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"Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it." ~ Charles Dudley Warner or Mark Twain. Well whoever said it never met me. I am a weather god. Remember that big snow storm in November a few years back? That was me. Let me explain… I was itching for snow so I packed a bag for me and Benjamin and headed to Tahoe. We arrived at a lovely hotel in Squaw Valley and looked around. There was snow on the ground but the skies were clear and blue. We had a balcony that faced the ski slopes and there was a noisy snow maker that was blowing the white stuff 24/7. Well, I thought, even if it doesn't snow, it's a pretty scene. Noisy, but pretty. The next morning I called a friend in Yucaipa. "Courtney," she said, "you wouldn't believe what we woke up to." Snow, of course. At least a foot of it. everywhere. The kids had sleds out (where did those come from?) and snowmen being built. The golf course was blanketed. I looked out my window and cursed the giant snow maker. When I got back into town everyone was buzzing about the "30 year storm." People still talk about it, which is very annoying. Now, every time it gets cold and the skies turn ominous, I go to Then I jinx it. "Guess what!" I tell everyone I know, "It's supposed to snow tomorrow!" Then the skies clear and the weather improves and people inevitably say, "Well, at least we were here to enjoy that 30 year storm a few years back." So now we're stuck in a period of beautiful sunshiny weather, the main reason why it's so expensive to live in Southern California. The weather app says 78° as far as the eye can see. I blame myself. I've put photos of snowy scenes on this page for the past two months. I had a snowy cover in December. I start every day in a sweater. I'm just trying too hard. So this month, a photo of the roundabout on California taken by Hilary Peters is the background for this page. Go ahead weather. Be beautiful. See if I care. Because I don't. I enjoy the sunshine. I need the Vitamin D. Whatever. (Maybe some reverse psychology will work…) ~ 2 OUR YUCAIPA | FEBRUARY 2014 Courtney

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