Marginalia

Shadows of shadows passing...

It's raining here, pretty heavily in general though it had lightened up at lunch.  For most of the world, a rain shower isn't a big deal; to most Los Angeles natives, it is, if anything, something to be glad about.  However, most of the city is populated by transplants who came here fleeing snow and ice and rain and all manner of precipitation; to them, clouds in paradise are the end of the world.

Realistically, there's a legitimate danger from flash floods and such in various places - contrary to popular belief, LA is not a desert but a basin surrounded by hills and mountains; I have streams and a literal waterfall within walking distance of my apartment in non-drought seasons.  The canyons, though, are mostly rock and stone and, thus, become very quick to develop falls and slides with even a slight bit of moisture.

Sitting here, at work, I've actually gotten more than a handful of local-area flash flood warnings on my cell.

It's actually a random coincidence that I've lately been thinking about my next vacation and to where I'd like to go.  At the moment, I have enough frequent flyer miles to go pretty much anywhere in at least business class, round-trip; the question, though, is how much I want to spend on the rest of the adventure.  Like, I do want to go to Kauai at some point, and I've even picked out the hotel where I'd like to stay; it's just that it's $300 a night.  I also still want to go to Europe (mainly Ireland and London to start), the Caribbean, Key West (yes, it's basically the Caribbean, but still), Cairns, and French Polynesia as well.

Decisions, decisions.

I might just stay in-state (it's been ages since I've been to Yosemite or the sequoias, and I didn't get to Guerneville this last winter so I'm kind of missing trees) for my birthday and save up miles and money for something larger or grander later.  I have a couple of months before I really have to make a decision, however.

Hope everyone's doing mostly well.