A Chilly Reception

Reading the title of this week’s column you might think that I was referring to the inauguration of President Donald Trump and the response by his many detractors. However, I’m not much of a politico (as most readers by now know) and I am, in fact, referring to the weather.

For the first time in a very long time, this week I had a thin coating of ice on the roof of my car in the morning. Letting the dogs out in the morning was also like allowing a blast of arctic air in; the dogs didn’t seem too anxious to go out either. Rarely have I seen them complete their task so quickly, then eagerly wait to be let back in the house.

And the rain! I’ve lived in California my whole life and do remember the El Niño of the late ’90s that not once but twice flooded my step-down living room. It rained so hard during that time that a friend of mine had to call a family member after dropping her keys in the gutter while getting into her car. The swift moving water grabbed her keys and carried them down the street and deposited them into the drain never to be seen again. The storms that battered our valley this past week, though intense, were overall welcome. Perhaps an end to Southern California’s drought is in sight. (Find out more about that in Charly Shelton’s article on the bottom cover of this week’s issue.) I’m sure that the 20 or so feet of snow the Mammoth Mountain ski area received from the storms – as well as a sizable amount of snow received in our more local Big Bear and surrounding resorts – went a long way to alleviate the drought (though I shiver just at the thought of all that cold white stuff).

These days I have been prone to wearing a coat anytime that I go outside, no matter time of day. Someone asked me if I was cold. I replied, “I think I will be.”

Unfortunately, with the wet, cold weather I caught what many in our valley have – the dreaded winter cold. What started as laryngitis last week with a hacking cough has morphed into a lousy stuffy and runny nose – and the cough has stuck around for good measure. I spent a good portion of last weekend in bed, drinking green tea by the gallon, hoping to send this cold on its way. But so far no go, though I do feel better. I am already planning on what I’m going to wear to the Ascencia gala that is taking place in downtown LA at Union Station. The gala is one of the biggest fundraisers of the year for the nonprofit that “strives to move families and individuals off the streets of Los Angeles and into housing.” It’s a good cause and I’m proud that CV Weekly is able to support it.

  robin goldsworthy