It appears as though there is a theme in our lives — especially lately. It’s all about water. We’re in the thick of winter here — rainy season — and this year is turning out to be quite water-filled. The past several days have been stormy here in SoCal and, coming from Minnesota, that didn’t seem like it would be a huge deal.

What’s a little rain to a Minnesotan anyway?

Well, there is a reason people get so nervous about a lot of rainfall around here. There are many obvious differences between Minnesota and California but a couple of them you may not necessarily think about or notice.

Every time someone from home asks me why rain is so different here, I start with an explanation about the difference in soil. Rocky soil vs. the spongy/absorbent soil of MN. Rain just doesn’t soak in here the way it does back in good ol’ MN.

The roads are different, too. I laughed the first time someone in Cali told me not to drive out of Ramona in the rain. I mean, come on, it’s just rain! But part of the issue is that there is so little precipitation in this area that the roads get build-up of oil, dirt, you-name-it, that does not get regularly rinsed away like it does in MN. So the first few rains of the season are a little scary since the roads are slicker than they would be if it were just rain.

In addition to that, the roads are laid out differently with many of them not having shoulders to pull off on in case of emergency; that wind through the foothills, oftentimes without guardrails; and a large number of people traveling on what in MN we would call a “back road.”

Add to this the difference in soil and you get mudslides, rock slides, flooded roads, fallen trees, etc. It’s a mess and you might as well stay home in bed.

We prepared for the storm by sand-bagging certain areas of the park and making sure all the drains were clear of debris.

It hit while I was at the wildlife rehab center on Thursday, and I was soon soaked completely through. Then it continued on-and-off for the next couple of days. It is supposed to wear itself out by tomorrow.

The trench in the park was flowing pretty steadily.

Our friend’s backyard had its very own river.

Here are some pictures of different areas of our yard. This is just day one.

We took the last couple of days to just relax at home. We went through a few of our cabinets and all of my books to see what we could get rid of and what we wanted to keep.

Teddy made a new friend.

And we spent some much-needed snuggle time with the pets, playing video games and watching movies. Looks like the storm will be clearing up soon and we will hopefully get back the sun!

We didn’t let the rain keep us totally trapped inside. Through careful tarp placement, we were able to sent up “tarp city,” play a few games of pool, and ward off any cabin fever.