rain then thunder the lightning then hail then nothing

Oakley, CA

This morning it was normal rain. Then from 11 to about 3 it was actually sunny. At about 3:15 it got really fun. Starting with a big clap of thunder, the skies just opened up and for the next 45 minutes. Rain is soooo hard to catch on a Point and Pray camera (still can't afford a Digital SLR), but the rain and hail was coming down in such high volumes that I was able to catch it. It was a great storm to witness.

Bird in the moon light

Clyde, CA

I went to see a friend in Clyde tonight and saw this scene. It was cooler in person.

it was a triple but became a double

Vallejo, CA

I only really had three goals today: Clean the garage, catch up on sleep, and catch up on school work. Some time when I was out cleaning the garage I looked up and saw a triple rainbow (Noah would be so impressed) but by the time I made it back from my room with the camera, all that was left was this bright single one and the fading second one.

--
On a side note, Melinda posted some new picture on the temple blog. Go check them out if you get a chance.

gushing

Oakley, CA

All of the drainage canals are flowing with run off now. Just a little while ago they looked like this - tranquil and habitable. But now they are torrents. It's great to see.

leafing the gutters

Oakley, CA

The rain stopped briefly today - long enough for me to take this shot. Every day there are city and county employees out removing leaves from the gutters as the rain continues to puddle. I counted 10 "Flooded" signs in Oakley today.

growing out of puddles

Oakley, CA

It rained again today. I was rather happy with this trick Josh taught me a few years ago about how to take this picture.

pitter patter of little raindrop feet

Oakley, CA

(-: it rained today.

sun shined palm tree

Near Vallejo, CA

It was cloudy all day, again, but for a brief moment. In that brief moment the sun shined forth and lit this palm tree.

High as a Kite

Brentwood, CA

Yesterday I moved out of Antioch, but today I had a few loose ends to tie up. Amy and I dropped off the UHaul trailer, and then went to Lumpy's for lunch. As we were driving from Lumpy's to the movie theater we saw this huge thing hovering over the Mormon church. We stopped to check it out and were informed all about this kite, it's orgin and how fun they are to fly.
Next was a movie and then I turned in my keys with my former landlords. Following that, we went to Benecia to see some Christmas Fairy Vomit. All in all it was a great random day.

pea fog

Oakley, CA

There was a time in Idaho where I didn't see fog for two years. For the past two weeks I've seen it every day.

the snow is still here

Antioch, CA

The snow remained.

(BTC - Pano)

Antioch, CA

Last night the temperature dropped and we got snow. That isn't all that significant, but the fact that we got snow at about 500 feet above sea level is rather significant. We NEVER get snow that low around here.

I will try to take a better shot tomorrow, if it doesn't all melt away.

cooling down and sprouting clouds.

Walnut Creek, CA

It was 100 on Saturday yet today it was all breezy and partly cloudy.

rain day

Antioch CA

It rained today, which turned my thoughts to the homeless. Just two weeks ago it was 95 degrees outside, which means a lot of the homeless shed their winter coats. There is only so much you can carry in your shopping cart or on your back. So today's brief rain must have been a shock to a lot of them. At 5:30, when I got off work, I drove around for about ten minutes trying to see if there were any homeless that needed a trash bag to protect them from the storm. I didn't find any. I hope they all turned out okay. Between 1/3 and 1/2 of all homeless are veterans of foreign wars. I think it's sad that they go and fight for this country only to come home and not even have a trash bag to keep them dry.

Pilgrim Rain draining

Oakley, CA

It was 80 yesterday and today we had a cold, wet storm blow in. It was nice to get a dose of pilgrim rain after 11 months without. But it totally caught me off guard. I had a customer scheduled that I had to cancel on. I didn't even have a rain coat. (Mind you that didn't stop me from not going out at lunch and getting fastfood - I'm keeping to my once a week goal pretty darn good.)
To my friends in Idaho, Utah and Nevada - stock up - this storm in probably going to hurt.

(btc)

Almost a silver lining

Oakley, CA

carpeted clouds

Oakley, CA

clouds from behind

I think I was still in Oakley, CA

One of these days I'll learn not to take pictures while driving down the highway at 70 MPH, just not today. I really liked the clouds in my tiny mirror as they chased behind me today so I just had to take a picture.

(if you ever see me in the obituary section, do me a favor and read to see if I killed myself while taking a picture at 70 MPH)

Mt Diablo Snow

Oakley, CA

It snowed on Mt. Diablo on Friday and today.

Storm moving in

Antioch, CA

When I got out of church it was sunny over my head and very dark north of me. So I went down by the river and took shots of the storm moving south.

(More shots across the water - BTC)
(An almost complete rainbow, if I had merging software - BTC)