Friday, June 17, 2011

Every Cloud Has A Purple Lining

We're completely socked in by our traditional 'june gloom' right now. Fog so thick that Anna walked outside this morning and said "Mom! It's dribbling!" which I assume is Californian for 'drizzling'. Not a word she gets to use with much frequency.

From a practical standpoint, it's an absolute bugger to dress for this weather, because you're never entirely sure when the fog will burn off. Some days (as in the last few weeks) it has clung resolutely all day. On other days it lifts as early as mid morning, and then you're left at work sweltering through 80ยบ in your light woollens. My advice: scarves and cardigans, sounds deathly British, but really they are truly sensible when it comes to the gloom.

What's funny is that when the skies turn leaden, the trees turn purple. Santa Barbara is full of jacaranda trees, and as soon as the first May Grey or June Gloom hits, they start to bloom. They are fabulously beautiful, seemingly giving up leaves entirely for huge bright purple blossoms:




It's as if Mother Nature is throwing us a bone, trying to prove that summer is out there somewhere.

5 comments:

Michelloui | The American Resident said...

'Its dribbling' is a perfect way to describe some fog!! thats a fog we got in northern Minnesota as well, very difficult to plan a wardrobe around!

Trees are beautiful though.

Jocelyn Nelson said...

Nothing beats British descriptions of rain- spitting, pissing, chucking it down, and probably dozens more that I don't know. I'll never forget the first time I walked outside to hear my husband say 'it's spitting'. What? Who's spitting?

Nimble said...

Oh that purple. St Babs is a beautiful place.

Jane said...

Beautiful pictures even if it's 'dribbling!'

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