinges. Just another day and night of wind in Southern California.