When the hills of Los Angeles are burning

palm trees are candles in the bitter wind. Wow! If you've never been to California to experience the phenomenon known as Santa Ana winds, you're missing out. No, it's nothing compared to tornadoes or hurricanes, but it's our own wind storm misery (I like it though because lets not forget, I'm only happy when it rains). I also like it because I don't live in the brush like so many stupid people around here do. There is a rule of thumb here in LA/OC, if you build a house on a hill surrounded by brush, it isn't a question of IF your house will either be victim of a mudslide or brush fire, but WHEN it will become a victim. And yet, people still live in Malibu (as anyone who has ever visited TMZ.com will know).

So, not only are we having crazy winds (worse than any time that I can recently remember) but it's super dry. This equals massive fires around here. My apartment stunk like fire last night, and we lost power sometime while we slept too. Matthew's parents also had a casualty last night; their lime tree broke in half and blew over. :( No lime aid this summer!