Damp, Gusty, Dark

The title sums up the weather today. The Bay Area is having a series of storms come through, keyed off of a typhoon in the Pacific. The worst of it hit today.

I woke up to flickering power, and it went out for a while when I was in the shower. It was very windy, but not yet raining, and we even got a touch of sun. I walked to the 7-11 to buy a paper, since mine was either not delivered, stolen, or blown away. The last isn't so unlikely; a lot of branches fell down today - not to mention quite a few holiday yard decorations.

The lights were back on when I returned, so I quickly got my car out of the garage so I wouldn't have to struggle with the door if the power went out again. I took advantage of a lull in the wind to clear some leaves from the netting over my pond; Newton was going nuts watching leaves blow around the yard. I left the front and back doors open because it was so warm out (over 60), which further excited him.

I also learned that I needed to replace the backup batteries in my clocks. Too bad my answering machine and VCRs don't have that capability.

By the time I left to do my planned Christmas shopping, the rain had started, and it only got worse from there: Stronger winds, pouring rain, and numerous power outages around the south bay. Many traffic lights were out, which made going slow. A couple of stores I wanted to stop in were closed due to electrical eccentricities. Bummer.

I got home around 4:00, and it was getting dark, and the power was out at home again. Shee. I went around to set up some candles, and then called Mom and chatted with her for a while. They're getting rain back east, too. About ten minutes after we hung up the power came back on, this time for good (or I wouldn't be writing this). The worst of the rain seems to have passed, and power outages seem to mostly have been fixed. We'll get more rain for a couple of days, but hopefully things will be back to normal.

Debbi stayed over Thursday night because yesterday she, Michel, Lisa and Lisa's roommate Yvonne drove down to Disneyland (or maybe I should start calling it Debsneyland!). I guess they have Christmassy celebrations there during December, which they enjoy. Deb's going to try to drag me back next year sometime; we'll see. I'm not nearly the fan that she is - but then, who is? Well, Lisa, for one. Anyway.

I had a very strange dream Thursday, and at some point when it was still dark we both woke up and I told her about it. I dreamed that I had a parrot, but it was a big parrot, about the size and shape of a dodo. And it couldn't fly, but it walked around and its feet clicked on the floor. I took it somewhere in the dream - to visit friends, I think - and it was very nervous. I said to it, "Are you stressed out, kid?" and it mimicked me by saying in a deep parroty voice, "stressssss" and kept close by me the whole time (click, click, click - nudge).

I am kind of stressed out lately, thought I haven't yet discussed it here. It's something I haven't figured out how to discuss in my journal, though I will say that it has nothing to do with my relationship. So I suspect the dream is basically a reflection of that.

I'm not really a believer in dream interpretation. I believe they can reflect concerns on one's mind in broad ways, but no more than that. The details are just your mind woolgathering since it has nothing to focus on. So that's why I don't bother you with my dreams very often (aside from rarely remembering them). This one was odd and vivid, though.

I'm looking forward to the holidays. And especially to having my $%^&* Christmas shopping done! (Don't worry; I always get like this around the middle of December, when I realize there's one person I can't figure out what to buy for them.)