Rain, Rain, Go Away

After a 5th place finish in Mexico, it's finally the off season. Don't get me wrong, I love volleyball, but there is such thing as too much. And after a couple tournaments of dying in the height, I finally get to have a little relaxation time in nice cool Los Angeles. Or more precisely, Huntington Beach, California.

Normally, that would be ironic, because the weather in LA is usually pretty consistent. Consistent in the fact that I could play beach volleyball outdoors all year long here if I wanted to. Except for this last week. I have never seen so much rain come down in this area as I have in the last week. Tuesday there was even a thunder storm that lasted the entire day. It was still above 15 degrees, mind you, but soggy nonetheless.

Here's a small article I found about the storm:
LA Times Article

The best part about thunderstorms in this area is watching how the locals react. It was raining, but still warm, so I took the bike out and rode over to a local restaurant to grab some lunch. On the way over, it began to hail, which is absurd in this part of the world. The kids just getting off from high school at the time agreed with me, but handled the situation in an entirely different way than I would. I calmly locked up the bike walked into the Greek food place, and ordered my food. They decided the better course of action would be to run around the parking lot screaming with their shirts off. As I ate, they came inside to dry off for a bit while making plans to go run around the golf course half nude so they would have more space. Which of us was more rational about the situation may remain a mystery. Or not.

Fortunately the weather has been clearing up over the past few days. There has been precipitation each and every day since my arrival, but it lessens as the week goes on, and should be clear from next week on. It's not exactly the ideal beginning to my little vacation, but I've heard it's already snowed in Alberta, so I suppose it could be worse.

Cheers,
Ben Jammin