Fiesty July

Two days in and July is…fiesty. And that’s not even counting the guanopsychotic politics and whatever is happening on Twitter.

For example:

I keep seeing lights up on Castle Peak after dark. Sometimes WELL after dark, so it’s not just someone who misjudged how long the light would last after sunset. Groups of 3 or 4 lights usually, apparently headed back down.

Given that this summer we’ve seen rescue helicopters up there multiple times a week for hikers who have fallen or broken something or gotten trapped during the day, hiking at night doesn’t seem prudent.

(Image from Earthquake.usgs.gov)

Originally reported as a M4.1 shaker, later downgraded to a M3.8 event, it was felt all over the LA Basin and San Fernando Valley at 01:29 last night. Given the location and size I would have bet a lot that it would have jolted me awake, but I slept right through it. It’s not like I was dead to the world asleep, last night was actually a pretty lousy night’s sleep. But the earthquake wasn’t one of the contributing factors.

Of course, given the upcoming holiday, every night there are more and more illegal fireworks being shot off.

We know how much (badly needed!) rain we got this winter, so the hills and mountains were green and covered in new vegetation this spring. While May and June were generally cool and cloudy, now that summer’s here it’s gotten into the 90’s every day. A + B + C = all of that new growth is turning into kindling. One moron with illegal bottle rockets can set off a catastrophe.

Fiesty!