Weird Weather and Scaredy Cats Among Other Things

There's not a whole lot else going on, so let's talk about the weather! Last week we actually turned on the air conditioner when it got up to 96 or something like that. We also turned on the water sprayers on the back patio for Genie to stay cool, also because Keith was 'working' on the patio. Take the word working with a grain of salt. Anyway, it was hot and at the same time we see pictures of blizzards in the midwest on the news.

Sunday it was incredibly windy, so windy that I'm amazed that we didn't lose power or have some more trees fall over in the neighborhood. So windy that the inside of the house was covered in a very fine grit. We have a lot of dirt in this town, dirt that gets blown around by the wind and looks like dirty fog in the air.

Then early in the evening yesterday I think I hear someone pulling in their trash can, which sounds like thunder, but it wasn't a trash can. It was real thunder directly overhead, something we only hear once every few years in these parts. Of course the cats were freaked out, with the outdoor cats staring up at the sky like WHAT THE HELL and the indoor cats all under the bed. Hiding. It did start raining, another thing we hardly ever see, so Lucy got put in the garage for the night and Genie ran for the safety of her shed, where she sat inside the door, still with that WHAT THE HELL expression on her face.

The thunder only lasted about thirty minutes and after one HUGE crash overhead, was done and off to thunder elsewhere.

And that is about the most exciting thing around here these past few weeks.

We did go downtown on Friday evening. We were watching the local news and the weatherman was on location at First Friday, where vendors line the sidewalks on a few blocks downtown and some of the stores stay open later. We didn't get there until after dark, though, and I can't see very well in the dark, so I was a little disoriented and really didn't know exactly where we were. We parked in the big crowded parking garage on 18th street and was amazed at the night life in downtown Bakersfield, there are a few restaurants and bars that apparently are quite popular down there. From the parking garage I could see a neon sign for a bar that I've never noticed before, down an alley, and aptly named The Alley Cat. I found some pictures of the bar online because we didn't bring a camera and probably couldn't have taken as good of a picture as these anyway.

Keith wanted to go in the bar, but since I don't drink anymore it didn't sound like fun to me to sit and watch him drink, so I said next time we will come earlier and he can go have a beer in the bar. Also, earlier while it is still daylight so I can actually see.

We did buy a few things, an art shop was open with appetizers and wine flowing and we found some affordable art in the form of notecards, and then on the street I got a couple of brooches made out of folded paper and also a necklace for $8.00. I do like to support street vendors when I can.

Finally Some Rain

I could smell and see the rain coming yesterday afternoon. Dark clouds to the west of us and a sheet of rain coming towards us. The air smelled fresher.

And then, here it came, hard rain, thunder and lightning. Then I realized the hard rain was bouncing off the grass and was actually drops of hail, which only lasted for a few moments. Then thunder, which completely panicked all of the cats. We don't get thunder here very often and the little cats had never heard it before. Total chaos as six cats ran in six different directions looking for a place to hide from this horrible noise! The sky is falling! The world as we know it is ending! What to do!?!

Hide under the bed, that's your best bet guys!

So, we had three cats huddled under the bed and three cats in the garage hiding in dark corners out there. It took about an hour after the thunder stopped before they calmed down enough to venture back out from their hiding places. Scary stuff!