It appears that fall is finally here. Since we live in a "seasonal" rain forest, our trees tend to stay green year round. They get a bit wilty around September, but they stay green. Then, last week, I saw our signal tree - it's a sweet gum and it is always the first to turn - so I guess that autumn has arrived. It also means, that rainy season is here. That's the "seasonal" part - we usually only get rain from October to about the end of April. And usually, nothing but a trace between May and September.
So when the rains come down for the first time, as they did this week, things can get a bit dicey on the road. It feels like everyone has forgotten how to drive in the wet. If you are smart, you are careful, especially of other drivers, and maybe you take things a bit slower than you normally would. Because if you don't - this can happen:
That's the front end of my car. First of all - Mark & I are fine - a bit bruised and a bit stiff, but no cuts, no breaks. We were heading home on Wednesday night up the mountain road towards the house. As I knew my car wanted to get squirrely on the roads, I was driving a bit slower than I usually would up the hill. I took a turn, and looked up the roadway and a van was making a turn around a blind corner. As soon as I saw his rear wheel come over the yellow line, I pulled my car to a complete stop. There's really no where to go - a redwood tree was holding up the road and the shoulder, well, that looks like a gully. I was hoping against hope that he would either get it under control or go ahead and do a180 and miss us completely, but alas, that was not to happen. Somehow he got airborne and the rear wheel ended up bouncing on the engine compartment. Black smoke was billowing from the engine. But the air bags didn't go off - evidently the sensor is in the bumper, which he missed.
So three hours, two cops, one tow truck, a taxi ride and a car rental and we were finally home sweet home.
Love to all!
