Went to bed last night around 11:30. It was extremely cold outside and dark clouds had been forming over the mountains since late afternoon. And then it hit. The first raindrops sounded really big and Murphy got a bit excited. Then it went crazy outside! The lightning and thunder scared all the animals. The cats hid and Murphy tried to jump in bed with me. I got up and looked out back where the hail was covering everything and it looked like a snowstorm had hit. And the hail kept coming, getting larger and larger. The really big chunks hit the pool with a vengeance, causing splashes up to 2 ft high when they hit the water.

And then it stopped. This morning my car was still covered with ice and I had to let it warm up to melt the ice on the windshield. We just don’t carry ice scrapers in the glove box in So.Cal. It must have continued to rain a lot during the night ’cause my trash cans washed down the street and my neighbor’s cans were in the middle of my driveway. I sat my poinsettia plant out where it would get rained on. This morning it was stripped of leaves and petals.

I have to admit it was kind of exciting getting some crazy winter type weather. Winter around here is usually just sunny with some occasional rain. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining! It was hard finally getting to sleep last night after the weather induced adrenaline surge. Next time let’s hope the storm hits earlier.