Checking In - and plugging Jane’s first post on Gather

Checking In - and plugging Jane's first post on Gather

My computer is on a landline and my phone went out yesterday so I couldn't spend the time on Gather that I usually do. There are a ton of comments to read this morning so I 'm going to write this note first before I tackle the backlog.

My daughter Jane posted her first article on Sunday. She is Jane S, her post is called "Nightmare" and I hope you will check it out. She earns her living on-line as a medical transcriptionist, and because that work was sent off shore to India some years ago, the pay was undermined and she has to work lots of overtime just to pay her bills. She doesn't have much time to spend Gathering and I think this her first article, although she does make comments on other people's offerings. She follows the news closely and has strong views on ideology. She always has a firm grasp on current events and is always way ahead of me in her grasp on facts and the ability to talk about them. I would love to have her meet all my wonderful Gather friends.

There is a strong storm front going through Southern California. The temperature here at about 4100 feet has been hovering around 40 degrees or lower for several days. Although I have seen the temperature drop down to 17 degrees in the desert, that's cold for us, especially accompanied with fairly strong winds. We actually had several snow flurries on Sunday, and it was beautiful. Small flakes blew in the wind for several hours on this mountain between the Sonora Desert 30 miles to the east, and the surfer's beaches 70 miles to the west. The snow melted as soon as it hit the ground.

Yesterday the rain came in the form of soft mistiness that nevertheless created big puddles over time. That is the best kind of rain for this parched land where the soil becomes hard as rock during the dry months. The rain has to come softly in order for it to have a chance to soak in instead of running off in dangerous flash floods.

There is a lull between showers right now, so I let all my cats and dogs go out for some exercise and fresh air. I guess I'd better cut this short and clean the floors while they are outside. They are not going to like to be out in the cold for long. I'll get back to you later.