Here is the big picture news stolen from a text written by Ray: 

12 3/4 inches of rain since Tuesday night. More rain next week. Soggy here, but everything is snug and warm. Lots of giant trees falling over here and in LA. Lots of shifting soil on hillsides. Soil was still wet from a 10 inch rain we got about six weeks ago. The river below us is crazy. We can hear it roaring at our place.

Here’s my addition:

Pretty crazy with high winds one night but all is well. We had lots of rain driving into LA on Christmas Eve and had to pull over driving back from LA yesterday. Zero visibility with rain. But it was short and besides dodging rocks on the road coming into Ojai, we made it!

Once here, tons of deep puddles in the paths but with my handy- dandy rubber boots, no problem at all. Today, the water has soaked in on the paths but still wearing my boots. My new most favorite piece of footwear.

Christmas Eve was lovely at my daughter Sarah’s house. Luckily, we arrived after her electricity came back on, and the tornado warning had passed. All the kids and grandkids were there, and there was lots of laughter during gift opening. I was reminded once again just how lucky I am to be surrounded by people who, to a person, have a seriously irreverent sense of humor. (That includes the grandkids.) Ray’s influence has brought a lot of fun to our family gatherings and to life in general.

Luna requested going to Christmas Mass at their local Episcopal church, which made me happy. Later, Ray and I attended Midnight Mass at St Thomas the Apostle in LA. I was the banner carrier. Picture a pole and banner twice my height and me hoping I didn’t trip, which, luckily, I didn’t. We then spent the night at our priest’s home, who is one of our closest friends. We attended Christmas morning Mass just because we were there, and he had so kindly offered us his spare bedroom. After a quick visit around the corner to see daughter Liz, her husband Ron, and grandson Ethan at his other Memaw’s home, we made the trek home. That’s when we pulled over in the blinding rain. But we made it, and Christmas could not have been better. 

I am now ready to be quiet and do nothing for several days. 

Love you all dearly.