Cliff May Restovation

One of the benefits of living in Southern California is a unique phenomenon known as the Santa Ana Winds. They can turn a brisk January night into a much more temperate September evening in a matter of hours. Unfortunately, the winds can howl.

I didn't get much sleep last night. Unlike my previous bedroom, which had one tiny window, my new one has two complete walls of glass. When the wind is howling, trees swaying, and power lines dancing, it's a lot harder to sleep when you can actually see thes things happening on both sides of you. At about 2AM I heard a loud ka-BANG!!!!! I was afraid to look out the window, half-expecting my to see my ficus tree resting on the roof of my living room. Instead, I saw this:

The wind blew the spark arrester right off the chimney; is that even possible? I guess I should consider myself lucky; it could have flown into windows and broken some glass. The next morning I also discovered that the fence my neighbor and I had been discussing for months had finally succumbed:

I really want a block wall but I don't think my neighbor is up to it. On the bright side, looks like I get to use the new circular saw my parents got me for Christmas. However, the best part of this wind storm came this morning (I feel so fortunate to have been outside when this happened). I was out, surveying the fence damage above, when this happened:

It was exactly like a cartoon. There was a gust of wind, then a loud splintering sound. Luckily, it didn't hit the garage and my car was parked out front rather than in the driveway. As Uncle Lewis said in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation: "It was ugly tree, anyway."

Shameless plug for my company: