The Rude Wind's Wild Lament

It seemed an appropriately seasonal title for the current weather we've been enjoying in northern California...for those of you not in the area, we have been getting lashed by the tail end of a typhoon from Guam. It kind of reminds me of that line from "Good Morning, Vietnam", where the evil lieutenant is getting transferred to Guam and he freaks out, saying, "GUAM? There's nothing in Guam!!!!!!". Well, no, now it's here.

I braved the elements on Saturday to go Christmas shopping, and it wasn't too bad, albeit a bit soggy, but I came home to a power outage. Graded papers by candle and firelight, feeling much like Abraham Lincoln; when the power popped back on 2.5 hours later, it rather startled us, but then again, it was a relief. We had a respite for most of Sunday, getting hit again about 1 am...and this time the power stayed out for nearly 11.5 hours. Showering by candlelight is not as romantic as it sounds.

My wonderful school of employ had nothing today...no heat, no power, no phones. It was all most Laura Ingalls Wilder, a fact that was mostly lost on my whingy students, but we got through it. Wore our coats and did pretty low-tech work, but got through it. Tonight another doozy is scheduled, but at the moment, it's looking rather pleasant out, at least compared to the last two days. Stay tuned to see if we're afloat later in the week.

In keeping with the randomness of this blog, the title came to me because I have sung various snippets of Christmas carols to Bean in her bath as of late, and being the classy baby that she is, Good King Wenceslas was a great favorite. Jingle Bells didn't even rate a smile, but that Bohemian king and his page, well. She also grinned widely at Latin and medieval and plainchant, further confirming my bias that she is already an insanely cultured and highbrow child.

It won't be a white Christmas at Casa Hoffman, but neither do we want it to be a wet one...everyone cross your fingers and squeeze your eyes shut and wish mightily for a break in this tropical Santa's sleigh of windy, rainy delights.