Late

The moon was available for hours on end, though always blurred by the thin clouds. For a while, it cast an immense halo many degrees across. By the time it settled behind the pine woods, the clouds had thickened and its light among the branches was dim and yellow. Now, low clouds like dark gray bruises drift beneath higher and brighter blue-white clouds. It is apt to turn rainy again. I wish I had time for a morning walk.

There was more poking about in boxes last night, but I still haven't found anything of great interest. Must dig deeper into that pile!

Did find something moderately interesting on teh Internets, though it's much less visual than I'd like it to be. I stumbled onto the web site of an organization called The Mural Conservancy of Los Angeles. Los Angeles, of course, has goatloads of murals, so the lists of both works and artists provided at the site are extensive. Links led to pages providing basic information but, unfortunately, almost none of the works are depicted in photos, and the few photos provided are small- often nor bigger than LJ icons... hmmm. I'm hoping they might eventually post more pictures there, or at least links to other sites that do have them.

Boom

Thunderstorm! It considerably brightened the gray afternoon. I saw a blue jay- not one of the noisy crested jays, which are common here, but a real blue jay- take refuge in a bush by the driveway when the sky opened and began dumping an astonishing burden of water which continued to fall for about five minutes. So cacophonous was the downpour that almost the only thing that could be heard over it was the crashing air split by shots of lightning. The event was the more spectacular for having come on quite suddenly, preceded by only a few distant rumbles of thunder, and no rain having fallen from the sombre clouds for hours. It's ending was almost as abrupt, the downpour slowing to a light sprinkle and a few faint rumblings from the east as the storm moved into the mountains. I'd have enjoyed another half hour of it.

This probably means more snow in the mountains, which are already enjoying the deepest snow-pack in a decade. I'd like to be able to get down to the valley and see the rivers, as the spillways of all the dams have been wide open for weeks now, lowering the levels of the lakes in anticipation of the spring melt. Feather Falls and the other cascades will undoubtedly be spectacular this year as well. Here in town, the wet winter has produced a vast number of new potholes in the roads. The sultry days of summer will be scented with hot tar as the repair crews make their rounds.

The cat woke for about two minutes when the storm began and looked out the window only briefly before returning to sleep. For a beast usually of such skittish temperament, she is surprisingly sanguine about thunderstorms. I think she might be hard of hearing. An odd kitty, in any case. She has taken to sleeping on my computer chair every evening, thus delaying my posts as I am always reluctant to disturb her when she looks so comfortable.

So, that birthday meme. What you do is find the Wikipedia page that lists events which occurred on your birthday (mine being January 19) and choose three historic events, two births and two deaths and post them in your journal. I think this may be a bit like an ink blot test; What you see is what you reveal. I'll reveal weirdness, I'm sure.

( LJ Cut, for your non-viewing pleasure )