Winter weather is officially here. The temperature routinely dips below freezing at night, leaving sheets of ice and frost. The snow level is down to 1000 feet now - not quite where we are yet, but it won’t be long. The sun sets around 4:30pm and doesn’t rise until 7:30am. The long shadows in the middle of the day still throw me off, making me think it’s early morning instead of noon. We had a good windstorm last week that blew the last leaves off the trees, leaving just their bare skeletons in the breeze. I hear the icy winds occasionally get powerful enough to blow trucks over and take down trees. For a native Southern Californian, it's surreal to turn on the news and hear the local weatherman using terms like "freezing fog", "sleet", and "chains required". I see footage of cars slipping and sliding on icy roads and hope that's never me, especially with kids in the car. Even so, I’m putting together a backpack full of emergency stuff for the trunk, just in case: kitty litter (for traction), a first aid kit, flashlight, granola bars, beef jerky, extra diapers, wipes, and a blanket. I’ve been told to always to have half a tank of gas, and a weeks’ worth of groceries in case the power goes out. That’s just a precaution, of course. Usually it’s just freezing cold and rainy.
