After the Storm

The weather gods have turned Los Angeles into their capricious playground for the past few weeks. This has come after a long period of mild weather, at odds with the notion of what summer is supposed to be here: barbeques fired up on the grass at Griffith Park, the top down on the convertibles cruising after dark along Sunset Blvd., heat waves shimmering off white sand beaches, and the smell of sunblock lotion on lightly seared flesh.

Telephoto compression pulls in a building half a mile away; Hollywood Sign in the distance

Two weeks ago, the temperature hit 113 degrees before the official city thermometer malfunctioned (along with our refrigerator). A few days ago, a torrential downpour briefly drenched the city.

Last week, though, was Goldilocks-perfect, with temperatures that were just right. At the end of the day, the high clouds that had blanketed much of the southland had coalesced into towering thunderheads. On my street, rain fell for a few minutes, and a rainbow arced over the palms and houses of my street. To the west, a golden river of rain poured out of the darkening sky.

The scene all around offered me a sense of promise for good times that, if we can just hold on, can follow the bad.

It was a glorious end to an Indian Summer day.

Harry Nilsson – one of the great voices - Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Camera: Nikon DSLR - click on images for larger versions.