Beautiful Day For An Afternoon Hike

I really hate this time change back to Standard Time. I hate it when it starts getting dark outside before 5 pm. It makes me feel sad. I actually had tears in my eyes when it started getting dark last night.

Ben used to really like Standard Time because he was a home body and he loved to settle down early, sit in his big chair and watch TV. I always preferred Daylight Saving Time even though I too am a home body, but I feel so “closed in” when it gets dark early.

Last night a little after 8 pm, Jean called and asked if my water was off. I checked and it was. She and 2 neighbors on her street didn’t have any water either and we eventually found out that the entire community was out due to a main water break. I guessed they worked on it all night because when I got up at 3 am to go to the bathroom, it was back on.

I had been sitting on the couch watching the Hallmark Christmas movies like I do every year. After a while, I had to stop. Just about every one of the movies has a widow or widower in it and I was starting to feel sad and I was starting to cry while watching the movies. This will be my 5^th Christmas without Ben and it still hurts. But I’ll get through it just as I have in the past.

Took Hiker over to Whitney Canyon to do an afternoon hike. It was a little windy and I could hear the wind blowing through the tops of the trees. It spooked Hiker a little. Several of the big trees have succumbed to the drought. Back in July of 2004, there was a huge brush fire that went through Whitney Canyon and burned a lot of trees. The drought has caused those burned trees to dry out and rot and the winds we’ve been having has blown a lot of the trees down. There were several lying across the trails.

About a mile or so into the canyon, I heard some rustling in the brush and there were two female deer staring at me and Hiker. Hiker suddenly saw them and she wanted to run at them, but I had her leash around my wrist and she didn’t get very far.

It was in the mid-80’s here today. It’s crazy. In the mornings I have to turn the furnace on to get the chill off the house because it’s in the 30’s or 40’s outside and then in the afternoon, it’s in the 80s. This morning it was is the high 50’s at 6 am because of the Santa Ana Winds.